Stories From The Orange Roughy Fishery - The Greatest Boom and Bust in Australia's Fishing History.

[@threadie]

Having blokes I went to school with relate stories of nets constantly being so full and leaving 3/4 of each shot on the surface to waste, just showed the absolute greed of this industry. At the same time telling inquiries that amateurs caused more damage and were wrecking fisheries.

[@mawfish1]

9:15 'When the Tuna fishery declined to a point it wasn't viable they reivested and turned them into orange roughy trawlers'. So they could then smash another stock. This is utterly disgusting.

[@normandiebryant6989]

They'd learnt from their earlier mistakes and repeated them perfectly.

[@michaelsmith8060]

Funny that, we all went tuna lineing in converted trawlers ,but here's the thing, the trawlers we used are only half the size of a factory boat

[@dduckman1423]

Did you stop eating fish to save the world?

[@toddbarry2925]

What they dont say is that Australia has a relatively infertile ocean its a mirror of the land it surrounds. The orange roughy was fished as an alternative to tuna and lives upto 200 years and dont spawn until 30 years. Unfortunately, these fishermen and even scientists from the government dont know what they are doing to the fisheries until it's too late

[@gypana]

Absolute nonsense.

[@bbdgha]

200 years 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you green gimp 😂😂😂😂😂

[@michaelsmith8060]

How many hrs seatime did it take you to get that wrong?

[@robbrewer2036]

Don't care more like, always destroy in search for dollars.

[@bobkoroua]

​@@michaelsmith8060 40 years of fishing in my case and nothing he said is wrong. You can't have just watched this video and think you are right, unless you have an extremely low ability to process information, just liked the pretty pictures Mikey?

[@stuartgilbert3969]

We used to unload the boats and fillet the roughy at St Helens. Something about that oil that made our skin go really soft, and we had to throw the unloading clothes away at regular intivals because you couldn't get the smell out of them. Great video bringing back Great memories. Thanks heaps to every one involved in the making of it.

[@jimmcfee3488]

used to rot the soles right off leather boots too.

[@stephenward2204]

I was working with NSW Fisheries in the SFM & remember having to dump 1000's of kg's of Orange Roughy that had deteriorated to an unsaleable condition. Terrible waste for a fish that takes 32 years to become sexually mature. The FPV Kapala located a source of O/R off Sydney that the industry wiped out a a very short time. This followed by the rapid decline of the Gemfish industry not long after. Poor management by both Department of Fisheries & Commercial Fishers :(

[@mawfish1]

I'm quite sure fishers would fish every edible species to destruction (or at least economic unviability) without regulation. Racing to the bottom to catch them all before someone else does. Regulation has to be strong and early to have any chance. It is quite sickening really.

[@robbrewer2036]

Yep still doing it.

[@keithprinn720]

zero management not poor

[@dillberry99]

how far wide off sydney? are we talking heatons hill wide or way further?

[@glenperham8091]

Kapalas still going strong

[@lookronjon]

They just didn’t get the fish. They killed the coral and the by-catch. I imagine that the black coral forests they killed would have looked incredible. We will never know.

[@anthonyjohnson100]

There isn’t a fishery left that hasn’t been raped by the old timers. I fish from shore catch and release for the last 40 years here in Hawaii and it’s slim pickings nowadays especially compared to 40 years ago.

[@tasquizztaylor1698]

there isnt a fishery left *that we've discovered

[@robert6106]

I shore fish and its a similar thing in the Irish Sea, pure greed and its not just the large fishing boat. The little shore boats go out to the same marks nearly every day till there is not much left.

[@sthnwatch]

Wa'waa! Ya need to learn how to fish. The difference between you, and a fisherman, is that your attitude is that the fish should be available for you to gather up onto your line, but a fisherman will study their seasons, their characters, their movements, and every other aspect of hunting fish... like vision and foresight, willingness to share and discern who he can trust as far as deckies and fellow skippers, and gracious acceptance of the fickleness of the ocean and her contents... EVEN THEN, the fisherman will have more patience and other character traits required to find success. But all you blokes wanna do is sook about how "there are no fish around anymore because the old days were just raped..." Grow up and get some humility, and learn to ask a professional fisho for a story, and then shutup and listen. Ya might learn something.

