If you think the attached image is outrageous you should. This was a picture taken a few years ago and was of a commercial fisher's catch in the Lakes. He had too many fish to handle and this photograph was taken just before they were buried in a paddock!! Crunching the numbers of Bream and Flathead Commercial Catch 2015/2016 Bream The commercial catch for 2015/2016 for Bream was 33 tonne or 33,000kg. Assuming an average Black Bream was 0.5kg then commercial fishers netted, in 2015/2016, 84,000 Bream. OR Assuming an average Black Bream was 0.33kg then commercial fishers netted in 2015/2016 126,000 Bream The minimum size for Black Bream caught commercially is 28cm, there is NO maximum size nor quota. Recreational fishers are limited to a bag size of 10 with a lower size limit of 28cm and no maximum size limit. Black Bream are sexually mature at about 2 years of age, at a size of 20cm or greater. Fertility increases with length. We acknowledge that research suggests that the recreational Black Bream catch is about 200 tonne per annum for the WHOLE of Victoria. Here we are just talking about the Gippsland Lakes. We think if it meant increasing fish stocks, recreational fishers would happily accept a reduced bag limit and an increase in allowable size to increase opportunities for fish to spawn. Dusky Flathead The Commercial Catch for Dusky Flathead in 2015/2016 was 16 tonne or 16,000kg Assuming and average to good Dusky Flathead was 52cm and weighed 0.63kg, then commercial fishers in 2015/2016 caught 25,396 Flathead. In July 2008, the NSW Department of Primary Industry conducted research on the reproduction and growth of Dusky Flathead in NSW estuaries. The results indicated that females reach sexual maturity at 56cm and males at 32cm. The minimum size for Dusky Flathead caught commercially in the Gippsland Lakes is 27cm with WITH NO UPPER LIMIT ON SIZE and no quotas. This means that some Dusky Flathead caught by commercial netters are not yet of spawning age and the large females of greater than 55cm, that recreational fishers must return to the system as breeding stock, can be legally taken by commercial netters, as there are no upper limits. Recreational fishers, in Victoria, are limited to a bag size of 5 and a lower size limit of 30cm and an upper size limit of 55cm. We converted the 2015/16 commercial tonnage, to number of fish, so that you would better understand how many fish are removed from the system. This is just one year and refers only to the Gippsland Lakes. These figures do not include undersized by-catch which may have died in nets or during retrieval and therefore are also removed from the system. We are not saying recreational fishers always do the right thing and recent incidents reported by VFA and the medial have demonstrated this. Some fishers are greedy or do not know the regulations and we believe we need more fisheries officers to educate and monitor the fisheries in general.