Sydney Harbour firing again for kingies. Let’s reduce the bag limit

[Pickles]

A top day on the Harbour today (Friday). Squid were easy on small jigs and in abundance and heaps of a Yakkas everywhere. I hope they stay that way for all the weekend fishos.

Interestingly there have been calamari, cuttlefish and arrow squid all in the same areas. 

Note the tag - be interesting to get feedback from fisheries when the tag was Putin and the growth rate. The tag had quite a bit of algae on it so quite a while ago I suspect.

The Kingies have been in small numbers but very solid fish. Today I boated 2, one at 86cm and one at 76cm. After the second fish we packed up, with 2 fish there is no need to catch any more. I suggest that the bag limit should be reduced from 5 to max of three fish per angler with one being over 85 cm.

What do others think.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Pickles

[James Clain]

They are huge! Looking forward to fishing! Nobody can eat 5 legal Kingfish unless they have a massive family, and since they don't freeze I agree with the idea to drop the bag limit

Edited November 29, 2019 by James Clain

[noelm]

No problem freezing Kingfish, not too sure about the bag limit, be careful what you wish for......

[zmk1962]

In my experience promptly bled and properly looked after (iced down) kingfish freeze well. Agree with @noelm keep bag limit where it’s at. 
 

cheers Zoran 

[Berleyguts]

Properly looked after, kingfish freeze well. I reckon the bag limit of 5 is about right. Especially given that I don’t bag out very often. There’s also a possession limit of 10(?), I think, which should stop people bagging out every single day.

[PaddyT]

bag limits the bag limit-

Possession limit: The maximum number of fish a person is allowed to have in their possession at any one time. This includes fish that are also stored elsewhere e.g. in fridge/freezer. For the following species or species groupings; Australian Bass and Estuary Perch, Bream and Tarwhine, Flathead species (except Dusky), Tailor, Luderick, Trevallies and Blue Swimmer Crab, the possession limit is twice the daily bag limit.

For all other saltwater species, including Dusky Flathead, the possession limit is the bag limit.

 

Copied from DPI- anyway back to original comment-I actually agree with what you are saying in principle BUT-its very dangerous to go to the likes of DPI and admit we actually have a problem with a fishery- they will take a very green point of view and screw us over. The new Deputy Fisheries guy has just come up from South OZ where he allowed a free for all by the commercial guys on just about everything but was responsible for whacking all kinds of restrictions on Rec fishos throughout the state. I dont think kings are in any particular trouble but like most fisheries probably could improve with some thoughtful regulation (maybe slot limits would be a good one), however changing the regulations we have is fairly pointless when the ones in place are barely monitored at all (how often are we all checked by a Fisheries Officer-my last time in NSW was over 20 years ago). I would argue this-SURE have a change but only in exchange for the DPI putting an additional 20 field officers in place. Its pointless having more regulation/laws unless you are willing to police them properly.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Drop bag limit to two and drop legal size to 60cms IMO. Personally I’d still release sub 65cm fish but I’ve seen too many rock fishos keeping undersized rats.

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, PaddyT said:

bag limits the bag limit-

Possession limit: The maximum number of fish a person is allowed to have in their possession at any one time. This includes fish that are also stored elsewhere e.g. in fridge/freezer. For the following species or species groupings; Australian Bass and Estuary Perch, Bream and Tarwhine, Flathead species (except Dusky), Tailor, Luderick, Trevallies and Blue Swimmer Crab, the possession limit is twice the daily bag limit.

For all other saltwater species, including Dusky Flathead, the possession limit is the bag limit.

 

Copied from DPI- anyway back to original comment-I actually agree with what you are saying in principle BUT-its very dangerous to go to the likes of DPI and admit we actually have a problem with a fishery- they will take a very green point of view and screw us over. The new Deputy Fisheries guy has just come up from South OZ where he allowed a free for all by the commercial guys on just about everything but was responsible for whacking all kinds of restrictions on Rec fishos throughout the state. I dont think kings are in any particular trouble but like most fisheries probably could improve with some thoughtful regulation (maybe slot limits would be a good one), however changing the regulations we have is fairly pointless when the ones in place are barely monitored at all (how often are we all checked by a Fisheries Officer-my last time in NSW was over 20 years ago). I would argue this-SURE have a change but only in exchange for the DPI putting an additional 20 field officers in place. Its pointless having more regulation/laws unless you are willing to police them properly.

