April Prawn Season - Gulf St Vincent

[vapor 0]

hey guys,i was going to take a heap of photos this trip but we were just way too busy.i did manage to get the skipper to take a few so i thought id share.prawns ready to be packedanother day at the officelast shot of the seasonsunrise over adelaidehuge rainbowdestroyer being tied up in the portship transporting cranes

[rocknev 2]

thanks for that vapor... im a sucker for a good sunrise/sunset pic.

[Goldys_Fishin 0]

Top pics mate,That ship with the cranes looks a bit top heavy. I bet she rocks a bit in a bigger sea.

[vapor 0]

cheers guys,they had already unloaded 2 cranes in perth!i think that ship was specially constructed to transport them

[Del 245]

have a good run did ya vapor? will have to catch you on the river again soon

[pescados 1]

Thanks vapor, nice pics.

[carps 1]

yep that ship with the cranes looks bloody odd looks like it should tip,, great photos though cheers..p.s i hear you blokes had a cracker season and prawns are gonna be going cheap true or false ??

[vapor 0]

we did have a pretty big trip for this gulf, spencer gulf stepped it up another notch though.at 11:30pm on the first night we were told that the guys in the spencer gulf had already caught 3.5 tonne and were calling the night off at 2:30am. usually we trawl from sunset to sunrise.the price we get will probably drop but weather or not thats passed on at the local shop would be anyones guess. they may be a few $/kg cheaper than this time last year i guess we just have to wait and see.keep in mind though when you go to buy seafood buy local!!i dont just say this because i catch them but the prawns caught in the 2 SA gulfs are second to none and your also supporting the local industry.we do work very hard to bring the product to the market. in a trip like the one we've just done sometimes you are lucky to get a few hours sleep a day and even if you are injured you just have to keep going.prawn fishing is the most intense fishery you can get into.

[coight 0]

what boat you on buddy?

[fishnfreak 0]

Can i ask the method of fishing undertaken by prawn fishermen? Is it basically a large net dragging weights to stirr up the prawns? Thats what i've been told, but not sure if true.What do you guys do with unwanted fish species and what rough percentage would you say leave the nets in good condition? Did you guys go through Pt Hughes recently? Just that i heard a prawn trawler did and buggered up the fishing this weekend.BTW, im not trying to cause trouble but rather, i am genuinely interested in the methods and what practices are in place to keep by-catch to a minimum.

[MrsScaleyTom 0]

vapor wrote:

hey guys,i was going to take a heap of photos this trip but we were just way too busy.i did manage to get the skipper to take a few so i thought id share.prawns ready to be packedanother day at the officelast shot of the seasonsunrise over adelaidehuge rainbowdestroyer being tied up in the portship transporting cranes

Nice pic's Vapor...So do you need a deck hand???

[MrsScaleyTom 0]

I can cook real good meals to keep ya going....

[vapor 0]

fishnfreak wrote:

Can i ask the method of fishing undertaken by prawn fishermen? Is it basically a large net dragging weights to stirr up the prawns? Thats what i've been told, but not sure if true.What do you guys do with unwanted fish species and what rough percentage would you say leave the nets in good condition? Did you guys go through Pt Hughes recently? Just that i heard a prawn trawler did and buggered up the fishing this weekend.BTW, im not trying to cause trouble but rather, i am genuinely interested in the methods and what practices are in place to keep by-catch to a minimum.

theres a lot of bull spread by people that have no idea what they are talking about, if you think about it we want to catch just prawns..the more crap in the net the less efficient the net is and the more the prawns get damaged and the less we catch.the amatuers always point the finger at professionals and because we trawl using nets people make a lot of assumptions that they push on to other people, they see nets hanging up with big chains on them and assume the worst.we actually have a lower bycatch ratio than nearly all other fisheries including amatuers with hooks and sinkers, our nets are designed to catch prawns not scalefish.also we trawl at a speed of 3 knots, not exactly racing around scooping up everything in our path.we also have designated areas where we fish and these are VERY highly regulated and are mainly areas of sandy or weedy bottom. our nets are checked by the fisheries for headline length and mesh size.even the horsepower of our engines is restricted.we never go anywhere near reefs, the prawns just dont hang around them and it would just shred our nets.the hopper design on the trawlers allows us to drop our catch into a hopper full of water to keep bycatch alive and within 10 minutes it is back over the side. we recently did a survey with SARDI to examine exactly what our bycatch ratio is and of what species and there is always research and trials of new gear to reduce unwanted bycatch.i dont mean it to sound like im getting up anyone but theres a lot of hearsay out there about what we do that is just plain wrong.it just seems that after every trip someone complains that they didnt catch a feed of fish because we wiped them all out.this type of fishing isnt just a job, its a lifestyle and we fish for the future.here is a photo of an unsorted catch:clicky here is a diagram of how our nets work:

[afishyfish 4]

Great post vapor, pretty informative too, keep them coming !If you came to the S/H diner cruise some prawns would be VERY welcome

[vapor 0]

haha you wish AFF, think ill be out fishing when thats on anyway.coight: im on the Candice Ki should mention there are no large weights dragging on the bottom, if you look in that diagram in my last post the boards are set to a certain angle so that water flow spreads them and therefore the net too, there isnt really anything being dragged directly along the bottom or stirring anything up.the prawns rise up out of the mud on the dark of the moon and thats when we target them.