[@sthnwatch]

@@robert6106 Wa'waa! Ya need to learn how to fish. The difference between you, and a fisherman, is that your attitude is that the fish should be available for you to gather up onto your line, but a fisherman will study their seasons, their characters, their movements, and every other aspect of hunting fish... like vision and foresight, willingness to share and discern who he can trust as far as deckies and fellow skippers, and gracious acceptance of the fickleness of the ocean and her contents... EVEN THEN, the fisherman will have more patience and other character traits required to find success. But all you blokes wanna do is sook about how "there are no fish around anymore because the old days were just raped..." Grow up and get some humility, and learn to ask a professional fisho for a story, and then shutup and listen. Ya might learn something.

[@robert6106]

@@sthnwatch Just saying it as it is, they all have fish finding sonar, so the hunting is out the window.

[@briansymmes7917]

I know someone who was fishing in NZ when the discovered the Orange Roughy. The scientists basically told them it was an unlimited resource, and by the time they figured out how long it took them to reach breeding age it as too late. NZ made just as much of a mess of their lobster and scallop fisheries as well. They could have have a hugely profitable , sustainable fishery and they threw it away because of greed and stupidity.

[@ryanreedgibson]

NO! What they did was find scientists that were willing to tell them what they wanted to hear.

[@paulwhelan7781]

Wow a real documentary. The people, their voices, the time.

[@sgbbco3981]

Amazing documentary.. As someone who loves and cares for Coral polyps... It's unfathomable to imagine how many miles and miles of mount reefs that were completely decimated. Corals that deep, that are thick as your thigh and branching 10+ meters, is a coral that's likely thousands of years old at its youngest. You cannot protect what you don't know but how ignorant does one have to be to think if you're pulling 100 tons of fish in a single pull... You're in a uniquely beautiful environment and that Ecology should be protected at all costs.

[@EarlGreyLattex]

Exactly!

[@oghamstone5964]

Well done Garry. Thanks for producing this. Great story. Love all the Irish names. 🇮🇪

[@Lumeria77]

Loved this . Being a crayfisherman from Portland Victoria 220 nm from grassy . We heard alot of awesome stories from the older crew about st Helens. Thankyou for making this and sharing

[@allanroser1070]

3 mins 20 .... I worked on the Cheryl Anne when she was here in NZ ... and 3:24 that's the Thelma G with a bag of Alphonsino off the Madden's South of Napier ... Morton Jensen was the skipper... Mid water trawling ... fun vid so far🙃

[@rdcochrane1746]

Great work Gary, stirred up some comments but it is what it is. Fished the NQld hardline when you could walk on the Barrier Reef. Times change and people learn but those pioneering experiences are amazing.

[@peterforrest6682]

Thanks for the great video Garry...this one...and all the others.

[@shotty8840]

This was the best thing iv watched for ages

[@bradleyhalfacre7992]

How many tons ended up on the dump?

[@olliemoose2020]

The fishing industry is corrupt all over the world greed has no limits

[@joelrivard5598]

In the United States over fishing happened because of the government giving low interest loans to build the fleet up your dumb if u turn down free money . Governments think they can play God and they aren't good at it

[@dcpack]

Not true. Some serious regulation and proven beneficial in Alaskan fisheries.

[@shanethompson8709]

Love this One of the best KZbin videos I've ever seen

[@robertcotton9091]

WOW!! What an amazing documentary!! Thought provoking, real stories from the Guys who were there at the time including fears they had as well as memories and tactics, informative and factual. Leaves you thinking having watched it...Mistakes made (although its always easy with hind sight). Actions, remedies (?) as a result. I would be a hypocrite to say I didn't enjoy a feed of Roughy and chips as much as anyone so its good to have a balanced view of the (different) time this occurred. The danger these guys were in so as I could have it and the skills and risks they had and took.... Massive thanks for sharing. I am glad I have found your site, I am sure I have many more to enjoy :) Cheers Mate.

[@williamkerr3350]

I remember piles of orange roughy dumped on the Margate tip for weeks ,tons of stinking fish gone to waste.Long live the trawl fishery.

[@mawfish1]

Piles of fish aged from 30 to 250 years. Appalling.

