Pitty about the Pipi

[pink nipper]

Do any of you guys remember a few years back when you could
wiggle your feet in the sand at the beach and find heaps of pipis.

I'm wondering where they have gone, is this a naturally occuring cycle
or is the humble pipi another victim of some type of environmental
changes.

Nip.

[Scizz]

m8 last time I took the kids to the beach (Angourie back beach) there was a family doing the Pipi wriggle and they were getting a heap,so they are still around down here

[Prof]

Yeah apparently there is a forum on this very subject being held at port Stephens, to suss out what is happening to the pippis .
A local guy from up here is going to see what he can find out to why there are hardly any at South ballina beach??

Here's an article from the Advocate newspaper...

Where have all the pipis gone?

8th June 2011




WHERE have all the pipis gone?
A meeting this week in Port Stephens will try to answer that question, and Ballina man Denis Magnay will be there, representing the Ballina Beach Users Group.
Mr Magnay has spent years as an amateur fisherman, throwing a line in at beaches and rivers.
“Some 10 years ago one could wriggle one’s feet into the sand anywhere along out southern beaches and gather a bucket of pipis,” he said.
“Today one can hardly find a pipi anywhere along that same beach.”
Mr Magnay says there are numerous opinions about what has happened to the pipis, so he will approach the subject with an open mind.
“I will be looking for reliable data already acquired and any scientific evidence,” he said.
“The idea of the meeting is to find out what has happened and what can be done to restock our beaches.”
As well as being a food source for marine life, pipis also are a popular bait and food source.
Mr Magnay said the Port Stephens meeting was instigated by an amateur fisherman and his supporters on the Central Coast of NSW.
It is being called by the NSW Fisheries Department. Delegates from the Tweed to Maclean, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Lands also will attend.
“After this meeting, the Beach Users Group will call a meeting to discuss the situation if it feels it is worthwhile,” Mr Magnay said.
“This meeting could be the first serious attempt to rectify a real concern for all fishermen.”


Cheers.

[smackmaa]

you can still find them, but they're not as plentifull as I remember a few years ago. I used to collect easily at tallows beach but its difficult most days. Anyway, heres a graph out of a pipi pdf from NSW fisheries to show the extent of drop in commercial catch rate, despite prices being high and effort remaining constant!

[Prof]

Virus may be causing pipi decline

THE cause of the declining pipi population on east coast beaches is still unknown but could be caused by a rare virus or algae, a meeting at Port Stephens was told.

Local fisherman Denis Magnay, who attended the meeting, said the theory was that the virus or algae clogs the inlet valve of the baby pipi, but the mature pipi – with its larger valves – can cope with the problem.

“A general observation of stakeholders (who attended the meeting) is that it has been the baby pipis which have been dying in their millions all along the coastline,” Mr Magnay said.

“Continual rough ocean conditions also play a part in the breeding cycle.

“The spawn has to be settled for a reasonable time before it can grow.

“The east coast current sometimes bypasses some of the pocket beaches and therefore they still have reasonable amounts of pipis.”

However, these pocket beaches are rare in NSW, and reports indicate the North Coast beaches are among the worst affected.

The meeting was called to discuss the declining numbers of pipis, which are an important part of the fish seafood chain. They are also a popular bait with anglers, and are edible for humans.

Mr Magnay said the meeting also discussed overharvesting, but doubts were expressed that it was the main cause of the decline.

“Some beaches which had good supplies but which were never harvested are also depleted,” Mr Magnay said.

He said the variety of pipi commonly found on local beaches is spread from Fraser Island in Queensland to South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

“One pipi produces up to 7000 offspring in a single spawning, although not many always survive,” Mr Magnay said.

“The lifespan of a pipi is four to five years.

“Reports indicate a serious depletion of stocks on the entire coastline of NSW and South Australia, varying from low numbers to zero on some beaches.

“South Australia recognised the problem some time ago and has a large-scale operation under way to determine the cause of the decline.

“NSW Fisheries has decided to take advantage of the data from South Australia.

“Because pipis are prolific breeders and take only 10 months to reach maturity, the amateur fishing lobby at the meeting suggested that everyone, including commercial gatherers, amateurs and Aboriginal gatherers, leave them alone for two years to see if they can recover, then introduce a quota system on gatherers.”

Mr Magnay said that a group he is involved with, the Southern Beaches Users Club, will call a meeting soon of local people interested in helping to restore the pipi population on local beaches.

