pignosegrunter

I

itsarap

Senior Member
hello

I'm in a bit of a twist. let me explain.

We went out to NSRI in Wilderness on Friday night and found 4 guys fishing to the right of me, the one guy hooked into a massive 15 kg pignosegrunter (white steenbraas) and then into a 9 kg pignosegrunter(white steenbraas).

I went to them to have a look and found that the man was very reluctant to talk to me,after i asked him, are we allowed to keep them, and if so how many are we allowed to keep. He then became a bit aggressive with me when i stated that i would have let one of them go. He then said in a strong tone of voice that i should go back to my spot and that they are serious fishermen and had no time to talk to me. So i replied and said not a prob and said to my self with the intention that he must here me that i should phone parks-board and find out what the story is regarding the species.

i then pretended to be on my cell and found that the guys where nervously looking in my direction and then pact up and left.

as far as i know we are not allowed to catch pignosegrunter (its an endangered species)

but my local fishing shop then informed me that we are allowed to catch them only one and it must be 60 cm or above.

now if thats the case then why did those fisherman pack up so quickly.

can anybody help with some info regarding this issue.

thanx :fishn
 
M

Mangi

Sealiner
Probably someone who did not know the law, they usually get anxious when you start questioning them. Pignosegrunter aka White Steenbras: 60cm minimum size, limit of 1 per day per angler/ permit.
 
G

G Spot

New member
Well done, I am sure the guys knew what the bag limits were and would have continued fishing if you had not queried them. If not, I am sure they would have gone back home and done some research for themselves. The entire process has educated a number of anglers. As reponsible anglers, fishing for the future, we should contiously challenge those out there who are breaking the law.
 
G

G Spot

New member
On another point, the 60cm size is measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the extreme end of the tail, and not the fork length which many serious anglers and scientists use to measure fish.
 
A

Aqua Dude

New member
Awesome stuff. I'm sure that these guys knew that what the were dong was illegal.

Just a question that comes to mind. If one gets caught without a valid recreational fishing permit. What are the penalties? I've heard of people having all of their fishing gear confiscated, but are there fines in place and what would the cost of such a fine be?
 
G

G Spot

New member
On another interesting point on Pignose Grunter, at 65cm FL these fish become sexually mature and at that point in time they are estimated to be 7 years old. The current size limit is 60cm full length which means MCM are allowing us to catch fish which are not even sexulally mature.

Then on the size of the fish, I see you estimated the fish to weigh approximately 15kg. Well the SADSAA All Tackle record is 15,5kg and was set way back in 1986 by Piet Els in Kei Mouth.

On the question on what the fines are, I have not heard of any minimum or maximum fines laid down in the act, but I have heard that equipment and vehicles have been confiscated, but don't know what ever happens in the end. Just wish they would confiscate the commercial boats when they are found to be breaking the law, it seems that they always get away.
 
I

itsarap

Senior Member
Thanx for the replies guys.:SSS

it just tics me off when fishermen complain of how slow the fishing is, and give the blame to the Japanese trawlers, which i believe has a big role in our dwindling fish stocks, but its not them alone its the guys that don't respect the bag limits be it on-shore or off-shore, And the best part is when its fishermen that now everything of fishing and get caught breaking the bag limits. I'm sure they know what they doing. what scares me is that they do it willingly with out thinking twice.

I have two boys that i would love to see catch a cob of decent size. I'm just scared that the day will come that we are only allowed to catch sand sharks and barbels if it carries on the way it does now::cavmn

 o well glad i could scare this guy off :ssswim:

 
 
A

Aqua Dude

New member
I would honestly let such a good specimen go. If the record stands at 15.5kg and I caught a 15kg and it was still alive and well I would take a photo of it, revive the fish and let it live to fight another day. Who knows, maybe a fellow angler will get the chance to catch the same fish a short while later at heavier weight and find it to be a new record. May be an unofficial record if not affiliated, but hell it would still be a dream come true to catch a fish like that.
 
I

itsarap

Senior Member
@ G-spot: as i said i think its around 15 kg, the reason for this is because i caught one last year this time and it was 10.96 kg and it was allot smaller then the one he had.

any way i agree with you in every way to regards bag limits and size. But i must add that i have also caught one shad over bag limit but i slide them live with the hopes to catch something bigger. :wfish
 
Marthin

Marthin

Sealiner
Well done. Side bets are the guys though it was 1. Illegal to keep, 2. Same guy caught them and that's one over limit and 3. most likely nobody in the group had a permit.
 
I

itsarap

Senior Member
i agree 100% and its still a sorry sight to see that fish laying there grasping its last grasp for water i wanted to grab it and run and release it.

but the odds where against me 4-1
 
J

jaccil

Senior Member
[color="#006600"]G Spot[/color] wrote:
Then on the size of the fish, I see you estimated the fish to weigh approximately 15kg. Well the SADSAA All Tackle record is 15,5kg and was set way back in 1986 by Piet Els in Kei Mouth.
Click to expand...
Are you sure you have the correct species there GSpot?  According to this info, the SASAA record is 29.9kg.  I have heard of a few catches over 16kg, up to 22kg.

The white steenbras (pignose grunter) is not endangered because of the actions of recreational shore anglers.  Unimaginable amouts of these fish have been trekked in nets.  Pilchard trawlers working the area between Kleinmond and Hermanus still have a bycatch limit of 5 tons of steenbras.  I have seen these trawlers work fairly close to shore.  HOW IN HEAVEN'S NAME can something like that be allowed???  Surely, with white steenbras stocks as they are, pilchard trawlers can go work in areas where white steenbras won't be affected?

You don't even have to look at illegal netting activities to understand why fish stocks are so poor.  Just look at what is currently legally allowed on the commercial side of fishing!!
 
G

G Spot

New member
There is a difference between SASAA and SADSAA, the SADSAA record is 15,5kg and it was caught on 10kg line class. The SADSAA record on 2kg line class is 10,25kg caught by Dave Dawson and the 4kg line class record of 15,2kg was caught by Lewander Widd, lastly the Ladies Record is held by Hilary Smith. I know all the individuals personally and have verified the species and records. Smith number 183.2 and scientific name is Lithognathus lithognathus.

Obviously the Surf fishermen are better at this species than the Deep Sea fishermen.

Please don't go down the treknet alley....It makes me sick and can not understand why this is still allowed, especially the threat it poses on White Steenbras. I can not understand MCM's thinking, they continue to allow Treknetting to continue while they are planning to reduce the Tuna bag limit of recreational anglers to ONE Tuna per person per day.
 
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