Richmond River mullet haul reopens under historic deal between anglers & commercial fishers

Commercial and recreational fishers had reached a landmark agreement to re-open the Missingham Bridge sea mullet hauling shot on the Richmond River.

The section of river near Shaws Bay, East Ballina, had been closed to commercial fishing since May 2002 when it was included in one the State Government's 30 new recreational fishing havens.

But commercial and recreational fishers have worked together to develop a proposal to re-open the area to sea mullet hauling in return for a different part of the Richmond river being closed to commercial netting.

The mullet hauling shot, which is worth around $500,000 to the local economy, operates between April and July. As a result of this agreement, the hauling will resume from 1 April.

This is also a great win for anglers as around 27km of the river from Tatham Bridge upstream to the Norco weir at Casino will now be closed all year round to commercial netting.

In January the Ballina Fishermen's Cooperative had contributed $2500 to the stocking of 10,000 Australian bass fry on the river near the Norco weir.

The Co-op had done this as a demonstration of support for the agreement. This is great news for anglers who will be able to catch these Australian bass - the country's most spirited freshwater fish - in a few years when they reach legal size.