Thanks for the clarification re the possession limits. I should have checked. 😬 It makes no difference for me - I rarely get to fish again until I’ve run out of what’s in the freezer anyway! 😂 I reckon the kingfish fishery in NSW is pretty good anyway... from all reports I’ve seen, the kings are on fire in Sydney anyway. 😉

[Rebel]

Great report. Super photos.

[kingie chaser]

 

20 hours ago, Pickles said:

I suggest that the bag limit should be reduced from 5 to max of three fish per angler with one being over 85 cm.

What do others think.

Definitely not!

Never heard of someone voluntarily asking for their fishing rights to be reduced 😳

Maybe we need more fishing sanctuarys & marine parks while were at it 🤪

In all seriousness if the DPI sees fit to reduce the size & bag limit of any species like say what they did with mullaway then so be it I'll happily abide by the rules.

I'm sure if YTK number drop they re asses the situation as they have done in the past.

Dam I can't even catch one of those bloody things let alone 5 😭

Edited November 30, 2019 by kingie chaser

[Keflapod]

Why don't the pros just buy shares in a kingfish fish farm and leave the wild stocks to us recs?

If a fish species is shown that it can be farmed successfully, wild stocks should be left alone (except to catch a few for gene-pool variation).

Then if there's an issue with fish numbers, then we can adjust bag/size limits for us recs.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Keflapod

[noelm]

Fish farms are not the miracle fix they seem, those farmed fish need to be fed, the most convenient food is Pilchards, 40,000 tonnes are taken every year is SA to feed the Tuna "farms"  unless sustainable food is sourced, we are just moving the problem, imagine if 40,000 tonnes of (say) Snapper was taken to feed a farm, it would be an outrage. We recs  can't just sit back and whinge about pros, no one owns the resource, they are not ours or the pros, they are a finite resource horribly managed at so many levels.

[kingie chaser]

41 minutes ago, noelm said:

Fish farms are not the miracle fix they seem, those farmed fish need to be fed, the most convenient food is Pilchards, 40,000 tonnes are taken every year is SA to feed the Tuna "farms"  unless sustainable food is sourced, we are just moving the problem, imagine if 40,000 tonnes of (say) Snapper was taken to feed a farm, it would be an outrage. We recs  can't just sit back and whinge about pros, no one owns the resource, they are not ours or the pros, they are a finite resource horribly managed at so many levels.

Any aquaculture is a good thing but yes just feeding them could affect the food chain depending on the farmed species.

These guys look like they are onto what your talking about noel-

https://www.skretting.com/en/settings/news/general-news/20-years-in-the-making-skretting-launches-breakthrough-tuna-diet/

 

Salmon is probably another major farmed fish & its not all bad there either-

http://www.tassal.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/fact-sheet-1.pdf

 

Im sure at time goes on these & other companies will want to be 'seen' as being more eco/marine footprint friendly.

 

Soon they will feed farmed fish with a vegan diet so then human vegans will be able to eat it as well ........🤣……..😂…….......

[kingie chaser]

9 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

In my experience promptly bled and properly looked after (iced down) kingfish freeze well. Agree with @noelm keep bag limit where it’s at. 
 

cheers Zoran 

They also cure & smoke great as well.

If I had the access to 5 of those fish I would have enough fish meals for myself for 6 months in various ways of cooking & preserving.

 

While it may not be Hiramasa this is the kind of price Kingfish pulls-

https://www.manettas.com.au/product/hiramasa-kingfish-side-sydney/

 

And a message to the OP.

 

I'll send you my phone number via PM if you feel like giving some free 1 meter kingfish away.

