should there be a closed season on bream and perch

[butch]

hey people just wanting to here some feedback on what people think about a closed season on bream and perch to let them spawn most other fish have closed seasons and maybe bream and perch should too maybe it could increase the numbers of fish in our systems any way just let everyone know what u think about it would be interesting to know what some peopel think

[MinnowMan]

It would seem a good idea but one of the best times to catch (and release) BIG bream is while they're moving upstream to spawn, down side of that I guess is that not everyone releases them..

[butch]

would still be l;ike trout u can catch monsters in the last 2 weeks of the season but then u have to not chase them 4 a while

[IceManDude]

There should be some sort of closed season or restricted season at least.

Probably not too favourable as we all like to chase them.

Maybe restrictions apply to small waterways only, not so much the major river systems??

[butch]

could even just stop people fishing the areas where the bream spawn there will still be fish to be caught further down stream i think its something the dpi need to look further into

[Fishigan]

Well, it sure has worked for the snapper in SA.
We're just about to start a month long ban on them. At first, I was very sceptical about the snapper ban but now, after seeing the results, I'm converted.

[Justin Boyle]

Just make the bag limit zero for the whole year. That would suit me fine as like many people round here I dont' keep them anyway. Imagine the numbers after a season doing that. Would be awesome. They should make a list of all the threatened species out there and every year ban keeping those species completely. Put it on a rotation of maybe 7 years. Imagine how much that would help stocks.

I suspect that opinion wont be very popular to the masses though. Thing is though that sometimes difficult decisions like that need to be made.

[squidders]

Perhaps C&R only during spawning periods, similar to how Bass in NSW are restricted, would be a good idea.

[bream_mc]

i think that there shouldnt be bans, because, catching bream does not damage the numbers, its keeping them that hurts the stocks. So i think that they should either ban keeping them, or lift the legal limit to 30cm

[butch]

its not about taking the fish its more about interupting them while they are trying to do their thing and as for uping the size limit that just means more older fish being taken from our water ways which are the best breeders

[Hazy-1]

yer in the colder part of the year when the bream go off the chew;) at least in melb.

[butch]

there spawning right now here theres one stretch of the river that there all sitting in the sounder goes nuts as u go up that strech and theres allways a DohDohDohDoh load of boats in that strecth targeting them now every fish u get has eggs or milk releasing out of them when u land them would only need to be a closed season of 1 month not hard to find somthing else to target for that time not when it is the start of snapper season anyway

[kevvy7]

no there shouldn't.

[duffman]

if it aint broke why fix it

[crabcrusher]

Maybe just a catch and release over the spawning period, as most of us do anyway. There are very few times where the schools get absolutely hammered except for in some of the comps.

Bream are pretty prolific, and there are still plenty around, but who knows what may happen in the future.

[Timmah]

Hi guys,

This is my view on the whole thing. Unfortunatley i don't think having closed seasons really changes much because you will stil get idiots that go out and fish and run the luck of getting caught. I believe the best way is to be more forceful with fines and have more power to seize equipment of the idiots that totally disobey the rules. This can only be done if the funds are available to the right department. Imagine if there is some idiot that comes back in at he boat ramp with illegal fish whether it be size, quantity or out of season and he gets all his gear inlcuding boat impounded for a said time. I reckon this is one way to get peoples attention. We may all watch closely the fish we catch and how many we take home. Yes we have bag limits but is there really any need to get a full bag before heading home. Whats hapened to only take what you are going to eat. People just get greedy and this is the cause for our downfall in fish stocks.

We need avtivity's like fishing available for the future especially for our kids, if we start having to many closed seasons it will eventually work in the greenies favor and we will not be able to fish at all. Guys these are just my thoughts and re-marks would be interesting to here?

Cheers
Tim

[butch]

keep the opinions coming guys ;)

[Breamingwithjoy]

I clicked "Yes" but as many have said it is probably much more complicated that just having a closed season. I think education is the key, to be fair. I now consider myself a more educated fisherman having been involved in sportsfishing for Bream.

