Lifting of Mary River barra ban will boost tag program

It’s been a long time coming, but the decision by Primary Industry and Fisheries Minister Willem Westra van Holthe to remove the seasonal closure to recreational fishing on the lower Mary River is definitely a good one.

Chris Paris visited the Top End just to fly fish, and left with some memorable catches, including this hefty saltwater barra

It’s been a long time coming, but the decision by Primary Industry and Fisheries Minister Willem Westra van Holthe to remove the seasonal closure to recreational fishing on the lower Mary River is definitely a good one.

In this day and age when we are trying to spread recreational fishing pressure and provide more opportunities to fish sustainably, the closure of the Mary’s tidal reaches from October 1 each year to January 31 the following year just didn’t make sense.

It’s interesting to reflect on the history of this closure.

In 1988, both the Mary River and the Daly River were closed to commercial barramundi netting; in both cases to seaward points either side of the river mouths.

Back then – just as now – there was a blanket Territory-wide closure to commercial barramundi fishing from October 1 to January 31.

There were many more commercial barra fishermen back then than there are today and, understandably, they weren’t happy with the closures of these two major rivers.

They argued that, if the pros were to be excluded completely from the Mary and Daly rivers, then the amateurs should at least be excluded during the annual four-month commercial fishing closure.

This period coincides with the main barramundi spawning cycle and the closure to recreational fishermen was all about protecting the big breeding females.

However, with a bag limit of two fish in possession on the Mary, with a minimum size limit of 55cm, and with an incredibly successful educational campaign over the past couple of decades whereby 99 per cent of big barra caught by anglers in the Top End were released to swim away, the closure was simply not necessary.

Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the NT president Warren de With said: “This announcement is a great day for recreational anglers in the Territory as well as visiting anglers and the tourism industry.

“AFANT has advocated strongly for the removal of the seasonal closure on the Mary River since the establishment of recreational-only barramundi fishing in Chambers and Finke bays.”

The removal of commercial netting from the lower Mary River and the coast near the Sampan and Tommycut creek mouths was put in place after a major decline in barramundi stocks in the 1980s.

Since then, the Mary River barramundi stocks have made a great and sustained recovery.

“AFANT believes that the removal of all commercial barramundi fishing from Chambers and Finke bays, along with close monitoring of the barra and threadfin stocks, allows further removal of the original management controls without affecting the sustainability or quality of the spectacular recreational fishing this area offers,” Mr de With said. “We see this as an important step to gaining a much greater return and value from the Chambers and Finke bay recreational-only areas, as well as spreading the recreational fishing effort and pressure during the build-up and early run-off periods.

“AFANT believes that the removal of the seasonal closure on the lower Mary River will offer some spectacular fishing opportunities and will add to the standing of the Mary River as a world-class fishing destination.

“AFANT welcomes the government’s announcement and congratulates the minister for this positive step to further enhance the great Territory lifestyle and recreational angling opportunities we have in the Territory.”

A spin-off from the whole Mary now being opened for a full 12 months is that anglers will have the opportunity to be involved in a tagging and monitoring program right through the system.

I understand that, initially, those anglers who were involved in the original tagging research experiment last year during the closure will be given preference in the allocation of tagging kits, but the program could extend.

With the closed season no longer happening, I just wonder what can be done to improve the boat-launching facilities at Shady Camp?

I understand there are all sorts of excavation and earthmoving equipment in the vicinity of Shady Camp at the moment – for use in repairing the bund walls on the flood plains. A bit of digging where the boats are launched could well increase the accessibility of the tidal reaches which, currently, is very limited.

It’s just a thought that maybe the relevant authorities could look at, and certainly something that would gain Minister Westra van Holthe even more brownie points if he could pull it off.