[@ghostrider9978]

Wonderful,, thank you for your efforts bringing this to us .

[@rogerbayzand4455]

Thank you Garry, that was fascinating .

[@nakedlakedip57]

Worked at Raptis Brisbane during this time, 6 day 14 hour days processing the orange roughy, week in week out ,took months to get the smell out of you, never had any issue with queuing, people would vanish ……. Some of the girls packing said they had train carriages to them selfs once they got on….. we even had trucks arrive from Albany WA…. Was madness.

[@MikeBowles-w8u]

one of the best no bullshit docos i have seen, thankyou

[@sjbechet1111]

Not a hint of irony about how their greed saw them rape and pillage a fishery into oblivion and leave themselves jobless. If you gave them guns they'd all end up with holes in their feet.

[@lookronjon]

They got the holes without using guns.

[@jamesmcnaughton5092]

What would you do if you were in that fishery? Stay home while everyone around you got rich

[@MegaDRjohn]

had a nice feed of roughy a few months ago, did it in an orange marinade, oj, cointreau, triple sec and mirin. then thickened up the juice with a bit of cornflour and added cream. very nice

[@petergrundy8081]

Criminal waste of a resource that may never recover such ignorance

[@garryt8582]

Bloody good so interesting Garry thanks

[@denisiwaszczuk1176]

Well done Gary . great days and great stories.

[@bradkernot4290]

Pure greed! Sad occurrence all over the world.

[@peterparsons7141]

And having lived through this in the Newfoundland cod fishery, I can just barely watch this film. I feel sick to my stomach and spiritually sick. Generations of sustainable fishing and work and food for everybody. …Now,…finished. Sickening.

[@flyingfox10001]

@@peterparsons7141 not finished!

[@daviddellit8344]

Extraordinary! Thank you.

[@gigabilitydontask1549]

One hell of a fishery all but gone but not forgotten, 👍🐟🐟🐟

[@stevenblack3092]

I remember working in Tasmania at the time and every pub’s fish of the day was orange roughy 😊

[@Lumeria77]

😂

[@larsrasmussen1106]

Great video, thank you for sharing!

[@teddybear-wx8vr]

This takes me back too a young 19 year old unloading at bell bay . Working long days too get them onloaded .

[@nolimitarcade2865]

Once again, a story about greedy people killing their own golden goose. Where were the Fishery Conservationists when these boats were arriving with these unsustainable catches?

[@StuartRobb-o7g]

Wow, great doco. Good to see some faces from my own time out there, a little bit older looking as I am now. Brought back fond memories for me.

[@cjod33]

I worked in the nw western Australia wetline industry targeting gold band, pink snapper etc. We were very selective and kept moving around the different spots. Gold band grow over a meter and ten kgs. I regularly see the babies being sold the shops these days at about 25cm and 700g. Coles and Woolworths. Unbelievable.

[@BillSaltbush]

I love it (not) when fishermen tell authorities that the management of a fishery should be left to them. It's like suggesting that putting a fox in charge of the henhouse is a good idea. Greed is an awfully difficult behaviour to overcome.

[@brendo7363]

Absolute pirates, "take what ye can, give nothing back!"

[@cyclingstock4930]

I was on the Blue Fin during that shot at the Maritime College, the fish never ended!

[@martingrimsted5017]

They almost did lol bunch of twats

[@anthonycarmody5253]

Rape and pillaged.

[@luke9911]

Used roughy heads in Australia for lobster bait. I was 14 when I first started and 45 now. I can still smell the heads from my first day. It has a very distinct smell.

[@gregseymour371]

I worked on the Orion 1990 and1991 and had not been at sea ,I come from 700kms inland in central nsw. I went out with them for a tucker trip just to see what it was all about I didn't want any money just The experience of doing it on one of my bucket list in life ,the first couple days ok after that the seas wind were unbelievable scared the shit out of me ,I couldn't eat for 4days it was that rough, but kept trying to catch orange roughy. But there was not many between Albany and Cape leuwin, a adventure i will never forget

[@peterengels8833]

I remember being on Adelaide Pearl when Raptis owners where also Running a 2nd boat shown together in this video “Queen Maria” suddenly sunk just on dark and luckily the next boat shooting the same line picked them all up. Red River was the boat that saved the guys from “Queen Maria”. Adelaide Pearl (and me) was at port Adelaide dock unloading about to return to same location. I also remember this was when the era of Sat nav you waiting most the day for a satellite to give you a accurate line to shoot. Gps was semi put on hold when space shuttle exploded and killed all its astronauts. The computer and data that was being collected was unbelievable imaginary. They said Queen Maria went down with a big shot attached and that affected fishing at that location off Kangaroo Island.