Personally I encourage most people that a re keen on fishing to check out BM because I respect the ethos of this group as a whole. C+R when practical, not everyone here will release every fish they catch but they certainly think long and hard before they keep a fish and usually only do so if the fish is seriouly injured.

Get me people thinking about fish in this way and you wont need a closed season. However until people are better educated the rest of use are most likely to be punished for their ingnorance.

Ross

[Alex]

I voted no only because:

a) I practice C&R

b) The spawning period for bream can stretch between 1 to 4 months depending on the weather conditions - more/less rain, water/air temperature, salinity, area/region etc. Not sure about EP.

I also against zero bag for bream as it won't be possible to fish bream comps as zero bag would mean zero posession (i.e. no fish in a livewell):(

More education is needed to change people's attitude (in general) towards sticking to bag/size limits and the importance of C&R for our and our kids fishing future.

Cheers,

Alex

[duffman]

ban only comercial neting during spawning , all big spawners all in same general area at once , they did it for snapper

[jake18]

i think that tournaments should not fish for spawning bream because they are very vulnerable to get caught as they are in mass schools and get absoloutly hammered by over 60 boats just as happened at malacoota this year when 2 tournys were held in two weeks the fishing pressure broke up the big schools a hell of alot which cant be good for our beloved bream.over 430 kg's of bream where caught in just one of the tournys How can a bream spawn when they are being caught and released on the other side of the estuary at the boat ramp and getting smashed with vibes all the time. after those two weeks captain Kev noticed alot of the big schools were atleast have the size they were before the comps so i believe that tournaments should not fish for spawning bream

[forsterfisho]

Yes in theory - no in reality.

Very hard to pin point when the bream species is spawning, as they are controlled by a range of variables that will change from system to system.
There would be a need for extensive research, which i cant see the DPI taking out do the range of variables.
Another problem that would be encountered by DPI on the water, would be that there just isnt enough fisheries officers to impose the regulations and police every waterway affected.

Nice idea, but isnt really possible in my oppinion

[Justin Boyle]

I also against zero bag for bream as it won't be possible to fish bream comps as zero bag would mean zero posession (i.e. no fish in a livewell):(

Alex

I've often wondered about that. A bag in the comps over here is 5 is it not? WA max is 4 fish and two over 40 I believe. That counts out a 5 bag and more than two really good fish in your bag.

[brad mcdonald]

wa bag limit varies. 4 in perth 5 on the south coast. another reason abt events will stay south i'd suggest.

i'd prefer a closed season for native species over trout. but i cant see anyway it would ever work.

fisheries officer - "you're fishing in a closed season mate. you're nicked"
fisho - "nah i'm after flathead, blowfish, tailor, grunter ..... etc"

[shano]

tring to encourage anglers to catch and release, then employ a closed season almost seems overkill. yes bream are a slow growing fish but there abundance and diversity along most river systems would suggest that most schools of fish would be untouched. Alot of the time theyre sluggish and reluctant to strike most presentations so if there were to be any caught it would be of little disturbance to the couple of hundred or thousand that are schooling.

u probly wont wana be pulling in too many fish ready to empty themselves anyway :eek:

[butch]

:d

[cwlalan]

Hmm... I think the best is to set the limit to 20-22cm(a smaller range) n set a bag limit for it. hence bream take long time to grow(10 years 30 cm?)n therefore big one should release n if ppl want to keep the little rats so be it(mostly they will throw them back due to the size)

so my proposal will be a restricting the range size between No smaller n bigger then 20-22cm + can keep anything over 45 !!n set a bag limit to 3 a day!! If this idea take into action, the chance of catching a keeper will be reduce by ... Heaps?!

[stacer420]

I voted no.

I like the bag limit idea, i.e, restrict to 5 bream per person with only 2 of those alowed to be over XXcm. And a massive increase in activity by fisheries etc. checking for licences, checking bags for compliance with size and bag limits and checking boat safety geat etc.