Afant News

InDepth #6

Hi everyone

This newsletter is to provide you with brief details of some of the latest developments in recreational fishing in the Territory. There is plenty going on with boat ramps and other projects at the moment and there have been some developments around the closure of the Finniss River and Bynoe Harbour to commercial barramundi fishing.
You will probably also receive this issue of InDepth by mail as we are contacting all AFANT members to advise about changes to the way we issue our newsletters and to check contact details.
Don’t forget, if there are any issues you particularly want information on, give me a call on 8945 6455 and I’ll try to include it in these Email InDepths.

Regards
Chris Makepeace
Executive Officer

AFANT Email InDepth #6
20 April 2009

MINISTER USES EMERGENCY POWERS TO CLOSE FOG BAY TO COMMERCIAL BARRAMUNDI FISHING
For the past few weeks we have been receiving reports, photographs and video of a commercial barramundi fisher working in the Finniss and Little Finniss Rivers area of Fog Bay catching large numbers of juvenile sawfish in his gill nets. Photographs appeared to show that these fish were being killed by having their necks broken after they had been removed from the net. Further photographs showed dozens of dead sawfish on a mud bank at the mouth of the Little Finniss River.
There was media coverage of these incidents and AFANT indicated to the NT Government that steps had to be taken to protect these fish, particularly as we have been calling for there to be strict no take regulations for recreational fishers on all species of sawfish. Fisheries Minister Kon Vatskalis shared our concerns and, when it was evident last week that these fish were continuing to be killed, he used his powers to take fast and decisive action to implement a closure of the commercial barramundi fishery in Fog Bay inside a line from Point Blaze to Point Patterson.
The closure will be in place for 90 days and the Minister has indicated that a permanent closure fulfilling Government’s commitment to close the Finniss River/Bynoe Harbour area will be finalized during the closure period. AFANTs position is that the final closure should extend from Point Blaze to Charles Point running outside Dum In Mirri Island and the temporary closure line is close to that for the Fog Bay/Finniss end of this area.
The permanent closure is accompanied by the buy back of at least three commercial barramundi licences and that process is well underway.

EAST ARM BOAT RAMP NEARING COMPLETION
Although there were some delays due to wet season rain, the new boat ramp at East Arm is nearing completion and we expect it to be open in the near future. The ramp and pontoon are already in place and the car park has been sealed. Toilets and some other facilities are still under construction but the ramp may be made available for use while this work is concluded.
The two-lane ramp and pontoon look good and it will be interesting to see how effective they are in speeding up launch and retrieve operations.

WORK ON OTHER RAMPS AROUND THE TERRITORY
Late last year AFANT worked with the NT Government and engineering consultants GHD to conduct a review of all major public boat ramps in the NT. The review looked at repairs and maintenance issues as well as usage requirements. The review was very comprehensive and involved site inspections of a total of 38 ramps ranging from Gove in the north to King Ash Bay in the south and from Port Roper in the East to Big Horse Creek in the West. A range of repairs and maintenance needs were identified as well as new and upgrading work on some ramps.
The Recreational Fishing Access Working Group (RFAWG) is looking at what work is required and setting priorities for that work. We will be tackling the work in stages and the following tasks have been agreed for Stage 1 which will be done this year:
• Corroboree Billabong — repair the bottom of the ramp and seal the area at the head of the ramp.
• Saltwater Arm — replace the ramp surface on top of old ramp, raise ramp level at same time so it is not recessed into the bank, raise the apron at the head of the ramp, bring in some fill to create a better and bigger area for parking.
• King Ash Bay – extend the ramp to remove the drop off at the toe.
• Dinah Beach — redesign the car park to increase the number of parking spaces.
The RFAWG is currently considering projects that will be carried out in Stage 2 of this program and these will be finalised over the next few months.
In addition to the review, a number of other projects have or are being carried out under the umbrella of RFAWG. These include:
• Corroboree Billabong — toilets have now been installed.
• Adelaide River boat ramp — the car park is to be sealed, access to toilets is to be provided and water will be made available so people can wash mud etc. off before getting into their vehicles.
• Dinah Beach — the proposed pontoon has been redesigned and tenders will be let shortly.
• Palmerston boat ramp — the NT Government has committed $4 million to upgrade the ramp and associated facilities and a planning group is being established under RFAWG to plan and oversight this redevelopment.
It really looks as though we are now making real progress on what was previously a pretty poor situation with our boat ramps and we’ll continue to work with RFAWG and the NT Government to keep things moving.

KEEP SKINS ON FILLETS UNTILL YOU GET HOME
Northern Territory Police Marine and Fisheries Enforcement officers are working to enforce the regulation that requires fishers to retain the skins on the trunks and fillets of all fish until they have reached their permanent place of residence. The rule is set out in NT Fisheries Regulations 46B(6) and it states “A person must not have possession of a trunked fish or a fillet unless the skin is retained on it.” This regulation has been in place for some time and it was included to allow easy identification of fish species when police are checking possession limits and other provisions.
The issue of skinning fish to eat while people are camping has been raised and there is a further regulation that allows for this. Regulation 46B(7) states “It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subregulation (6) if the defendant proves that the fish was processed for immediate consumption by the defendant or another person in the company of the defendant.” Assuming a meal is being prepared, it should be quite easy to use this defence.

KNOW YOUR REC FISHING RULES AND REGULATIONS
While we’re on the issue of recreational fishing regulations, there is a revised version of the NT Recreational Fishing Controls reference booklet that was produced by NT Fisheries last year. Be aware that the cover of the new edition looks very similar to earlier printings so check that you have one dated May 2008 on the Contents page. If you don’t have a copy of the current edition, you can pick one up from most tackle shops, the AFANT office or get one from NT Fisheries phone 08 8999 2144.

REVISED NATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE FOR RECREATIONAL FISHING IN AUSTRALIA
Recfish Australia released the revised code of practice late last year. It updates the previous code of practice that was developed in 1995. A copy of the code is being posted with this newsletter. It is also available on the AFANT website at www.afant.com.au.