Shane Mensforth
Recently I had a very interesting meeting with Hugh Bayly, a lifelong commercial fisherman based on Lower Eyre Peninsula. Hugh had made contact a couple of times by phone, and eventually we managed to get together over a cup of coffee at my place on Yorke Peninsula. As way of background, Hugh has been a professional for decades, with his pursuits varying from many styles of inshore fishing all the way out to leatherjacket trapping on the Continental Shelf. He’s pretty much seen and done it all, and I was very interested to hear some of his stories, as well as his opinions on several significant Fisheries management issues.
Like most of us, Hugh is very concerned at the way our fishery is headed. He’s not happy with the way the Government has handled the sustainability of popular species like King George whiting, and fears that, if extraction is allowed to continue at current levels, we face another collapse —as has been the case with snapper in both gulfs. And Hugh’s opinions are not just his own; apparently, many of his commercial colleagues feel the same way, which is why he approached the magazine to try and put the professional fishers’ views out there.