Murray cod season opens at midnight

Masquara said :

What the hell is with you, Shane Rattenbury? You made a song and dance about banning cage eggs, seeking a big pat on the back when there is no caged egg industry in the ACT – and now you’re letting the government get away with allowing this amazing fish to continue to be fished to extinction. Get with the Green program, Shane, you slacker! Use your balance of power influence and do at least one little thing for our environment while you can.

You nimrod.

I will never understand people prepared to express such strong opinions without having a clue what they’re talking about.

http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/esdd/2013/murray_cod_make_a_splash_at_gungahlin

The ACT Government, for such a tiny jurisdiction with bugger all carriage whatsoever over the Murray-Darling system, punches well above it’s weight in trying to help out the fight to save the Murray cod.

For those too lazy to open the link:

“Recreational fishers and the environment will benefit from the release of 6000 Murray cod fingerlings into Gungahlin Pond on 8 January (2013)… About 1.5 million fish have been introduced to Canberra’s lakes and ponds since the program started in the mid-1990s. Species for stocking are chosen following biennial fish surveys.”

What the hell is with you, Shane Rattenbury? You made a song and dance about banning cage eggs, seeking a big pat on the back when there is no caged egg industry in the ACT – and now you’re letting the government get away with allowing this amazing fish to continue to be fished to extinction. Get with the Green program, Shane, you slacker! Use your balance of power influence and do at least one little thing for our environment while you can.

gungsuperstar said :

p1 said :

I’ve never understood the huge difference between what you can legally do to a land dwelling native species, and what you can do to a native fish species.

What a strange comment… what is this huge difference of which you speak?

I think the ‘huge difference’ P1 is referring to is that it is considered perfectly acceptable to torture fish.

Imagine the uproar if you dragged a koala around for ten minutes by a lump of steel you had forced through its jaw, and then slowly drowned it.

shauno said :

gungsuperstar said :

shauno said :

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

Why comment when you clearly don’t know a thing about fishing.

You clearly don’t understand 1) what eating a fish out of a Canberra lake would taste like and 2) the enormous pressure this iconic Australian native is after decades of overfishing and after the epic drought we had (and because European carp are like cockroaches in our fresh waterways).

Lol mate ive been fishing since I could barely walk and also hunt as well. Biggest Cod ive got in this area is around 60 pounds from the Murrumbidgee. I also no some places nearby where I can get a trout with every single cast but its a bit of a walk. Also eating fish out of the lakes here is perfectly fine haha what do you actually think is in the lake lol.

You are the worst buddy.

Firstly, because you claim to be a fisherperson, yet you clearly have no regard for the sustainability of an iconic fish under a lot of pressure.

Secondly, because there’s nothing worse than a full of shit fisherman who claims fishing is easy – there is no such spot in or around the ACT where you can “catch a trout every cast”. You just look like a liar and a douche bag claiming otherwise.

Thirdly, have you ever stopped to think what’s in the lakes here? It’s all the run off and all the pollution from the streets and drains in Canberra. Check out the eastern end of Yerrabi Pond or most of Gungahlin Pond, or research how often the fish in LBG are living among the blue green algae. Then tell me that the fish out of these waterways would be good to eat.

They wouldn’t, they’d be full of all sorts of garbage. So you’re eating fish who have been eating pollution for their whole lives – you probably don’t end up eating it, and you’ve killed an endangered fish for no reason at all.

I’ll be at Yerrabi Pond this arvo mate, probably on the dam wall. Please, come along and show me how easy fishing is.

shauno said :

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

Would make the Rangers job a bit difficult. “So I see you have ten fish there I assume they are all going to be eaten? Well you have to prove it. Here’s a fork”

gungsuperstar said :

p1 said :

I’ve never understood the huge difference between what you can legally do to a land dwelling native species, and what you can do to a native fish species.

What a strange comment… what is this huge difference of which you speak? I’m a fisherman – I’m not a shooter. But shooters are subject to closed seasons just as fishos are; endangered species are protected for both shooters and fishos; in neither case are you not allowed to engage in the activity – you just aren’t allowed to target the species subject to the closed season.

What is the huge difference? The only one I can think of is that fishos get a second chance if you accidentally catch something you’re not supposed to – you can put it back. That’s much harder for shooters!

Which makes the Murray Cod closed season is a bit of an anomaly anyway.

