CRC Reef postgraduate student Ms Renae Tobin, from James Cook University, shed light on the conflict between commercial and recreational barramundi fishers at the ‘Fishing for More’ student stakeholder workshop on 9 November.

Prompted by media articles describing a fight for barramundi in creeks and estuaries used by both commercial and recreational fishers, Renae decided to find out how fishers really felt about each other.

"The message I heard from recreational fishers is that they think there is a problem with competition from commercial fishers, but it doesn’t affect them personally. This suggests that they may be hearing through the media about
problem which doesn’t actually exist for most recreational fishers,” she said.

While recreational fishers thought that commercial gillnet fishers had a large impact on fish stocks and bycatch, recent research suggests this is not the case. Renae thinks the main problem is that the results of scientific research
are not getting through to fishers, and that better communication between scientists and the public needed.

Renae interviewed 524 recreational fishers at boat ramps and fishing clubs between Hinchinbrook and Ayr in 2003. She also talked to commercial gillnet fishers and estuarine charter fishers.She is now investigating whether commercial gillnet fishing actually affects the number of barramundi caught by recreational fishers, by comparing recreational catch in rivers and estuaries open to commercial fishing, to catch where no commercial fishers are allowed. She hopes to have the results of this study by early next year.

This was one of the subjects for discussion at the ‘Fishing for More’ workshop. Stakeholders including commercial and recreational fishers, fisheries and Marine Park managers, Indigenous people, tourism operators and conservation groups discussed the implications of seven research projects relating to fisheries in
Queensland and the Torres Strait.

For more information visit Renae's task page
Or contact Renae Tobin, renae.tobin@jcu.edu.au

Renae Tobin won a CRC Reef Travel Award to the Australian Society of Fish Annual Symposium and Conference in Adelaide in September.

CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd

PO Box 772 Townsville
Queensland 4810 Australia
Telephone: 61 47298400
Facsimile: 6147298499
Email: Info@crcreef.com
Website: www.reef.crc.org.au

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CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd was established and is supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program. Its mission is to plan, fund and manage world-leading science for the sustainable use of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. CRC Reef is a joint venture between Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation, James Cook University, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland Seafood Industry Association, and Sunfish Queensland Inc. The University of Queensland is an associate member.

December 2004 In this Issue:

IS THERE REALLY A BATTLE FOR BARRA?

December 2004
In this Issue: