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Author Topic: Freshwater Closed Seasons - Qld Fisheries Review  (Read 25515 times)

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Freshwater Closed Seasons - Qld Fisheries Review
« on: April 21, 2013, 11:06:24 PM »
From DAFF Website
Quote

Australian bass
A closed season applies to Australian bass throughout Queensland from 1 June to 31 August except in and from waterways upstream of Baroon Pocket, Bjelke-Petersen, Boondooma, Borumba, Cania, Cressbrook, Fred Haigh (Lake Monduran), Gordonbrook, Hinze, Lenthalls, Maroon, Moogerah, North Pine, Somerset, Wuruma and Wivenhoe dams; Claude Wharton and Jones weirs; Isis Balancing Storage (Lake Gregory), and Dyer (Bill Gunn Dam) and MacDonald lakes.

Barramundi
Throughout the Queensland east coast a closed season applies to barramundi from midday 1 November to midday 1 February, except in and from waterways upstream of Awoonga, Burdekin Falls, Callide, Eungella, Fairbairn, Fred Haigh (Lake Monduran), Kinchant, Koombooloomba, Lenthalls, Peter Faust, Teemburra, Tinaroo and Wuruma dams.

The Gulf of Carpentaria closed season for barramundi is from midday 7 October to midday 1 February (possession on boats allowed to midday 17 October).

These closures do not apply in East Leichhardt Dam and Belmore, Corella, Julius and Moondarra lakes, and to waterways upstream of these impoundments.

A take and possession limit of one barramundi applies during the closed season in all of the 18 lakes and dams mentioned above. The barramundi may be greater than 120 cm. Recreational fishers may continue to fish in the 18 dams and lakes once they have reached their limit of one barramundi.

Outside of the closed season, in the 18 dams and lakes mentioned above, a take and possession limit of five applies to barramundi that may include one barramundi greater than 120 cm.

It is also prohibited to deliberately target barramundi for catch and release during these closed seasons, as the stress of capture may prevent fish from spawning.


What would you change?

I'll start...

Remove the following from the bass closed season:

All waters upstream of:
Mt Crosby Weir - Brisbane River - no working fishway
Luscombe Weir - Albert River - no working fishway
Caboolture Weir - Caboolture River - hopeless fishway
Ewen Maddock Dam
Lake Kurwongbah
Berry's Lagoon Weir - Bremer River
O'Reilly's Weir - Lockyer Creek
Logan River weir?

Bass are not native to Burnett, Gregory, Kolan, Burrum river systems and are most likely stocked bass, or derived from stocked bass. All waters north of the Mary River should be exempt from bass closed season.

What about some foresight in case of future restocking by adding:
Wappa Dam, Cooloolabin Dam, Leslie Harrison dam etc to exemption.

OR, reword the whole section to say something like:
Bass closed season applies to all east coast flowing waters from NSW Border to and including Mary River from 1 June to 31 August except in and from waterways upstream of the first man made barrier, namely; Atkinson, Baroon Pocket, Borumba, Cania, Cressbrook, Ewen Maddock, Hinze, Leslie Harrison, Maroon, Moogerah, North Pine, Somerset, and Wivenhoe dams; Orielly's, Mt Crosby, Luscombe and Caboolture weirs; and Dyer (Bill Gunn Dam), Kurwongbah and MacDonald lakes.


BARRA CLOSED SEASON
Suggestions?

MURRAY COD CLOSED SEASON
Suggestions?
I'll throw one up. Murray Cod to have a closed season from 1 August to 31 October in all Murray / Darling drainage waterways.


MARY RIVER COD
Replicate Mary River Cod for those SEQ Waters stocked with them exclusive of the Mary River.

Other sweetwater species closed seasons?

Below is from DAFF website to get your brain juices working. http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/28_2994.htm