You will often catch Cod while fishing for yellow-bellies, you will occasionally catch Cod while fishing for European Carp – and you will catch them out of season. But I don’t know anyone in Canberra who takes fish out of our gross lakes anyway, so the closed season is a little pointless – for the rusted on fisho, there isn’t actually any difference at all between open and closed season.

If you’ve never caught one and you have a bit of an urge, wait til it’s daaaaaaaamned hot – and then take a rod down to a sheltered part of the lake for the hour or 2 before sunset. It’s awful fishing for kids because you can fish for hours and hours (and hours and hours and hours) without any action – and when you get some action, there’s a strong chance that the rod gets pulled out of the kids hands. So if you’re fishing with kids, stick with your corn and carp.

But for adults with a casual interest? Native fish are incredible to catch. Just remember – the Murray Cod is highly endangered, and under enormous pressure from the Carp who eat their babies. On top of that, the water run-off into the cod fishways is disgusting. There’s no reason in the world that any Cod you pull out of a Canberra lake shouldn’t go back. Please look after them and make sure that our grandkids still have the opportunity to catch these amazing fish.

I’ll see you on the water!

The huge difference is that you can’t shoot land dwelling native animals (except roos) which I understand was the the point p1 was making.

gungsuperstar said :

shauno said :

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

Why comment when you clearly don’t know a thing about fishing.

You clearly don’t understand 1) what eating a fish out of a Canberra lake would taste like and 2) the enormous pressure this iconic Australian native is after decades of overfishing and after the epic drought we had (and because European carp are like cockroaches in our fresh waterways).

Lol mate ive been fishing since I could barely walk and also hunt as well. Biggest Cod ive got in this area is around 60 pounds from the Murrumbidgee. I also no some places nearby where I can get a trout with every single cast but its a bit of a walk. Also eating fish out of the lakes here is perfectly fine haha what do you actually think is in the lake lol.

shauno said :

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

Why comment when you clearly don’t know a thing about fishing.

You clearly don’t understand 1) what eating a fish out of a Canberra lake would taste like and 2) the enormous pressure this iconic Australian native is after decades of overfishing and after the epic drought we had (and because European carp are like cockroaches in our fresh waterways).

shauno said :

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

Not if the animal could soon become extinct. There are alternatives.

If its purely for food I dont think there should be any restriction at all be it land or river or sea. Why should a person be restricted to buying food. Should he not be able to catch and kill his own food is this not a natural right?

p1 said :

I’ve never understood the huge difference between what you can legally do to a land dwelling native species, and what you can do to a native fish species.

What a strange comment… what is this huge difference of which you speak? I’m a fisherman – I’m not a shooter. But shooters are subject to closed seasons just as fishos are; endangered species are protected for both shooters and fishos; in neither case are you not allowed to engage in the activity – you just aren’t allowed to target the species subject to the closed season.

What is the huge difference? The only one I can think of is that fishos get a second chance if you accidentally catch something you’re not supposed to – you can put it back. That’s much harder for shooters!

Which makes the Murray Cod closed season is a bit of an anomaly anyway.

You will often catch Cod while fishing for yellow-bellies, you will occasionally catch Cod while fishing for European Carp – and you will catch them out of season. But I don’t know anyone in Canberra who takes fish out of our gross lakes anyway, so the closed season is a little pointless – for the rusted on fisho, there isn’t actually any difference at all between open and closed season.

If you’ve never caught one and you have a bit of an urge, wait til it’s daaaaaaaamned hot – and then take a rod down to a sheltered part of the lake for the hour or 2 before sunset. It’s awful fishing for kids because you can fish for hours and hours (and hours and hours and hours) without any action – and when you get some action, there’s a strong chance that the rod gets pulled out of the kids hands. So if you’re fishing with kids, stick with your corn and carp.

But for adults with a casual interest? Native fish are incredible to catch. Just remember – the Murray Cod is highly endangered, and under enormous pressure from the Carp who eat their babies. On top of that, the water run-off into the cod fishways is disgusting. There’s no reason in the world that any Cod you pull out of a Canberra lake shouldn’t go back. Please look after them and make sure that our grandkids still have the opportunity to catch these amazing fish.

I’ll see you on the water!

I’ve never understood the huge difference between what you can legally do to a land dwelling native species, and what you can do to a native fish species.