The Federal Government will draft laws to allow recreational fishers to catch mako sharks.

Fishermen have been concerned that the Government's recent listing of three Australian shark species would make it illegal to catch mako from the end of the month.

The Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the listing came from an international treaty and there is no evidence that Australian sharks are under threat.

The Federal Member for Braddon Sid Sidebottom says Mr Garrett is now considering laws that will allow fishing beyond the end of January.

"The Government has moved to try and correct that unfair issue and has been working on this now for about a month," he said.

"I'm glad to say that Minister Garrett has been able to and will introduce legislation both in the shorter term and the longer term to deal with this."

Recreational fishermen have gathered a national petition of 5,000 signatures seeking a change to the ban.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued executive orders to protect Florida's snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills.  The FWC has received numerous reports from the public and is taking action to address the conservation needs of affected marine fisheries.  The orders also will allow people to legally dispose of dead fish in the water and on the shore.

One of the executive orders temporarily extends closed fishing seasons for snook statewide until September.  It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April because of the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida.  The other order temporarily suspends certain saltwater fishing regulations to allow people to collect and dispose of dead fish killed by the cold weather.

"A proactive, precautionary approach is warranted to preserve our valuable snook, bonefish and tarpon resources, which are among Florida's premier game fish species," said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.  "Extending the snook closed season and temporarily closing bonefish and tarpon fishing will protect surviving snook that spawn in the spring and will give our research scientists time to evaluate the extent of damage that was done to snook, bonefish and tarpon stocks during the unusual cold-weather period we recently experienced in Florida."
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Our video edit hits the headlines!

November 5th, 2009

REBEKAH CAVANAGH

THREE fishermen were forced to make a dash for safety after a curious crocodile crept up on them before stealing a shark they had just reeled in at a Territory beach.

And in what has been described as "a National Geographic moment" it was all caught on camera.

The footage shows the 3m saltie watching the anglers as it lurked in the shallows about 50m from the shore, before eerily darting through the water at speed towards them.

But the croc was not after the burly blokes - it was more interested in the 1m-long whaler shark flipping around on the sand that they had just netted.

Watch the full and unedited croc eats shark video here.

Pictures: What crocs like to eat

The capture of nature at its best was made by Territory Buffalo Safaris owners Brenton and Anne Hurt.

The Darwin-based tour operators had taken a group of American tourists out to the Cobourg Peninsula, about 270km northeast of Darwin, and were throwing in a line off the coast when they noticed the croc watching the action.

Mrs Hurt said the croc moved through the water "pretty quickly".

"It headed straight in for them so they legged it up the beach," she said.

In a panic, the man behind the camera, who was sitting safely atop a cliff face and keeping an eye out on the croc, can be heard on the video yelling, "Guys, get out ... get out!" when he saw the beast honing in on the anglers.

He then firmly told them to get up on the escarpment.

"He can have the fish," he said.

Mrs Hurt said the crocodile was obviously lured in by the shark splashing in the water.

"We were all surprised that it came in with three big men there," she said.

The footage, taken in May, then showed the reptile crawl on to the beach and after taking one snap at the shark and missing, it quickly clamped its jaws over the fish's tail and, looking quite pleased with itself, as it dragged its catch back into the ocean.

The croc showed up on the beach about 100m away with the fish still squirming in its mouth.

Mrs Hurt said they had been conducting hunting tours at the Cobourg Peninsula for about 15 years and that the crocodile population in the area had sky-rocketed.

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The great white was savaged after it got snared on a drum line - a baited hook attached to a buoy - near North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane.
The wounded creature was still alive when a crew hauled it onto a boat, close to Deadman's Beach.
"It certainly opened up my eyes. I mean the shark that was caught is a substantial shark in itself," Queensland Fisheries' Jeff Krause told Australia's Daily Telegraph.
Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water near the island.
The attack also worried many at a nearby tourist Mecca - Surfers Paradise, south of Brisbane.

Surfer Ashton Smith, 19, of the Gold Coast, told the Courier Mail: "I've heard about the big one lurking. Every surfer is always cautious over here."
Drum lines and shark nets are used to defend swimmers from sea predators, but they have been criticised for occasionally trapping migrating whales.
Fisheries minister Tim Mulherin told the Mail that the capture of the bitten shark - and the indication of a larger one feeding in the area - bolstered the decision to keep defences in place.
He added there were no special plans to hunt the attacking shark but contractors had reset the drum lines.




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