Quote
Cherabins No limit Combined limit of 10 in total of both species: Macrobrachium lar and M. rosenbergii
Cod 
 Bloomfield River cod   No take
 Mary River cod - Upstream of the walls of Cressbrook, Hinze, Maroon, Moogerah, North Pine, Somerset and Wivenhoe dams and lakes Dyer (Bill Gunn Dam) and Clarendon 50 min  1
 Mary River cod - elsewhere in Queensland   No take 
 Murray cod# (Queensland part of Murray-Darling Drainage Division)  60 min 110 max  2
Eels
 Longfin 30 min Combined limit
 Pacific shortfin (south Pacific) 30 min  of 10 in total
 Southern shortfin 30 min of all eel species
Freshwater catfish (eel-tailed catfish) (Tandanus tandanus) 35 min Combined limit of 5 in total of fish in the genera Neosilurus, Tandanus and Neosiluroides (e.g. black, Cooper Creek, eel-tailed, false spine, shortfinned catfish and Hyrtl's tandan)
Freshwater sawfish  No take
Garfish No limit 50
Mangrove jack  35 min 5
Molluscs any-
excluding oysters  No limit  50
Perch and grunter 
 Golden perch
(yellowbelly)  30 min  10
 Jungle perch  35 max  Combined limit of 1 in total of jungle perch and spotted flagtail
 Spotted flagtail (northern jungle perch) 35 max  Combined limit of 1 in total of jungle perch and spotted flagtail
 Silver perch 30 min  Combined limit of 5 in total for silver perch, Welch's grunter and Barcoo grunter. Silver perch in Paroo and Warrego River basins are catch and release only
 Barcoo grunter  30 min  Combined limit of 5 in total for silver perch, Welch's grunter and Barcoo grunter
 Welch's grunter  30 min  Combined limit of 5 in total for silver perch, Welch's grunter and Barcoo grunter
 Sooty grunter  28 min  Combined limit of 10 in total for sooty grunter and khaki grunter
 Khaki grunter (Khaki bream) No limit  Combined limit of 10 in total for sooty grunter and khaki grunter
Rainbow fish
(Melanotaenia sp.)  No limit  Combined limit of 50 (banded, blackbanded, chequered, crimsonspotted, desert, eastern, Lake Eacham, McCulloch's and Murray River rainbowfish)
Redclaw (redclaw crayfish in its natural range) 
 Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division and from the Jacky Jacky River basin south to the Normanby River basin on the east coast of Queensland No limit  40 (females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range)
River blackfish   No take
Saratoga
 Northern  50 min  Combined limit of 1 in total of northern and southern saratoga
 Southern  50 min  Combined limit of 1 in total of northern and southern saratoga
Sea mullet  30 min  20
Spiny crayfish   No take
Yabby or blueclaw crayfish (cherax destructor)  No limit 100 (females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range)

*A closed season applies to these species. Please see Closed seasons - fresh waters for more information.

#Murray cod cannot be taken from the Barwon, Macintyre or Dumaresq rivers from 1 September to 30 November. See Closed waters - freshwater areas for more information on closed waters in Queensland.

The following freshwater species have a take and possession limit of 20 
Aggassiz's glassfish (perchlet)  Aru gudgeon  Australian smelt Banded grunter (barred grunter) Blackmast (strawman)
Blue catfish (lessor salmon catfish) Bony bream  Boofhead catfish (triangular shield catfish) Cairns rainbowfish  Celebes flathead goby 
Coal grunter  Concave flathead goby Delicate blueeye  Desert goby  Elongate glassfish (yellowfin perchlet)
Empire gudgeon  Fimbriate gudgeon  Firetail gudgeon Flagtail gudgeon (flagtail perchlet) Flathead gudgeon (bigheaded gudgeon)
Flyspecked hardyhead  Freshwater longtom  Gilbert's grunter  Golden flathead goby Golden goby (dwarf goby)
Highfin catfish (Berney's catfish)  Lake's carp gudgeon  Leathery grunter Lorentz's grunter Macleay's glassfish (reticulated perchlet)
Marjorie's hardyhead  Midgley's carp gudgeon  Mueller's glassfish Mulgrave goby Northern purplespotted gudgeon (trout gudgeon)
Obbes' catfish Ornate rainbowfish  Pacific blue eye  Penny fish Poreless gudgeon 
Rendahl's catfish  Roman nose goby Sailfin glassfish (sailfin perchlet) Scaleless goby  Sevenspot archer fish (common archer fish)
Silver catfish (silver tandan) Silver cobbler (shovel nosed catfish) Sleepy cod  Small headed grunter Snakehead gudgeon 
Southern purplespotted gudgeon Spangled perch  Speckled goby Spotted blueeye  Square blotch goby 
Striped gudgeon  Tank goby (flathead goby) Threadfin rainbowfish Western carp gudgeon   

No-take species
Australian lungfish
Bloomfield River cod
Freshwater sawfish
River blackfish
Spiny crayfish
Mary River cod - no take except upstream of some dams





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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2013, 05:10:11 AM »
Yeah, got to make it simpler. They have also got to word it so it is explicit, not open to interpretation or just plain misunderstanding. As lets face it, enforcement is pretty much negligible, so if you want to trust that people will do the right thing, they actually need to easily understand what the right thing is!

I'd also toy with the idea of making the Mary (outside impoundments, including above them) closed waters in cod breeding season, I'm so sick of seeing "cod bycatch" on the Mary.

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2013, 06:23:54 AM »
Does oreillys weir have an exclusion zone? If not why not?
Or is it that the posts on the signs have been eaten by whiteants and signs blown away in the wind? ::)
Cheers
Ray

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2013, 10:09:02 AM »
Does oreillys weir have an exclusion zone? If not why not?
Or is it that the posts on the signs have been eaten by whiteants and signs blown away in the wind? ::)
Cheers
Ray
No exclusion zone on O'Rielly's Weir. It's pretty self regulating, as soon as flows stop and the fish in the plunge pool get caught, there's nothing there to be caught and people stop fishing... There are always lungfish there but these are already protected, more legislation won't protect them any better.

I often go down when the creek is running, catch yellas and bass and release them on top side of weir. A no fish zone would stop me (and others) being able to do that.

If the fish don't get caught there, they'll possibly die when the creek stops running so may as well let them be caught. Dead is dead no matter how it happens.....

