Fish bites: Lowrance sets fix date for hacked app

The marine electronics maker announced last week that “unauthorised access” to the company’s network had forced it to close down access to its app while it sorted out the problem.

As a bonus, premium access customers affected will have their subscription extended by three months at no extra cost. 

“No Lowrance app user payment information was exposed as a result of this incident,” Lowrance said.

“However, some identifying information, such as name, email, app password, and app geo-location information may have been accessed.  

“Although we are unaware of any misuse of this data, we recommend that you change your Lowrance app password when service is restored. 

“If you are currently logged-in to the app, you can continue using securely and without interruption.  If you choose to log out of the app, you won’t be able to regain access until the app is restored.”

The service is expected to be fully restored by Saturday, July 8 US time.

Queensland’s controversial changes to recreational fishing bag limits for Spanish mackerel kick in tomorrow with bag limits reduced from three per person or a maximum six per boat to just one per angler with a maximum of two on a boat.

The changes were brought in to help manage Spanish mackerel populations, with the commercial industry also hit hard with a reduction from 578 tonnes to just 165 tonnes.

Charter operators have also been hit, and are now not allowed to double the possession limit for trips that ran longer than 48 hours.

The northern part of the state will face a Spanish mackerel fishing ban for three weeks in October and November each year, and the southern part for three weeks in February and March, to protect spawning aggregations that take place around the new moon.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has dropped charges laid against a Walbunja man who was allegedly caught in possession of 155 abalone after he claimed rights as a native title holder over his act.

Troy Potts was allegedly caught by fisheries officers with the abalone in 2021, and was charged with possessing more than the allowable number of the shellfish. Abalone is considered a traditional food, but despite legislation being introduced in 2009 aimed at protecting Indigenous fishing rights, cultural fishing is still not recognised.

South-west Victoria’s abalone fishing ban will remain in place for at least another 12 months as fisheries authorities start to rebuild abalone numbers in the wake of an outbreak of abalone viral ganglioneuritis.

The area has been closed off to abalone fishers since an outbreak of the virus was detected in 2021. Abalone stocks in the area have since declined, with plans to now monitor that the disease has died out and monitor the abalone population’s recovery.

The closed area stretches about 30km between Whites Beach west of Portland and Point Danger, east of Portland, inclusive of Lawrence Rocks.