The Port Stephens meeting agreed to form a State Resources Planning Group consisting of all stakeholder groups.

[maxi]

i was walking along patches beach this morn and came upon 2 areas in the low tide wash that were littered with thousands of dead opened small pipis, i walked about 3 ks south of patches 4x4 track, along with the pipis were a few hundred dead snails and maybe 50 dead star fish !!!!!. ive never seen star fish in the middle of a long beach before in my life !!!!! .... they were all freshly dead and the snail shells were empty .. ive sent prof a pic of them, would u put it up here please mate ??...

V__8EA6 (800 x 600).jpg

[maxi]

the imposed ban on the harvesting of pippies comes off today on south ballina beach..

but they have still imposed a ban on "PARTS"of the beach..

they found it "REASONABLE" to open up from patches to the coffee rocks for commercial harvesting !!!

the surveys that were undertaken were "NEVER" completed..!!!!!!!!!!!

i find this bloody ridiculous and am livid at the outcome..

who is going to enforce this ????

are they going to erect signs ??? and if they are they should be in place NOW ...

another typical disgrace from the powers that be ...

Maxi

[maxi]

31 May 2012

Following a recovery in pipi numbers on most NSW beaches, a six month closure of all beaches to pipi harvesting will end on 1 June when new harvest arrangements are introduced.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Executive Director of Fisheries, Geoff Allan, said the pipi fishery was closed to commercial harvest on 1 December 2011 in response to concerns about a decline in the State’s pipi stocks.

“The commercial pipi harvest closure will end on 1 June 2012 as recent surveys indicate there has been a recovery in pipi numbers on most NSW beaches,” Dr Allan said.

“However, to maintain this recovery, new additional management measures will apply for all commercial fishers authorised to harvest pipis.

“A new minimum size limit of 45 millimetres will apply, as well as a new limit restricting the daily take to 40 kilograms.”

Dr Allan said while there are positive signs that pipi numbers appear to be rebounding on many beaches, there are still some concerns for Stockton and South Ballina beaches.

“Large areas of Stockton and South Ballina beaches will therefore remain closed to commercial harvesting while additional monitoring occurs,” Dr Allan said.

“Daily catch and effort records must be submitted for checking on a monthly basis, along with water sampling requirements under biotoxin management plans.

A new NSW DPI research project, partially funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, has commenced to develop better techniques to assess pipi populations.

“This is one of the key ways to better understand factors affecting pipi abundance and allow more adaptive management.

“The Department is also currently working with commercial harvesters to obtain additional information on pipi numbers and will continue to seek advice from recreational and indigenous users.

“This continued collaboration will be crucial to the ongoing sustainable management of pipi stocks.

“We will continue to monitor pipi stocks throughout the year to assess the need for future closures,” Dr Allan said.

Arrangements for recreational fishers will remain unchanged with a maximum of 50 pipis permitted to be collected for bait purposes only (due to biotoxin management requirements) and within 50 metres of the high tide mark.


from dpi site ..

[maxi]

COMMERCIAL fishers will be allowed to extract a tiny shellfish from NSW's beaches again from tomorrow despite a massive collapse in their numbers caused by commercial over fishing.

Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson closed the entire commercial pipi industry in December last year because of an alarming decline in catch rates.

The annual commercial pipi catch, driven by a new demand for the shellfish as a food rather than fishing bait, had grow from about 50 tonnes in 1984 to 700 tonnes in 2001 before their dramatically falling numbers saw the 2009-10 commercial catch drop to just 14.2 tonnes.

Ms Hodgkinson today announced that commercial fishing for pipis can start again from tomorrow, thanks to an increase in pipi numbers during the ban.

A new minimum size limit of 45 millimetres will apply, as well as a new limit restricting the daily take by a commercial pipi harvester to 40 kilograms.

Critics said yesterday this still allowed a commercial fisher to strip a beach of hundreds of kilos of the tiny shellfish each week.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann pointed out the lifting of the ban was announced while, at the same, Ms Hodgkinson's department was still investigating pipi numbers.

"It is a matter of extreme urgency that this moratorium is extended in time and in scope, because stocks of this shellfish, which are an integral part of the food chains on our surf beaches, cannot have recovered to a level that will ensure sustainable populations of pipis can continue to exist into the long term,'' Ms Faehrmann said yesterday.

"Less than 6 months would not be adequate time for a new population of pipis to be established. "

Recreational fishing activist John Clarke also slammed the overturning of the ban, saying beaches up and down NSW had been devastated.