[@Jsmithyy]

I was on the knife end supplied by Jim and Peter Racovolis. What an amazing time. I have seen frozen roughy as recent as 5 years ago.

[@petergrundy8081]

Well what a waste of a resource an absolute balls up

[@tezzrterry7485]

Criminal vandalism. Truck loads went to landfill.

[@kaynef6637]

The salmon fishermen that run net off the beach’s in the south west of Western Australia take dump truck loads to the tip to keep the price down on some years , it’s disgusting I’ve seen them do it with my own eyes

[@robbrewer2036]

You cannot harvest and kill spawning fish and exspect the population to continue.

[@858493]

Again thank-you for sharing, I was a student on AMCs Bluefin when John Boyce a NZ Skipper got those Roughy we were trying all kinds of things we had net transducers, cameras on the headline and again that large panel of net over the mouth of the net different net designs developed by AMCs Andy Smith, We ripped gear tore out transducer cables was an amazing time and to be part of it as a young 18 y/o at the time..truck loads of Roughy unloaded off Bluefin at the Beauty Point Wharf..thanks again regards Doc...hehehe and then the word was out!!

[@jonv570]

did you know at the time that roughy didn't reach breeding until they're 32 Yeats old?

[@858493]

I think at the time we probably were not as aware but certainly we learnt more as time went by.@@jonv570

[@COOPERSCICHILDS]

Awesome video thanks for sharing

[@PeterTorrance]

I was working on the Fishing vessel Pacific Bounty, it was one of the New Zealand vessels fishing out there, it was owned by Pacific Trawling. we did the Orange Roughy in the south Tasman Rise. Big money back in those days. The good old days.

[@mezame1626]

Nah the good all days where taking a rod out and catching a feed but ya lucky or very skilled if you can get a feed these days 😢

[@steveturpin4242]

Totally gross greed. Depleted stock now...

[@stringpicker5468]

Along with the disaster of the Grand Banks, one of the great unsustainable fishing F•••ups of all time. And we knew enough to understand the likelihood by Orange Roughy time.

[@bobkoroua]

Even if, as I think the facts support, we didn't know it should have been regulated till the science was done. Criminal.

[@shanerockliff7558]

i love my uncle Pete. I worked on his boats. I've lived this.

[@frankz5864]

It was sad seeing the Corvina on the domain slips being scrapped in march this year.

[@bradwoods7321]

Thought the same thing myself.

[@shanerockliff7558]

Sad

[@PatrickBrown-lv7rv]

I remember that time,used to do maintenance on the hydraulics in 88/89. Was a boom,but Orange Rouphy took 20+ years to mature so wasn't finite & took years to control. It became a smash & grab to their own detriment.

[@bbdgha]

Great Doco..!! 🎉🎉👏🍾🙏 never worked on Roughy boats but whenever we caught it, most of us loved the shit..!! 😋 my favourite fish ever

[@Tassiedevil287]

We used to process fifty ton a day for Poulos brothers at Margate

[@SKG1941]

I totally agree. In hindsight, this is sickening. But at the time these guys were barely making a decent living then they hit a gold mine and knew that anyone that found the gold would take it all before they could get to it. I don’t blame these fisherman they have families to feed. Ask yourself the question. You don’t have all your teeth in your head, and now you have a chance to make a fortune. Think about it for a minute. The blame lies solely on the government agencies that overlook fisheries. They should have stopped it before it became a disaster. Again, think about it you have a family to feed and you don’t know anything else but fishing. What would you do? This is how every gold rush works until somebody with brains regulates it. Makes me sick to my stomach to think about government regulation, but in a lot of cases, it’s the only way to stop devastation of a species.

