Comp Bream Release.

[dan_WA]

Well back from Walpole after what was not only an eye opening affair WRT Fishing, but even better 'cos I did pretty well, and picked up a bit of spending money !!!
I tell ya, It was pretty tough getting to sleep last night - after such a hot day - combined with the sunburn on my legs !!!

One thing that did raise a bit of concern to myself was the way in which the fished were released after weigh in.
The fish were released in an area where all the boats where coming in - the water was loaded with suspended sediment, and I don't reckon is was a very good environment to be releasing the fish into - they were probably already stressed out after the weigh in/live well transport. This situation could make them very susceptible to pathogens disturbed in the mud/low oxygen levels in such water.

What did everyone else think ?
I would've liked to see perhaps the fish released at the end of the jetty or even at the boat ramp on the other side of the jetty where the water was less disturbed.

That aside I had a wicked time !

[Bear]

Dan,
I understand your concern, but in just about every release I did, the fish swam well out of the boating zone. In most cases we actually released the fish close to the jetty away from the main confusion.

Things would have been a lot easier if we had boaters stay well away from the weigh area, which made it a little difficult on Sunday. We are looking at a number of options to make the weigh-in smoother and quicker.

We will refine things as we go, but I'm sure people would have been more disturbed if we had dropped them from a higher position from on top of the jetty than where we did near the shore.

I do think we need to look at each site closer and I'm sure well make changes as we go.

Thanks for the heads up.