Fish bites: NSW mulls allowing fishing with a bow and arrow

The move follows a successful 18-month trial of the sport, with 200 bow fishers pulling more than 700 carp from the water.

“Bowfishing is a technique which could be used to help remove carp, a noxious pest fish species from NSW waterways,” The NSW Department of Primary Industries said in an announcement calling for public feedback on the proposal. 

“There has been substantial interest from the community to have this discussion about potentially legalising bowfishing of carp.

If the sport is legalised, it will need changes to the law, as fishing with a bow is classed as a form of spearfishing, which is banned from inland waters.

“The trial and its subsequent review identified that bowfishing is a safe and sustainable fishing technique,” NSW DPI said.

“If legalised, there would be strict regulations of the activity to ensure that safety is the number one priority. 

“This includes how close bowfishers can be to people and public spaces.”

Carp is an introduced freshwater species that competes with native Australian fish for habitat.

It is also quite destructive, sucking up mud to feed and affecting water quality. 

It is estimated that in some parts of Australia carp represent up to 80 per cent of the fish biomass.

Attempts to remove carp from waterways have included explosives, electrofishing, netting and waterway exclusion.

Researchers in Australia are testing whether the introduction of the carp herpes virus will help control populations of the fish. 

Public consultation on legalising bow fishing will close on Monday, April 12.

Recreational fishers targeting blue swimmer crabs in NSW will need to abide by new size limits from May that will see them tossing more small ones back in the water.

From April 30, a new size limit of 6.5cm will apply, a 0.5cm increase over the previous limit. The NSW Department of Primary Industries says this will help improve spawning.

“It will also provide consistency between the recreational and commercial fishing sectors and provide an overall improvement in the abundance of crabs,” NSW DPI fisheries deputy director Sean Sloan said.

“NSW Fisheries will be out in the community over the coming weeks to speak to fishers to make sure they are aware of the changes and answer any questions they may have."

The NSW Government will encourage people to replace opera house-style yabby traps with open nets by giving 5000 of the new nets away for free.

The only catch is that owners will need to surrender their old traps to receive the new ones. Up to five traps per person will be accepted under the scheme, which kicks off from April 30.

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said the net swap program would remove nets from circulation that posed a big risk to native wildlife.

“We know that ‘opera house’ style yabby traps pose a risk to air breathing animals such as platypus, water rats and turtles, which can inadvertently get caught in traps,” Marshall said.

“Open top nets allow mammals to exit through the top, unlike opera house traps which only have openings on the sides.

Queensland’s east coast black jewfish season is over this year after commercial fishers hit their 20-tonne quota, closing the fishery to everyone including recreational fishers.

The east coast season is now officially closed until January 1 next year, with black jewfish now a no-take species.

Fishers catching, keeping and selling them out of season facing fines of up to $400,000 and up to three years in jail.

The Gulf of Carpentaria black jewfish fishery remains open as it is yet to reach its 6.0-tonne quota.

Fish caught in the gulf area still need to be kept whole until the boat returns to shore to stop the fish being harvested for the highly lucrative Chinese market where the organ is believed to have aphrodisiac properties.

The bladders alone are worth between $200 to $500 a kilogram.