Cheers

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2013, 07:00:26 PM »
Yeah, unless the area below a weir is tidal, its only a matter of time before the fish die in the pools, so in my opinion exclusion zones below weirs (unless for safety) dont serve much purpose. Many weirs on western rivers dont have them and get fished heavily until they are exhausted.


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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2013, 03:39:14 PM »
How about this for Australian Bass.

A closed season applies to Australian Bass from May 1 to September 1 in all waters South from and including the Noosa River catchment except in and from upstream of :
Ewen Maddock Dam, North Pine Dam(Lake Samsonvale), Sideling Creek Dam(Lake Kurwongbah), Wivenhoe Dam, Bill Gunn Dam(Lake Dyer) Maroon Dam, Moogerah Dam, Wyaralong Dam, Hinze Dam.

Simple.
As enforceable if not easier to enforce than the current closed season.
Takes into account the historical range of Australian Bass in SEQ and leaves out the Northern catchments where they have been translocated/stocked.
If necessary add the names of every dam South of the Noosa catchment that is stocked and access for fishing permitted.

In my opinion none of the weirs should be added Mt Crosby should be fitted with a working fishway, Luscombe should be removed and upstream of all other weirs remain covered by the closed season to maintain the populations of Bass there in  for want of a better word at "sustainable" numbers.

Add the paragraph to the regulations printed after the review as it appears for Barramundi in current printed material.
It is also prohibited to deliberately target Bass for catch and release during these closed seasons, as the stress of capture may prevent a fish from spawning.
 
 

 

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2013, 06:46:41 PM »
I can make it easier. Closed seasons for bass and Barra apply to tidal waters only.

They are suppose to be in place to protect them when vulnerable in breeding schools. If they are not in tidal water they are not breeding.   :popcorn)

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2013, 07:50:38 PM »
Closed seasons n no fishing zone are a good idea n could be extended, but with out enough people 2 Inforce them, they will still be ignored,

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2013, 08:12:03 PM »
I can make it easier. Closed seasons for bass and Barra apply to tidal waters only.

They are suppose to be in place to protect them when vulnerable in breeding schools. If they are not in tidal water they are not breeding.   :popcorn)

So Stage 4 and 5 males and females which are subject to the same stress and effects of handling should be fair game if they are separated from those tidal waters by a few hundred meters be it unimpeded, have a minor natural barrier ie. rock bar or some pissant weir which can be bypassed by decent downpour ?

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2013, 08:20:25 PM »
Can I ask two questions Steve?
1.  Why would you want the stocked fish in the Brisbane River to breed?
2.  Where, in the Brisbane River, can Bass breed?

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2013, 09:06:13 PM »
Can I ask two questions Steve?
1.  Why would you want the stocked fish in the Brisbane River to breed?
2.  Where, in the Brisbane River, can Bass breed?

1. Because they can and do and are now most likely doing it in every suitable stream/estuary from the Nerang to Caloundra
2. The 64 dollar question that can not be answered by me, doubt that anyone would be able to.

But they do breed why accept what we have, suitable fishways, habitat improvements, proper bankside management and you would have a return to something like the natural biodiversity of fish species.  The periodic entrainment of stocked fish with its boom and bust cycle is a poor substitute  IMHO

 

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2013, 05:07:10 AM »
So Stage 4 and 5 males and females which are subject to the same stress and effects of handling should be fair game if they are separated from those tidal waters by a few hundred meters be it unimpeded, have a minor natural barrier ie. rock bar or some pissant weir which can be bypassed by decent downpour ?

Better Bite than a bass in closed season ;)

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2013, 06:52:21 AM »
1. Because they can and do and are now most likely doing it in every suitable stream/estuary from the Nerang to Caloundra
2. The 64 dollar question that can not be answered by me, doubt that anyone would be able to.

But they do breed why accept what we have, suitable fishways, habitat improvements, proper bankside management and you would have a return to something like the natural biodiversity of fish species.  The periodic entrainment of stocked fish with its boom and bust cycle is a poor substitute  IMHO

 
A lot of "should", "could" and "might" in your opinions Steve.  The fact is that we don't know if Bass can breed in the Brisbane River.  We don't know if catching a Bass at Shines Road will stop it from breeding somewhere.  We don't know if any of the fish stocked into Wivenhoe and Somerset are suitable for breeding.  Yet, with all of these unkowns you want to extend the closed season for fish that are there because recreational anglers paid for them?  I don't understand you logic.  If you love bass so much, make a stand and stop fishing for them completely.

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2013, 08:31:50 AM »
I'm looking for feedback from all members to get a consensus, so that I can write a submission from the membership here. Am happy to have all comments / ideas thrown up to achieve this.

Keep them coming folks.  :Clap)

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Re: Qld Fisheries Review - Freshwater Closed Seasons
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2013, 09:05:22 AM »

2.  Where, in the Brisbane River, can Bass breed?

I would guess the answer would be the Bremer River. All the tiny Bass that are by catch while chasing biguns can't all be from spills from either Wivenhoe or moogerah. I'm talking about bass which are less than a coke can in length.

 

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