 

I will meet gladly meet you at the boat ramp on your return 

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by kingie chaser

[noelm]

As long as farms use "man made" food things will be better, but most don't, especially the Tuna industry, that is not really a farming process at all, it's simply catching and keeping fish until the desired size is attained, Pilchards are (currently) used because they can be netted in huge numbers by the farm owners, no need to buy anything to reap a huge reward, quite a bit of work has been done on Abalone, simply because of the high return, but as it stands, fish farming is not the golden goose, but it looks good on paper.

[noelm]

Some might remember when Kingfish were considered rubbish, with little commercial value, and rarely eaten by rec fishermen, I can remember cleaning one around 15kg one time and a local Flathead fisherman gave it a poke, and asked me why I was cleaning it, "you can't eat them" was his remark, how times have changed!

[kingie chaser]

1 minute ago, noelm said:

Some might remember when Kingfish were considered rubbish, with little commercial value, and rarely eaten by rec fishermen, I can remember cleaning one around 15kg one time and a local Flathead fisherman gave it a poke, and asked me why I was cleaning it, "you can't eat them" was his remark, how times have changed!

Flathead were a rubbish species as well.

How times have changed!!

 

Last time I was at the Sydney fish markets only a couple of weeks ago flathead fillets, skinned, trimmed & deboned were $36 per kg!

 

Has to make you think about what you are throwing back if you aren't over fishing your legal quota!!

[noelm]

I guess looking way into the future, will the day come when a great catch would be a few Pike, a Sweep and some Red Rock Cod? all while lamenting how dad used to fish in an old petrol powered boat and only had to travel 40 miles to get a feed

[Guest Guest123456789]

58 minutes ago, noelm said:

I guess looking way into the future, will the day come when a great catch would be a few Pike, a Sweep and some Red Rock Cod? all while lamenting how dad used to fish in an old petrol powered boat and only had to travel 40 miles to get a feed

I’ll be posting smoked toadfish recipes

[SquidMarks]

4 hours ago, noelm said:

I guess looking way into the future, will the day come when a great catch would be a few Pike, a Sweep and some Red Rock Cod? all while lamenting how dad used to fish in an old petrol powered boat and only had to travel 40 miles to get a feed

Give me red rock cod any day....... there is a reason why they are known as 'poor mans lobster'

[noelm]

I have eaten Red Rock Cod, and have yet to have one even remotely like Lobster, and I have eaten hundreds of Lobsters.

[masterfisho7]

Some fine kings weldone

[Keflapod]

21 hours ago, noelm said:

Fish farms are not the miracle fix they seem, those farmed fish need to be fed, the most convenient food is Pilchards, 40,000 tonnes are taken every year is SA to feed the Tuna "farms"  unless sustainable food is sourced, we are just moving the problem, imagine if 40,000 tonnes of (say) Snapper was taken to feed a farm, it would be an outrage. We recs  can't just sit back and whinge about pros, no one owns the resource, they are not ours or the pros, they are a finite resource horribly managed at so many levels.

Noel I see your point of view. Perfectly valid. Tuna do require vastly greater amounts of food due to their size, metabolism, growth rates, etc. Kingfish I expect are not in the same category but of course would be affected by the same ussues. If we can turn our whinges into suggestions, perhaps our scientists and government can leverage from them and make something happen. For example we can transform offcuts and other parts of fish/seafood that we humans don't consume, into a natural food source for the kingies or to feed baitfish that we can then feed to the kingies. The kingies would be a resource owned by the shareholders, (mainly pro fishermen?) so they would have a vested interest to manage their resource without relying on the currently horrible management. We are an ingenious species and there is always a way - it's just a matter of willingness, time and of course, money.

[blaxland]

wish I could get two in one session!

[codymanly]

I agree with you mate. Drop the bag limit. In my opinion it’s not necessary to keep more than we really need. I’d rather see more Kings in the ocean, I love releasing them to go fight another day. 
Don’t get me wrong, I love eating them fresh! But we’re all better off if there are more of them out there.

That’s my two cents. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by codymanly