Time to get the ball rolling officially and create a unified voice if we want to make change

300 tonnes of minced burley a year and 10 tonnes of
Baits go in the water.
Neptunes is also a marine sanctuary !

Might want to stop the fish farms first as mentioned in some other post recently.
Also a swellnet forum will change nothing.

bodybuilding.com misc section, hundreds of thousands of online users at any time of day. Stars and celebs too answering questions.
Also Reddit.com can be good for lots of readers etc.

Port Lincoln has the biggest commercial fishing fleet in Australia. There are hundreds of tuna and kingfish farms from Boston bay and into the spencer gulf. At least 300 tonnes of bait and feed gets chucked into the pens per DAY. Not to mention harvest time when for about 3 months of the year the blood and guts attracts an unbelievable amount of pointers. It's an annual get together for all the GW's in the area.

I'm not saying that shark cage diving is a good thing, but here in Port Lincoln it's nothing compared to the fishing industry and stopping it ain't going to achieve jack. ( besides make some rich fellas a little bit less rich)

Surfnsun411 wrote:

Port Lincoln has the biggest commercial fishing fleet in Australia.

That's a big call. Got evidence to back up that statement?

fitzroy-21 wrote:

Port Lincoln has the biggest commercial fishing fleet in Australia.

That's a big call. Got evidence to back up that statement?

Google: Australia's largest commercial fishing fleet..

Good call Roger ramjet. Surfnsun -even if the fish farms are attracting sharks.. why add fuel to the fire? two wrongs dont make a right.. so why not remove the cage diving at least? Im thinking there would be a difference with cage chumming compared to the fish farms in that with the cage diving there are people submerged inside the cage, so wouldn't there be an easier association?

I am just glad a scientific study has been done and the report will finally be released. No matter what your opinion is it should be based on fact

Having a pointer continually being baited and burleyed so that it rams a cage with a wetsuit clad human inside it is in a total different league than the ones that swim around during a tuna harvest. Only a measured amount of pilchards are fed to the tuna so there is no feed going thru the cage floor and all gills and guts are kept on board the harvest vessel and turned into liquid fertiliser by a company called SAMPI in Lincoln. Blood does enter the water but is minimised by blocking of the vessels scuppers but sure we do see a large increase in GWS numbers once harvest begins. They are not fed and taunted though like they are at Neptune island

saltyone wrote:

Good call Roger ramjet. Surfnsun -even if the fish farms are attracting sharks.. why add fuel to the fire? two wrongs dont make a right.. so why not remove the cage diving at least? Im thinking there would be a difference with cage chumming compared to the fish farms in that with the cage diving there are people submerged inside the cage, so wouldn't there be an easier association?

Yeah you're right salty, two wrongs don't make a right. As for associating with people, the tuna divers are in the water every day. I myself have seen a lot of pointers while diving on the farms and I have seen for myself, the ridiculous amount of sharks harvest can attract. The doco will be interesting though, money speaks and I imagine the tour operators won't be too keen on this getting out! Haha

Surfnsun411 wrote:

Google: Australia's largest commercial fishing fleet..

Ha, well played Surfnsun.

Depends on where you search, but the Northern Prawn Fishery Fleet, which encompasses NWWA, NT and QLD, also claim to be the largest, boasting a high % of the total Aust commercial fleet and catch, which is why I questioned it.
In terms of value, due to the high cost paid for SBT, I'm sure its up there.
Anyway, its not a pissing contest. Just checking claims.

I think they are referring to total overall fishing fleet, which in Lincoln means prawns, deep sea trawlers, tuna farming, cray, crab, mussels, oysters, kingfish farming, abalone, etc, etc, etc.

Have to agree with surfnsun. My ex's family were one of the pioneers of tuna farming, before ramjet's time, and the behaviour of pointers was definitely affected. Divers were/are employed on the tows for a reason, the sharks follow the tow, which is in effect a burley trail, all the way from the bight into Lincoln. Then the workers all noticed how the little boats and feed boats were getting followed more and more, and the guys working on the pontoons were being eyeballed more and more. The guys that used to anchor at blacks, surf then go fishing, ditto on the way back in, stopped, as they suddenly noticed their boats were being followed/checked out much more regularly. The feeding is on a massive scale, the smell of tuna and pilchards is relentless for months. In effect the sharks are teased, baited, held in the area, conditioned to investigating boats and people and associate them with the smell of their food. Then after the harvest which corresponds around their agro time anyway, its all gone and they are left to disperse up and down the coast, like bulls having been teased and prodded for months on end. Some of the videos and stories I have seen and heard, which the industry obviously keeps a good lid on, are eye opening. Its a tough one, as a lot of surfers are employed in that industry too.

Your right mick when the harvest finishes they spread out like dropping a bag if marbles on the floor!

roger-ramjet wrote:

Your right mick when the harvest finishes they spread out like dropping a bag if marbles on the floor!

Haha well put! Surfing in a springtime on the EP is always a bit dodgy!