[MrsScaleyTom 0]

Mmmm good info there your putting things in me head now!!!!

[fishnfreak 0]

Thanks heaps for answering my7 questions, and i'll be sure to inform any people

[spook 0]

thanks for the information living in wallaroo i see you guys all the time my main grounds are bird the boiler and riley so theres no crossover with you but will keep an eye out for the candice kspook

[afishyfish 4]

vapor wrote:

the prawns rise up out of the mud on the dark of the moon and thats when we target them.

I'd rise up out of the mud pretty quickly too if I saw that coming at me

[Del 245]

I also worked the Prawn trawlers for a short time. based from lincoln. the bi-catch is VERY small. of course you do get some deaths of fish in the nets but you eat fresh fish almost daily. the work is hard and for long hours as Vapor said. sunset to sunrise is netting.. hours before and after is fixing/repairs/maintenance. you have breakfast at 4pm.. and dinner at 7am... you sleep 3-4 maybe 5hours a day if your lucky.your pay.. is never guaranteed. and you bi catch is strictly regulated on what you can take off the boat. Morten bay bugs, squid/cuttles and prawns ( if i remember rightly) the prawn fisher has a short season and tight guidelines. id say they are the least of your concerns as a rec fisherman.

[pescados 1]

Thanks vapor, very good post.have a karma/thank you point.

[afishyfish 4]

For anyone interested in Statistics, here's some info, part of it collected by vapors boat http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/_media/pdf/sardi_internet/our_org/publications/research_report_series/2009/No328_GSV_prawn_fishery_StatusReport2007-08.pdf

[kayakfisher 0]

I worked unloading the prawn boats once and that was hard work! I'm guessing that they work that hard the whole time they are at sea. The only things we unloaded were prawns, squid and bugs. I was suprised at the amount of bugs actually. Quite a nice bycatch if you ask me!

[rocknev 2]

im starting to wonder if the bumper ammount of prawns about is because of the lack of snapper around.normally this time of year, the rocks should be firing just about every trip, but im on 9 blank trips in a row at the moment.and talking with a few blokes at work that also rockhop, they are not having much luck niether.

[vapor 0]

unloading is the easy bit :Pnot sure nev, as far as i know a lot of snapper follow the prawns around.one of the pro's here is always asking us what the surveys were like in certain areas so he can work out if its worth the fuel going out there or notDel is right, prawn fishing in these 2 gulfs are 2 of the most intense fisheries in the world

[rocknev 2]

vapor wrote:

unloading is the easy bit :Pnot sure nev, as far as i know a lot of snapper follow the prawns around.one of the pro's here is always asking us what the surveys were like in certain areas so he can work out if its worth the fuel going out there or notDel is right, prawn fishing in these 2 gulfs are 2 of the most intense fisheries in the world

im thinking along the lines of snapper eat prawns....ive used prawns as bait before, and snapper smash em pretty hard.more prawns mean the lack of snapper perhaps?

[vapor 0]

ahh i see, i thought you meant 'im starting to wonder if the bumper ammount of prawns about is because of the lack of snapper around' more literally. but yeah everythings in a frenzy after the prawns, you should see some of the flounder we get.. they have the perfect outline of a large prawn in their stomach lol

[afishyfish 4]

vapor wrote:

you should see some of the flounder we get.. they have the perfect outline of a large prawn in their stomach lol

yeah maybe, but then again Ive never seen BrentSthOz with the shape of a 6pack of "Woodies" in his stomach

[rocknev 2]

vapor wrote:

ahh i see, i thought you meant 'im starting to wonder if the bumper ammount of prawns about is because of the lack of snapper around' more literally. but yeah everythings in a frenzy after the prawns, you should see some of the flounder we get.. they have the perfect outline of a large prawn in their stomach lol

naw... i was meaning, the snapper aint here yet, thinking because of the bumper crop of prawns that are elsewhere, they snapper are busy feeding where the prawns might be, but then again... maybe the snapper just aint coming this year at all up this way.ive read elsewhere on here that snapper pros are hitting other areas and the price is dropping per kg.pro mate is really struggling to catch snapper in local waters... and he knows where to go. he put a long line out the other night, and it caught just 3 snapper...he barley broke even on his fuel and bait costs....

[vapor 0]

theres just too many prawns in that gulf at the moment nev, thats why people arent catching any.dont worry tho us guys that catch the prawns get the blame for the snapper going missing

[rocknev 2]

vapor wrote:

theres just too many prawns in that gulf at the moment nev, thats why people arent catching any.dont worry tho us guys that catch the prawns get the blame for the snapper going missing

hahahaha... not blaming you matey... its your job, and i respect that.

[vapor 0]

ah just messing around :)on another note..we start survey for the may trip on saturday night to start fishing on tuesday.

[brenton 637]

great post Vapor,i believe the prawn fishery in this state is "now" one of the best managed fisheries about.Do you ever pull up stuff that is dumped to make reefs,washing machines etc. cheers brenton

[MrsScaleyTom 0]

Prawn fishing in South Aussie SHOULD be made legal!!!!! Like every other State!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I love prawns, so do many of you, if you know where to fish them then so be it!MAKE IT LEGAL...................

[Del 245]

i think you mean recreational prawn fishing..??dab light and bucket style..correct?