03 The Great Eastern Mail MARCH 2018 Specialisingin custommade curtains,blinds andawnings. Transformyourhomeindoors andoutdoorswiththeverylatest cuttingedgefashionsandstyles. SHOWROOM 1/467APrincesHwy,Bairnsdale Ph:(03)51526400 www.countrycurtains.com.au Shopat homeservice. Phoneus... we’llcome toyou. Shopat Where quality & price meet! FREEinhome consultation anywherein EastGippsland DAVID Warren has started a petition on change.org addressed to Minister Jaala Pulford. Most locals and fishing clubs are in support. Warren has spoken to local business operators who say they are suffering financially with the decline in fishing. Experienced fishers are going elsewhere and taking their business with them. This increases fishing pressure on smaller fisheries such as Lake Tyers and Mallacoota where commercial fishing was banned in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Warren has written directly to Jaala Pulford MP asking why the Labor Government policy was only to ban netting at the river mouths and not the entire system. He has received what he calls “a most unsatisfactory response”. He has written again asking her to directly answer the question, adding that “the ban is not a ban, it is only a 50% increase”. He adds, “that if you run a ruler over the new maps in the 2017 legislation, some of the tributaries can still be enclosed by nets”. Warren also plans to meet with Tim Bull, Nationals MP, to see if they will go beyond their 2014 policy of a voluntary buyout. Why are the River Mouths and Tributaries important? Black Bream, Estuary Perch, Dusky Flathead are estuarine species and tend to move up into the rivers when the Lakes become too “salty”. In times of high river flows or floods, fish are flushed down the rivers into the Lakes. This is seen as an opportunity to netters and is evident from the catch data in an already depleting fishery. Warren states that “the regulations impose no quotas on commercial fishers, whereas recreational fishers have bag limits and upper and lower size limits. There is no upper size limit on a commercial fisher”. Large females are caught by commercials and are lost to the breeding cycle. The 2017 ‘Bream Classic’ tournament is a good example of a fishery in crisis. Warren says, “If a gun amateur fisher can’t catch a fish what hope has the average punter?” Visitors to the Lakes often leave disappointed without getting a bite. They come, spend their money and often vow not to come back, saying “beautiful spot but the fishing is buggered”. The Gippsland Lakes are in trouble, increasing salinity reduces spawning opportunities, reduction in seagrass nurseries for juvenile fish and increasing frequency of algal blooms as well as commercial netting, equals a fishery in crisis. Jaala Pulford in correspondence back to a disgruntled fisher stated “... Black Bream are a fantastic fish to catch and we want to see this fishery grow and flourish”. What does Warren want to achieve? • Ban commercial netting in the Gippsland Lakes and offer commercial fishers a fair and equitable buy out ASAP • Recreational fishing size (all fish) and bag limits to be reviewed • Mandate catch and release in fishing competitions • Increase promotion of sustainablefishingtechniques • Increase fisheries officers over holidays to monitor compliance with regulations • More research into the declining fishery It’s also about the economics. Warren is looking at what is best for the local economy. The Gippsland tourism authority identified in 2017 that tourism creates 12,500 jobs in 3000 businesses — some attributed to recreational fishing. Commercial fishing in the lakes contributes $1.2 million to the local economy whereas recreational fishing contributes $382 million. Warren hopes, not that his grandmother can buy a bream at the local fish mongers, but that his granddaughter has good job prospects in Gippsland and LocalspushtoendcommercialnettingoffishintheGippslandLakes can catch her own fish in the Gippsland Lakes. Warren encourages those who agree with him to sign the online petition. Just google “It’s time to End Commercial Netting in the Gippsland Lakes.” Delivering on the Election Commitment on Banning Netting at the Gippsland Lakes River Mouths” 2016, Craig Ingram.Victorian Fisheries Authority. BREAM CLASSIC 2017 (over 2 days) Team=2 anglers Bag Limit=5 Fish per Team per Day (Catch & Release) 1 Mallacoota 497 319.3kg 4.17 0.64kg 0.5 0.84% 60 Day 1 59 Day 2 Glenelg River 229 115.6kg 2.31 0.50kg 4.5 (1 Team withdrew Day 2) 9.1% 50 Day 1 49 Day 2 Marlo 420 322.4kg 3.68 0.76kg NIL 0.0% 57 Day 1 and 2 Hopkins River 320 216.9kg 3.26 0.67 2 4.1% 49 Day 1 and 2 Gippsland Lakes 169 138.5kg 1.5 0.81kg 19 33.9% 56 Day 1 and 2 2 3 4 5 Round Venue Number of Teams Total Fish Submitted Total Weight Total Average Number Fish per Team Average Weight per Team (All) Number of Teams with ZERO Legal Fish Over 2 days Percentage of Teams with Zero Fish over 2 days Locals enjoy fishing at sunset. Gippsland Lake−GL Financial year 78/79 79/80 80/81 81/82 82/83 83/84 84/85 85/86 86/87 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 100 200 300 400 1000 2000 3000 4000 Effort (days) Total catch(black bream, tonnes) Total catch Effort GippslandLakesBlackBreamcatchcomparedtofishingeffort Peter with Estuary Perch, Mitchell River, 2018