Tackle Tactics Surfcasting Message Board
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    The bait industry Archived Message

    Posted by racepics on 1/7/2012, 10:19 am

    I've been reading in the news of late about this huge 'mega-fishing-ship' which is about to start plundering Tasmanian waters.
    http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/07/01/341711_tasmania-news.html
    It's supposedly targeting Mackerel and Redbait, which is apparently some sort of baitfish.

    It would be interesting to know if the bait we buy (pilchards, tuna, etc) is a by-catch of normal commercial fishing practices, or if it's sought out and caught specifically as bait.
    And if it is the latter, are we as recreational fishers, contributing to this trawler problem by buying it?

    Now I'm the first to acknowledge that without the ready availability of store-bought bait our lives would be a lot more difficult. If we had to catch our own bait, we just wouldn't have pilchards.
    Maybe the boaties could get a few skipjack for themselves, but us surfcasters would be limited to any small fish we could catch locally, or crabs, shellfish and such.

    So as much as we tend to dislike the whole big trawler business, we currently rely on it a lot

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