vapor 0 Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 thanks for that vapor... im a sucker for a good sunrise/sunset pic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Goldys_Fishin 0 Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Top pics mate,That ship with the cranes looks a bit top heavy. I bet she rocks a bit in a bigger sea. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 cheers guys,they had already unloaded 2 cranes in perth!i think that ship was specially constructed to transport them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Del 245 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 have a good run did ya vapor? will have to catch you on the river again soon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pescados 1 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 Thanks vapor, nice pics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carps 1 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 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 ?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted April 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
coight 0 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 what boat you on buddy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fishnfreak 0 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrsScaleyTom 0 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 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 cranesNice pic's Vapor...So do you need a deck hand??? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrsScaleyTom 0 Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 I can cook real good meals to keep ya going.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 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: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Great post vapor, pretty informative too, keep them coming !If you came to the S/H diner cruise some prawns would be VERY welcome Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrsScaleyTom 0 Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Mmmm good info there your putting things in me head now!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fishnfreak 0 Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Thanks heaps for answering my7 questions, and i'll be sure to inform any people Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Del 245 Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pescados 1 Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Thanks vapor, very good post.have a karma/thank you point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kayakfisher 0 Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted May 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 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 worldim 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted May 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
afishyfish 4 Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 vapor wrote:you should see some of the flounder we get.. they have the perfect outline of a large prawn in their stomach lolyeah maybe, but then again Ive never seen BrentSthOz with the shape of a 6pack of "Woodies" in his stomach Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 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 lolnaw... 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.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rocknev 2 Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vapor 0 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 ah just messing around :)on another note..we start survey for the may trip on saturday night to start fishing on tuesday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brenton 637 Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrsScaleyTom 0 Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 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................... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Del 245 Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 i think you mean recreational prawn fishing..??dab light and bucket style..correct? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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