Fish limits

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milt

New member
Just out of interest what is your take on the present fish limits recreational anglers are permitted to take. From what i have read they are spot on the mark ;) and allow you to take enough home to feed your family if your that way inclined as I am. The only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the amount of tuna and yellowtail kingfish anglers are permitted to take?

Can anyone shed some light on why the limit is 10 on these big hefty fish. Surelly a limit of 2 fish is more than sufficient for several adequate feeds? Perhaps they are that abundant in SA that it doesn't matter. Or is it because anglers have to travel a vast distance to get amongst these fish and not many do?

Milt,
 
L

Land Locked

Senior Member
milt,

I feel that possibly the limits are too high. If shad were limited to two, would you not try n catch bigger fish to fill your limit? 10 of most species is a HUGE amount of fish, even for feeding a family. There are 4 adults and 3 small children in my household that need to be fed every day, 1 yes one medium sized snoek is more than enough for a meal. If we were having shad for supper the lmit of 4 would be more than adequate. One large tuna would last for weeks.

So in closing, the limits are more than generous.

LL
 
V

Visvinger

Senior Member
I have to agree. I don't see the point in taking 10 of the same species of fish (or even 10 different kinds of fish) home with you after a fishing trip. At the moment it's just me and my wife (no kiddies yet) in the house and for me to even take home my quota of 4 Shad is too much for the two of us - after all, frozen shad just ain't the same as a freshly caught one.

So ja LL, you're spot on that most quotas are more than generous enough
 
M

milt

New member
I think for smaller fish that freeze well the limits are sufficient, although in most cases 4 nice sized fish of about 2kg will do nicelly. I just don't understand the reasoning of having a limit of 10 for BIG fish, I mean what does one do with 10 tuna of about 30-40kg and above? Sure it freezes well but realistically speaking what a waste of an awesome fish. The excuse used over here by many anglers when they have caught there limit is "I have a big a family to feed meaning all there extended relatives" but for my mind give the lazy arses the joy of angling using a rod and reel and they can catch it themselves.

Milt,
 
O

Old Sea Dog

New member
milt wrote:
Can anyone shed some light on why the limit is 10 on these big hefty fish.
Click to expand...
As far as I know the recreational limits have nothing to do with the amount of fish that one needs to feed oneself or your family. It is simply based on the calculated sustainability of harvesting the present fish population.

The bottom line is that it seems to work. You hear more and more reports of skiboaters on the south coast catching (and releasing) seventy-four, when there was a time when these fish were nowhere to be found. The ban on catching sevs, commercial and recreational, seems to have turned things around for this specie and my guess is that we might be able to take one per day again one of these days.

Pelagics like our mackerel species (cuda and natal snoek) along with tuna are examples of fish that are not over harvested at the moment and of which large numbers still regularly and seasonally appear on our coast. Hence there is no reason to severely restrict the numbers on these fish. And, yes, they do freeze well, so if you get a chance to take your limit you have fish to eat for a long time.

 
 
A

Ajay

Senior Member
Hey Milt---The Yellowtail do not get nearly as chunky this side of the world as Oz and NZ.NZ fish hold pretty much all the world records I think.Fish over 10 or 12kgs here are definitely not abundant.They tend to head offshore to seamounts and deeper waters. There are some about but average size tail are 3or4 kg to 7or8 kg range . Fair amolunt of 4 5 and 6,s here in the Cape.Guys doing wreck fishing up the east coast gets some bigger ones up to 20 kgs and obvoiusly 10 of those on a day for one angler would be some achievment. 10 X 5kg fish is enough of an achievment for me and definitely an exception. My fish all disappears down family and friends throats with little complaint and absolutely never any wastage.

 The tuna grounds are out of range for me at around 20 to 40 miles off the Point but what unfortunately happens fairly regularly is for recreational skippers of the bigger boats able to get out there, sell part of their catch to offset fuel costs. More guys do it than dont but if the policing of the fish buying was stricter with nasty penalties for law breakers , one might see a lot more barbless hooks out in the deep for those big yellowfin and  longfin.
 
M

milt

New member
Hey fellas,

Ajay absolutelly agree 10 x 5kg fish is enough to take every now and again to have a bri and feed your family and friends ;). Its just the tuna limit thats permitted that in my view encourages people to be able to sell there catch and take way more than they need. Over here the limit for kingfish is 2 per person and in most areas the fish has to be over 60cm, tuna in most cases here is 2 per angler.