[@bobkoroua]

You are so close to rationality, just think about it without filtering it through dogma. This example is so clear that you can't prevent yourself from acknowledging that government regulations are a public good. I know without checking you are almost certainly an American. I love your country beyond explanation but you really baffle me with this blind dogmatic rhetoric.

[@SKG1941]

@@bobkoroua OK

[@SKG1941]

@@bobkoroua please do tell. You have intrigued me with your statement. Please elaborate.

[@bobkoroua]

@@SKG1941 About the Shining City on the Hill? Or about my deep respect and fondness for Americans? 🦅🇺🇲

[@lesmansom7817]

Excellent doco.👌

[@some.muppet]

thanks garry!

[@the_real_bin_chicken]

having gone to school at Eden N.S.W, "Twofold bay" ( 3:02 ) and "Imlay" ( 3:06 ) are both boats that i knew of. is there anything out there on youtube about Eden or its fishing industry?

[@OhAwe]

Appreciate you uploading the footage of the ecocide.

[@johnshaw8327]

I was a tuna fisherman in Port Lincoln in the 1960's. The pole fishery was basically sustainable and we stayed away from the schools of fish that were small. I think it was 1968 that the first purse seine boat started. It had come from Europe. That was the beginning of the end as these boats caught the bigger fish that were down in deeper water. It was an exciting life but I feel guilty now about all the fish we killed even if it might have been almosf sustainable.

[@brendoncrofts6714]

I remembers fishing out of Portland.first trip was on salt river ,after loosing net first shot returned to Port replaced net .headed back out few days latet headed home by memory think it was about 50+ ton .i remembet pulling the net right to the back of the boat .you could hear it snapping .skipper tief rope around handed me knife told me open up few meters of the net let fish out .when that cod end comes up before you can even see the boards $$$$$ .i think i got $3800 for 5 days .next trip 21 days at see didn't even catch enough to pay for the food .fond memories growing up

[@XD-te6vj]

I remember in late 80's every restaurant had orange roughy. now nobody has seen any forever.

[@henrirotthier5710]

Deep sea trawling = poaching

[@w.bridges9118]

Respect and regards Gary from squeek

[@fussybugger]

Wow fishery dessimated, and they're almost proud of the good time they had. And there's no way that everyone of them didn't know the permanent damage they were doing. Deep water fish grow slow everyone knows that.

[@EarlGreyLattex]

It's unbelievable how they're viewing it as the good old times

[@dennisthemenace57]

You ladies don't understand how fishing works

[@kaisahfx1246]

​@dennisthemenace57 then you know they're not wrong then

[@ianparke4048]

*DECIMATED, which in its traditional Latin sense, means to kill 10% and was used as motivation for the roman legions, plus, hindsight affords us glorious technicolor 20:20 vision, glad you got to the stage of being allowed to drive a keyboard solo, whilst leading a blameless life! Well done you! 👏 🎉🎉

[@fussybugger]

@@ianparke4048 If you can actually read, my comment refers to them knowing they were causing permanent damage but proceeded to anyway. Even Blind Freddy would not need the benefit of hindsight to know that. But as we're both here posting without consequence. Feel free to post up another inane reply.

[@Qingeaton]

I remember eating some orange roughy, and it was much too good for its own good. I worked for a large institutional food distributor to restaurants, and I saw the rise and crash of it myself. I also remember selling pompano and monk fish when the roughy crashed.

[@jbeaudry8745]

bottom trawling is disgusting, these men should be ashamed of themselves. This is criminal !

[@mathew00]

All because of money. Money makes morals and ethics disappear. The greatest tool to get someone to "look the other way".

[@redtobertshateshandles]

There was a great pinnacle reef near me that produced lots of different reef fish very close to shore. In the end we would just get snagged and no fish. A local pro had lost his net on there. 😢

[@peterparsons7141]

Best tasting fish. In the Canadian fisheries of different species, the gov. Kept lowering the quota when the fisheries was in trouble, the fisherman couldn’t reach the max quota, but kept catching what they could the scientists and public screamed. The gov kept lowering the quota and fisherman kept trying to catch the quota….. and then there was not fish. Everybody has responsibility.

[@robbrewer2036]

N.s.w.australia our government inst a lying "fish aggravation "devices to catch the few fish left.absolute lunatics.

[@malcolmalexander5615]

Brilliant record of history. Fishing is hard.

[@franbrinda]

We were eating orange roughy a couple times a month in the 80s when I was a kid in the U.S.. it was the cheapest fish you could buy and tasted like lobster. My mom was thrilled we could eat such good fish so cheap. In the U.S they called it poor man’s lobster. Some new fish they found down deep that was cheap and tasted good.

[@OhAwe]

A fish that lives to over 250 years old and doesn't reach breeding maturity until 30-40.

[@nkelly.9]

Bringing up netloads of fish that took 80 years to mature? What could possibly go wrong. Mankind's greed is infinite

[@OhAwe]

Lmao Orange Roughy around Tasmania are about 250 years old, not 80. We are literally insane apes.

[@RonS.-ts8ec]

I got married in the early 80s, i remember my wife telling me she was cooking orange roughy, ? never heard of it, but it was really good. ( I still prefer fresh snapper) or bearded clam.

[@sultanagunghunting8142]

One of the advantages of making an artificial fish house in the sea is that it makes it easier for us to fish or find fish

[@martingrimsted5017]

You sound completely thick

[@andrewschaeffer2223]

Great narration

[@ag-om6nr]

Absolutely disgusting , pure greed and lack of Government regulation ! Never happened before , except all of the other fisheries destroyed by commercial fisherman !

[@Phat-khat]

And this is why there is nothing left in the ocean today, all because of being piggish, and being a Gorby by Australians, New Zealand’s, and Tasmanian fishermen

[@sammyvh11]

I hear sharks are getting killed at an alarming pace. It's a miracle there is a fish in the ocean. As a recreation fisherman since the mid 1960s on the mid atlantic US coast it's been devastated. The young kids can't see it because they where not alive then. In the late 60s I used to listen to 80 year olds tell about the fishery at the turn of the century in 1900. It's disgusting.

[@Jsmithyy]

Ruly from San Remo went on to work for Ritchie's for decades. Young josh still on the sharks.

[@rationalthinker9181]

Like picking every piece of fruit in an orchard then cutting the trees down and asking why there is no fruit. As a sport fisherman that practices catch and release it amazes me when fishermen complain there is no fish then catch one and keep it, cause and effect disconnection

[@steverichardson6920]

Yes too true but I also noticed a comment earlier on where it was mentioned “when the tuna fishery collapsed” almost as if it was a surprise as opposed to “when we destroyed the tuna fishery……..”

[@officialWWM]

Surely these guys aren’t ignorant enough to think that taking 40 odd ton of fish out of the water at a time wouldn’t completely decimate the fishery? Now they have destroyed the flathead fishery and our limit has been dropped to 2 fish! What is the next poor victim going to be?

[@KitPeters001]

There goes another of The Times of Plenty on Planet Earth - like all the others, eaten up by stupidity and greed. Now come the hard Times, about to get sad and mean.........

[@CliftonHood-l3h]

Over fishing caused the current snapper ban in South Australia, due too greedy professional fishermen. It's so sad it's like shooting yourself in the foot 😢

[@scottzipperer6146]

No sustainable practices for future use just wipe out a specific fish for greed

[@Mephistopholies]

Good show

[@craigpoodle118]

good watch fellas 🤙

[@thomasraymond6692]

Got out of a truck to fish the Tasman rise. S.A factory trawlers went through and I went back to a truck

[@odinshunter9297]

Greed and stupidity. It is still going on in other areas of society today. I am sad over how ignorant we all are.

[@geoffdrew5207]

Highly sustainable, for about three years then the fish just disappeared. No idea where they could have gone, they were only taking 50 ton each shot.

[@annydaysullysay]

jesus having to cut cables with oxy torches in bad weather. surely that was extremely dangerous must have been very hard to get any slack in the cables?

[@SirRamone]

pretty sure these fish live till 70 and taking on tons of them is a wipe-out.

[@deanfulford69]

Good stuff 👌

[@shanerockliff7558]

ive worked for lawrence, punchy, michka, murray, nevile, and the icelander that made nets. hmm