Both Ms Faehrmann and Mr Clarke said the state's recreational fishers, who took small numbers of pipis as bait, had been betrayed by the Shooters & Fishers Party, which helped block a moratorium on commercial pipi collecting.

Commercial harvesting will remain banned on two beaches - Stockton and South Ballina beaches - because numbers had not risen sufficiently.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

they dont even mention the partial opening on south ballina

[maxi]

Coastcare volunteers are urging people to lobby the state government over the next few days for an extension of the 12-month moratorium on commercial pipi harvesting.

The moratorium ends on 1 June but submissions close next week and NSW primary industries minister Katrina Hodgkinson will consider whether to lift the ban soon after.

Ballina Coastcare says, ‘this is our last chance to make a difference and save molluscan life’ on north coast beaches.

The drastic depletion of pipi stocks along NSW beaches in the past few years prompted the moratorium to allow them to regenerate and sparked a number of theories as to why they were fast disappearing.

Over-harvesting, disease and the rapid change in sand movement because of erosion have all been blamed for their demise.

Ballina Coastcare spokesman Lee Andresen said the mollusc populations on north coast beaches were a vital part of the food chain and ‘their loss is a major destabilising factor in ecosystem health’.

‘They are also traditional Indigenous heritage food stock for the Bundjalung people of this coast,’ he said.

During a recent inspection of South Ballina beach with Ballina councillor Jeff Johnson and Tweed fisherman/pipi catcher John Clarke, Mr Andresen said they ‘found not a single mollusc’.

‘John’s conclusion is that there is no sign of the start of pipi recovery even after the one-year moratorium,’ he said.

‘We do not have enough scientific knowledge as to the causes of their decline, and these causes may be multiple. We need an indefinite harvesting moratorium.’

Kingscliff beach wormer Pete Gladwin told media last year he saw very few pipis while collecting worms and ‘there was a time when there were so many pipis on the south beach (of Kingscliff) that the worms couldn’t get up through them’.

Mr Andresen said the moratorium had produced no evident recovery of the pipi population on South Ballina beach with ‘not a pipi in sight’ and ‘no research whatever appears to be underway into to the causes, probably multiple, of the pipis’ massive decline’.

He said the total harvesting moratorium should be extended indefinitely ‘until the causes are better understood and populations have recovered to a fully harvestable level, however many years that may take’.

Regular monitoring of pipi stocks also should be undertaken to map their possible recovery.

Submissions should be sent to: Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, via email burrinjuck@parliament.nsw.gov.au or by post to PO Box 600, Yass, NSW, 2582.

[maxi]

POLITICIANS have let down recreational fishers after ending a moratorium on pipi harvesting, according to a Tweed fisherman.

Seagulls Fishing Club president and pipi protection advocate Charlie Howe said he has been inundated with emails from recreational fishers who were outraged that the Shooters and Fishers Party did not support a continuation of the six-month moratorium on pipi harvesting.

"There has never been any research done and that's all that we (recreational fishers) wanted," Mr Howe said.

"We wanted to know the impact of commercial harvesting of pipis.

"They were saying it was a disease so that's why we wanted the study. They are blaming everything except commercial harvesting."

Mr Howe said there were re-established pipi colonies at beaches close to Pottsville.

"I went down three or four weeks ago and there a few little pockets around Blackrock and Pottsville," Mr Howe said.

"They are not in great numbers but there was the best sign of recovery in a long time," he said.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries was ending the moratorium on June 1 with changes to harvesting rules.

"The commercial pipi harvest closure will end on 1 June 2012 as recent surveys indicate there has been a recovery in pipi numbers on most NSW beaches," executive director of fisheries Dr Geoff Allan said.

"However, to maintain this recovery, new additional management measures will apply for all commercial fishers authorised to harvest pipis.

"A new minimum size limit of 45mm will apply, as well as a new limit restricting the daily take to 40kg."

A NSW DPI research project had commenced that aimed to develop better techniques to assess pipi populations.

"This is one of the key ways to better understand factors affecting pipi abundance and allow more adaptive management," Dr Allan said.

"The Department is also currently working with commercial harvesters to obtain additional information on pipi numbers and will continue to seek advice from recreational and indigenous users.

"This continued collaboration will be crucial to the ongoing sustainable management of pipi stocks."

The Shooters and Fishers Party was not available for comment on the lifting of the moratorium.

[pink nipper]

There are idiots running the show at the moment

Not many pipis on South Ballina Beach except for one area
so they are going to let commercial harvesters into this
one area

Nip.

