13-04-2005, 04:04 PM
Hey new found,
Abalone are rare in the more heavily exploited areas, but if you can get a bit further away from Melbourne they are abundant. The reason for all the strict regulations is that there was (and still is) a lucrative black market in abalone, meaning that recreational fishers were selling their catch illegally. Every few months I hear of someone caught with 10 times their bag limit of undersized abs. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
I know a lot of people were selling their catch to local chinese restaurants and similar places. This is why you must mark the abalone you catch by cutting the meat in half through to the shell, to signify that they are a recreational catch. The same goes for crayfish, you must cut off the middle tail fin to show that they are a recreational catch.
If you come down to Flinders for the spearfishing meet that is planned next weekend we should be able to find some abs.
Cheers
Jaz <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
Abalone are rare in the more heavily exploited areas, but if you can get a bit further away from Melbourne they are abundant. The reason for all the strict regulations is that there was (and still is) a lucrative black market in abalone, meaning that recreational fishers were selling their catch illegally. Every few months I hear of someone caught with 10 times their bag limit of undersized abs. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> I know a lot of people were selling their catch to local chinese restaurants and similar places. This is why you must mark the abalone you catch by cutting the meat in half through to the shell, to signify that they are a recreational catch. The same goes for crayfish, you must cut off the middle tail fin to show that they are a recreational catch.
If you come down to Flinders for the spearfishing meet that is planned next weekend we should be able to find some abs.
Cheers
Jaz <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />