Changes to the recreational fishing possession limits in the Northern Territory will come into effect from 1 January 2010.
The Minister for Fisheries, Kon Vatskalis, said the changes include a reduction in the personal possession limit for black jewfish and Spanish mackerel from five to two.
“Recreational fishing is extremely popular in the Territory and an important part of our great lifestyle,” said Mr Vatskalis.
“These changes will help protect our valuable fish stocks and ensure that locals and visitors continue to experience high quality fishing into the future.
“The new measures have been approved by Government following extensive public consultation earlier this year.
“The changes will come into effect from 1 January 2010 to allow time for recreational fishers to become aware of the new rules.”
The changes include:
Personal possession limit of two for Black Jewfish and Spanish mackerel
Personal possession limit of 30 cherabin and/or red claw
Personal possession limit of 3 sharks of any species, including a prohibition on the taking of sawfish
Requirement to use turtle excluder rings in freshwater pots
Boat limit of 10 freshwater pots per vessel (when two or more people on board)
With reports of big numbers of Sails being raised and caught down at Dundee over the last month this was something we had to get into.
With limited knowledge on the art of billfishing with a grand total of one sail under the belt between three of us Myself, Mick & Chris from River & Reef Fishing Charters headed to Dundee hopes of seeing a few and maybe even catchin one.
Well our expectations were well and truly exceeded. Within the first 5 minutes of having teasers and baits in the water I had my first sail on which was landed, well that was easy, what is all the fuss about how hard it was to stay hooked up to these guys.
Well the next 45 minutes was a real learning curve, with every bait that hit the water being slammed and hookups being few and far between. With baits that still were frozen it was bedlam keeping up with the action but man it was fun. We managed a couple more for the morning before the rush slowed to nothing.
It wasn’t until the afternoon that the fish came back on the chew not with the same enthusiasm as the morning which made life a little easier. We finished the day with 7 boated and would have raised somewhere around 20 more.
Sunday Morning we were the first boat to hit the water and with the mornings before madness still fresh in our minds we were ready for whatever these sails could throw at us. Again as soon as the first bait hit the water we were on the first 2 hours of the day were a bit of a blur but we managed again to boat 7 sails and guessing another 20 or so were raised. i know over the 2 days we went through over 50 garfish baits so that will give an idea of how many sails were on the chew.
Possibly a weekend that will take sometime to repeat but we will certainly be keen to give it another bash.
