NEWS DESK
âSensationâ as kings return to the bay LARGE numbers of baby King George whiting have been recorded in fisheries surveys of Port Phillip for the second consecutive year. Victorian Fisheries Authority ceo Travis Dowling said anglers could expect âsensational fishingâ from 2019 to 2021 when the juvenile whiting detected in 2016 and 2017 will have grown to a catchable size. The large number of juvenile whiting in Port Phillip are also seen as a pointer to what anglers can expect in Western Port. âScientists have conducted annual surveys of small juvenile whiting in the bayâs seagrass beds since 1998 to help forecast the abundance of stocks and manage the fishery sustainably,â Mr Dowling said. âTwo very strong years in a row is wonderful news and will get more people fishing, more often, which is at the core of the state governmentâs Target One Million plan thatâs investing a record $46 million into a suite of projects to grow participation in recreational fishing, including bringing an end to all commercial net fishing in the bay by 2022.â Mr Dowling said whiting larvae drifted east from spawning grounds off far western
LETTERS
MANY of the of baby King George whiting being seen in Port Phillip and Western Port are likely to return as catchable adults in two to three years.
Victoria and eastern South Australia for about three months before entering bays and estuaries during spring when scientists conducted the surveys. âWesterly winds help drive the currents that bring the whiting larvae into our bays, where they take about two years to reach the legal minimum size of 27 centimetres,â Mr Dowling said. âAt about four years of age, most whiting
have left the bays to complete their adult life in coastal waters. âBecause whiting only reside in the bays for a few years of their life, these fisheries naturally fluctuate depending on the number of tiny larvae that entered the bays several years prior. âPeople fishing outside the bays along the coast can expect increased catches of larger whiting during the early 2020s, as maturing fish move out to coastal waters.â In Victoria there is a daily bag limit of 20 King George whiting a person and they must be landed whole or in carcass form. Meanwhile, researchers at The University of Western Australia say sharks take about 12 per cent of recreationally caught fish in the Ningaloo region. Close to 40 per cent of the more than 400 anglers interviewed by the researchers had experienced a shark bite-off on their most recent fishing trip. Areas fished more frequently reported higher shark bite-off rates, which was hypothesizsed to be due to a behavioural change where the sharks associate the presence of boats with the availability of hooked fish to feed on.
Additionally, areas with high catches for recreational fishers may also be good feeding habitats for sharks so have higher concentrations of the predators which lead to higher numbers of interactions with hooked fish. Lead author and PhD student Jonathan Mitchell from UWA said the study will act as a baseline, allowing researchers and fishery managers to identify changes over time and develop science-based mitigation strategies. âBy identifying areas and depths at which biteoffs are more likely to occur, fishers can avoid these areas to immediately have a better chance of reducing bite-offs,â Mr Mitchell said. âModifying fishing techniques by spending less time at each site and moving to a different location as soon as a fish is taken by sharks, may help to prevent sharks from learning to associate fishing activities with food and increase a fisherâs chances of avoiding further bite-offs. The findings are important to fishers and both marine park and fisheries managers as.â The researchers aim to identify shark species involved and learn more about their behaviour to identify ways in which shark bite-offs can be reduced. Keith Platt
Letters - 300 words maximum and including full name, address and contact number - can be sent to The Times, PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or emailed to: team@baysidenews.com.au
Save gatehouse
Gimme shelter
The historic gatehouse at the entrance to 1225 Nepean Highway, Mt Eliza is falling into disrepair, which is a great shame. I would hope that the privileged few who through wealth are in a position to purchase these magnificent properties would take an interest in the heritage relating to buildings and land and preserve them for future generations. This building, being on the highway, is visible to all and if restored to its original condition would become an added attraction to Mt Eliza. A gift of the building and small parcel of land on which it stands to Mornington Peninsula Shire and the National Trust so that it can be preserved would be one way of doing so, if the owner is not interested in restoring the building. If the gatehouse is allowed to continue to crumble it will become a target for vandals. However, once restored with signs of life, a security system and proper fencing with a plaque outlining its historic value to the area it will become a much loved icon. Beverley Treloar, Mt Martha
Picture this: A very hot afternoon (Thursday 8 February) and 25 people are waiting for a bus in blazing sunshine. No shade at Bay D outside Frankston station. Two boys are squeezed into a tiny portion of shade at the back of the tiny bus shelter. The shelterâs tiny roof cannot provide shade. An elderly lady has her hands on top of her head - perhaps she had not anticipated such a hostile environment. One lady crosses the road to shelter under the shop awnings. She returns five minutes before the bus is due. Unfortunately the bus is 10 minutes late. This situation is serious. A shelter that shelters is urgently needed at Bay D. Still no reply to my hand delivered letter to Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke or Transport Minister Jacinta Allen but Public Transport Victoria has advised me to contact VicRoads. It is a slow and arduous journey to find out who is accountable. Hopefully, persistence will pay off. Brenda Rowlands, Mt Eliza
Mobile defender I have not used a mobile phone while driving for the past few years because of the police regulation that came in some time ago. But I fail to understand why this regulation came in to be law, with motorists fined if caught using a mobile phone while driving. In comparison to other classifications that cause accidents, injury, and death, I have yet to see the statistics that qualify such a regulation. If there are no statistics to compare with other forms of accident causes, injury and death, why
Picture: Steve Taylor
is it compulsory to not use a mobile phone while driving? Police refer to other devices should not be attended to while driving, but what are those devices? If it is illegal to use a mobile phone while driving, what about taxi, truck and emergency drivers with their mobiles and other communication devices such as RTs. I have been a professional driver and used RTs and mobiles, without looking likely to have an accident once. What about a motorist coming upon an accident where time would be essential for survival,
does this mean the driver has to find somewhere to park legally and then use their mobile? Why is the mobile phone blamed by police when other classifications have their various statistics and do not appear to have any such regulation? If this is so, then police are wasting so much time on preventing and prosecuting for the use of mobiles when they should be trying to reduce the road death toll through other misdemeanours. Tim Bassett, Frankston
Helping hands On Monday 12 February my wife was in Mt Eliza Post Office completing hand written international postage forms. Due to injury from a car accident my wife finds it very hard to write. Spotting the problem, two great female Samaritans stepped in and gave her a hand. Thank you and well done. A note to Australia Post: make your systems and processes inclusive. David White, Mt Eliza
Enjoy 3 years Complimentary Scheduled Servicing at Mercedes-Benz Mornington this March.* For a limited time only, Mercedes-Benz Mornington is offering on C63 AMG models purchased this March:
⢠3 years Complimentary Scheduled Servicing* ⢠Complimentary On Road costs* ⢠11 vehicles to choose from
www.mbmornington.com.au *On Road costs will still be payable (Registration and Stamp Duty). The vehicle will be discounted by the equivalent of the On Road costs from the Recommended Retail Price. Complimentary scheduled servicing is for the first 3 years or 60,000 kms, whichever occurs first, subject to service interval of model. Offer available on Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG models purchased between 1st - 31st March 2018 and delivered before 31st March 2018. While stocks last and not available in conjunction with any other offer.
Mercedes-Benz Mornington 29-31 Mornington-Tyabb Rd, Mornington (03) 5973 9688
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Frankston Times 26 February 2018
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