[Prof]

From the Norhtern Star.....

SOUTH Ballina Beach will remain closed to commercial pipi harvesting, despite other beaches in the state being reopened from tomorrow, Friday, June 1.

The Department of Primary Industries put a six-month moratorium on commercial pipi harvesting in December last year in response to concerns about a decline in pipi stocks.

Executive director of Fisheries, Geoff Allan, said recent surveys indicated there has been a recovery in pipi numbers on most NSW beaches.

But concerns remain about pipi populations on South Ballina and Stockton beaches.

Dr Allan said those beaches would continue to be closed to commercial harvesting while they were monitored.

New management measures for all commercial fishers authorised to harvest pipis will also be implemented.

"A new minimum size limit of 45 millimetres will apply, as well as a new limit restricting the daily take to 40 kilograms," Dr Allan said.

Arrangements for recreational fishers will remain unchanged, with a maximum of 50 pipis permitted to be collected for bait purposes only and within 50 metres of the high tide mark.

[pink nipper]

Just heard -

1 x KG of PIPIs = $70.00 at the fishmarkets
1 x KG of Mudcrab = $40.00 at the fishmarkets

Nip

[Prof]

Arrangements for recreational fishers will remain unchanged, with a maximum of 50 pipis permitted to be collected for bait purposes only and within 50 metres of the high tide mark.

Oh well there goes the pipi chowder.

Why can commercial guys get the pipi's but the average joe can't get himself a feed???

Bloody disgrace , rec fisho's end up paying for the greedy commercial guys??

[maxi]

no wonder im effin cranky....

very lucrative at 70 bucks per kg and allowed 40 kgs a day .... ummmm $2800 a day x 7 days = a staggering $19,600 a week for raping our resource which we all belong toooooooooo ....
please correct me if im wrong ... !!!!!!!!!!!

biggest travesty ever ...

[maxi]

good listen in the morn on abc local 94.5 fm starts at 5.00 am

heres a reply from john "stinker" clarke who is based at port stephens and has been a stalwart for the pipi debacle statewide ...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gooday Maxi, Thank you for the fantastic support. The whole pipi issue is a shocker with Fisheries Resource Management a bloody disgrace. Fisheries Resource management is where the problem is - they simply don't know what is going on. Try to listen to "The Big Fish" tomorrow morning 5.00am on regional ABC - I think it comes out of Lismore. The Minister will attempt to explain the stuff up and I will have a few words. What I think should happen is that all beaches from Evans Head north to the border should be closed to any commercial harvesting indefinitely until we can find out what caused the collapse of the pipi resource. I believe that the collapse was as a result of poor management which led to overharvesting which led to a collapse. Fisheries will not admit to that because they would be admitting it was their fault. Keep the pressure on around Ballina as you suffered more than any other region in the state. You have a great supporter in Charlie Howe, a member of the Ministers Advisory Council, based in Tweed Heads. Please keep in touch as this battle to protect the resource is far from over. Cheers John "Stinker" Clarke

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

stinkers site .... http://www.stinker.com.au/index.php

Maxi

[Prof]

Found this little bit of research into the decline of the pipi, might shed a bit of light on the subject ??

Mass_mortalities_of_Moon_pipis_with_pics.pdf

[Prof]

In 1984-85, about 50 tonnes of pipis were taken from NSW beaches by commercial fishers.


In 1999, on just one beach - Stockton Beach near Newcastle - 191.2 tonnes of the tiny bivalve were harvested, according to a study by the University of Wollongong and the NSW Fisheries Research Institute.

In 2001, 700 tonnes were harvested from NSW beaches. Since 2001, 4000 tonnes of pipis have been stripped from our beaches.

That's 4000 tonnes of a creature which individually weigh a few grams. In 2009-10, just 14.2 tonnes of pipis were taken commercially, a sign that more than a decade of environmental idiocy had taken its toll.


"Fisheries has stated that harvesting will continue so that 'scientific data can be gathered for the continued management of the resource'," the local said. "Where have I heard that before? Oh yes, it's the Japanese argument for whaling."


says it all ???

[Prof]

http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/central_coast_the_big_fish/

Go here to listen to the podcast of the bigfish, talking about the pipi decline.

Cheers

[Prof]

Someone on another froum said that they had a marked decline in the number of pipis after the local council had done aerial spraying of the bitou bush along the beach.

I know that Ballina council have done the same thing, maybe that could also be an impact on the decline of the pipi??

Cheers.