Tzer wrote: Cant win with some can you. You dont want the commercial to dump it so when its put up for sale regardless of size you still not happy. Remember some cultures may like the smaller fish, just saying is all.

Point is we as recreational fishers can not take fish of some of the sizes the commercial sector has. Many cultures do like smaller fish and they are usually the ones fishing for Snapper with 1/0 hooks. Why not let them have their allowance of smaller fish if that is what they want rather than throwing many back to die.

they are only dead Joker if the net do's not allow those fish to escape,
this is really the problem,
the Comms or MPI will not force that change, the rest of the World has moved on long ago to sustainable fishing with trawl nets,

Joker wrote: smudge wrote: Only a handful of fish have a size limit. If they are trawled then they are DEAD so they might as well be sold and counted against the quota

Or MPI (fisheries, whoever) could grow a pair and introduce a penalty category where all undersize fish count for double the weight against the holders quota and the quota holder must pay processing charges to get the small fish to market at a maximum $/kg rate which could be set low to ensure quota holders are not making money from it.

Wonder how long it would take for a change in gear if something like that were to happen?