Old sea dog, the only reason i suggest the limit should be less is because its excessive to take the limit of 10 big fish even though they freeze well, conservation is the key for managing a good fishery for our kids to enjoy as well  ;)

Milt,
 
M

miles

Sealiner
Hiya

Milt, as mentioned before, our yellowtail stocks are extremely healthy. We have the trek-net fisherman that wipe out breeding stock, but we don't employ the devastatingly effective fish-traps that near wiped out Australia's yellowtail kingfish population.

Similarly, our snoek stocks are also in very good shape. So, i can quite fully understand that 10 fish for these two species are acceptable. Snoek is VERY popular here in Cape Town. If you take one for yourself, one for your parents, one for your in-law's and distribute the rest to your neighbours and friends, its quite easy to see that NOTHING of your 10 fish will go wasted. Besides, you'll end up being a very popular guy in the neighborhood!!:D

Tuna. Sadly, this is what REALLY happens. To go tuna fishing, you need a large boat, which is powered by large motors. These things are heavy on fuel, with fuel usage of anything from 300ltrs to 800ltrs per trip. At R7.00 a liter for petrol, it costs Between R2000.00 to R4000.00 just in fuel, not even counting the bait or out-board oil for two stroke motors, launching fees, etc, etc. Many anglers can't afford to go tuna fishing 4 times a month, with expenses like these. They then turn to selling their fish. This is ILLEGAL, but with so little policing, most simply couldn't be bothered. By allowing anglers to take 10 Yellowfin per person, the powers that be are actually creating a means by which recreational guys can exploit the system. I whole-heartedly agree, that the limit should be dropped to 2 tuna per angler, possibly one YF and one Longfin.

How-ever, our Yellowfin stocks have EXPLODED over the last 3-4 years. MCM banned all foreign long-lining vessels, which targetted tuna, from our waters. This resulted in a HUGE increase in our YF stocks. Six years ago, a good trip with 4 anglers would be 10 longfin and 4 yellowfin for the day. The last few seasons, that same catch would've been considered a bad day!!

Seeing as our tuna stocks have increased HUGELY, i don't see the limits being reduced.......:(:(

Regards

miles
 
K

Karma

Senior Member
Hi

 

Just wondering why it is that fish greater than a certain size are targeted?  Is it not that spawning fish is generally the legal limit and those that are not yet ready to reproduce are protected?  Any thoughts

 

ciao

K

 
 
V

Visvinger

Senior Member
Namibia's got it right in my opinion. They've got min and max size restrictions for their Cob and Steenbras. You're only allowed to keep 2 Cob longer than 70cm as part of your entire catch (please correct me if I'm wrong :)) and steenbras it's 60cm.

That way the fish gets a chance to spawn at least once in their lifetime (if not more)
 
M

milt

New member
Completelly Reefman,

Fish limits should be a few points higher to atleast let them enjoy some love making before they make it to my dinner plate ::H.

Miles thanks for the interesting comments, it can get pricy this tuna fishing business I've been out on a friends boat and its not uncommon to have a fuel bill upwards of $250 AU to split between 3 of us. Its a shame its not policed over there :X Do you ever come accross Southern Bluefin Tuna they make for excellent sushi "but thats another story" :p

Just out of interest what type of fish is a Snoek?

Regards Milt,
 
R

Reefman

Sealiner
2 types - the real SNOEK is a Cape fish - known worldwide as a barracouta. Thyrsites atun. Found only in Cape waters and West coast.

NATAL "SNOEK" - this is a colloquial name for the Queen Mackerel, known worldwide as the Spanish Mackerel. Scomberomorus plurilineatus.

 

 
 
M

miles

Sealiner
Hiya

Milt, snoek is an pelagic species which is very similar to your barracuda. They travel in vast schools of hundreds of thousands, average 2-5kg's and are caught with handlines from commercial boats. They offer possibly the cheapest source of protein and are VERY, VERY tasty. Catch's of 1000-2000 snoek for a 12 man boat for a morning is not that uncommon.

Bluefin tuna use to frequent our inshore waters in the 1960-1970's. HUGE 200-400kg fish were caught in Fish Hoek Bay, less than 100m from shore. Unfortunately, these fish dis-appeared in the early 80's. I have heard of the bigger fishing vessels catching young 40-50kg bluefin about 100nm+ off-shore.

Regards

miles
 
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