Compleat Angler 72 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 We have been waiting for this news to break. I got a phone call this morning to say there was a report on ABC Radio today and this was on the net.Cockle season closure fearedPosted 1 hour 46 minutes ago The Southern Fishermen's Association says the Goolwa cockle season could be closed next year if there is not a growth in stock numbers.The South Australian Government has halved this season's Goolwa cockle allowable catch to 300 tonnes and the harvesting season will begin a month later in December.Association president Gary Hera-Singh says it is hoped the measures could help prevent a crisis in the industry."We are very concerned about the future of cockles, particularly with continued low flows and the impact that's having on our cockle stocks," he said."We believe that if we don't get on top of over-harvesting in the last four to five years then we expect the stocks to be in serious crisis, possibly even a closure of the season next year if things don't start to turn around."Fisheries Minister Paul Caica says the Government will do what it takes to help cockle stocks recover."Well we'll have to have a look at what will occur during this current season, the reality is that we will have to monitor how this season goes before we contemplate ... a further reduction next season," he said."We will do whatever is necessary to make sure we have a sustainable cockle industry going forward in this state."Tags: fishing-aquaculture, goolwa-5214, mount-gambier-5290 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coonta kinta 1 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 $20.00 a kilo for Cockles anyone?Hard to believe we would just throw them away at the end of a days fishing huh? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blightmadi69 0 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 great...... this will mean price goes up nearly matching gold prices ...... will have to second mortgage my house to continue fishing ...... ( i know we have to preserve our stocks though ) Blighty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
samboman 319 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Whiting will take SP's Also Ultrabite gets them Sambo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
davetheslave 0 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Green banana prawns can be bought from coles/woolies for as little as $14 a kilo making them cheaper than cockles and they will catch almost anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Del 245 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 plenty of alternative and viable baits to be used to target the fish that take cockles. ive seen the cockle bars down near my shack decimated over the years and now its nearly impossible to get a bucket of them for personal usage from the very same bars i use to pick from as a kid and sell for pocket money to the guys next door. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
statesquider 0 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Hopefully they shut the fishery down for a year to let stocks recover a bit although it will probably take longer than that. Its a pity that they are suffering in numbers as they are now, hopefully with better management numbers will improve! Although I use a fair few cockles I prefer using squid tentacles as bait as they don't get pinched as easily and free compared to cockles! Although if you look at how much I lose on squid jags per year... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SandyWhiting 0 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Thats just it, there is plenty of alternate baits that can be used and work.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spinyeel 2 Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 The pro's continue to rape the Younghusband peninsular to satisfy the Yuppie restaurant's interstate.The bag limit has already been halved for amateurs and the prices have skyrocketed.Who are the scapegoats here? Welcome to Australia."The Land of the Banned".End of rant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 yep the old Recs get done over yet again by the Government who looks after the Pros and shafts us at the same time Now we have to pay premium price for a local product because of interstate demand. Remember what happened to the price of Crayfish. Its about to happen to cockles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
T BONE 1 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 It really needs to be done though, was down there the 2nd day after the opening & comparing it too last year we where shocked. Hardly any legals left at all & after 5 hours could not even manage 300. In previous years there used to be heaps of big ones around & was very easy to get your bag limit. Now its all just small ones with the very odd legal mixed in, a sad site. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 T BONE wrote:It really needs to be done though, was down there the 2nd day after the opening & comparing it too last year we where shocked. Hardly any legals left at all & after 5 hours could not even manage 300. In previous years there used to be heaps of big ones around & was very easy to get your bag limit. Now its all just small ones with the very odd legal mixed in, a sad site.yet if i go to where is get my goolwa cockles, i can get 300 in less than an hour, and not one will be undersize...they will all be huge, and the last lot, we didnt get anything under 80mm... biggest was 97mm, or almost 4 inchs in the old scale.they are that big, that after salting them to toughen then up, we get 3 -4 baits out of one cockle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest davidm#2 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 when i was at coffin bay in october, gunyha beach had really big ones, not enough to harvest them but they were huge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted November 18, 2009 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 this is mine and a workmates effort.807 cockles weighing 21kg in 2 hrs...that was before the limit was reduced.we legally could have got 1200, but carrying them back up the beach is an effort.so far, ive only used a couple of bags of these.... , so i dont need to go back and get some more.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.