thumbs up fisheries patrol

[Luc]

Never been checked by the law on the water.

They do a good job, just a shame that there's not more of them especially on weekends and nights.

Luc

[Marlin_Mike]

More night checks for idiots with no lights

Mike

[samson]

Had my fair share of encounters with inspectors i'm alway's polite and courtious but one time my flares were out of date by two months and no lenience was given just a $150 fine but the thing was my boat was on the trailer not in the water i just got an arrogant inspector.
Another time i got pulled over by an inspector in the tweed river trolling lures for trevally he pulled me over and put two big scratches down the side of my old mans brand new allison half cab back when inspectors had tinnys not inflatables only for him to turn around and threaten to fine me for not trolling down the right the right hand side of the channel, i was never compensated for damages and he acted like he was doing me a favour for not fining me since then this officer has left fisheries with no arguments from me.
I totally agree with peoples opinions regarding being polite and courtious but it doesn't do any good if they have a bad day your just the next in line to cop the flogging.

Cheers Samson

[Bream_Reaper01]

I was suprised to be checked by fisheries at the Diamond Head boat ramp in the Pimpama on Easter Sunday.He was polite and courteous and was surprised to see that i had a 38cm whiting in the esky,one of the biggest he's seen for awhile in the Pimpama he said.He had a Ausfish member helping him record details as well,but didn't get his name.The only thing i asked of him(fisheries officer)was if he wanted to inspect what i had caught i asked kindly if i could clear the ramp first and he had no problems with that request.Treat with respect and that's how you should be treated in return.

Cheers
Bream Reaper

P.S. He also checked my pfd's,i didn't know that was their area,thought that was upto the police,but i showed him anyway.

[sandyd]

Last year at the Boyne Tannum Hook up we had the new local fisheries patrol come and address the crowd. Don't remember his name but what a sense of humor and it was great that they came out and introduced themselves and let the locals know what they could expect in the future and what they where about.

[bundylundy]

Seen in today's local that 2 boaties caught over the limit by the water police over the weekend, one in the Calliopie and one at Awoonga. Some people never learn, warning was put out before Easter that they would be on the water.
I have never had prolem with the fisho's or the water police, they have always been friendly to me.

Jeff.

[Braddles]

I have had a few dealings which have been overall positive. The harbour patrol boats in the Brisbane River are a professional, friendly bunch... They have often come along side at night (probably to check us out) to ask how the fishing is going and on one occasion told me how he caught some impressive squire the night prior and gave the exact location... Another time I had dragged anchor after a large wake from the Tangalooma flyer but was in the middle of a good bite but drifted within the regulatory 50m from shore.. and they flew over, me thinking I was about to get in trouble... He understandingly said "When you land that one you need to motor back out" andleft it at that...

The Water police have pulled me over in a large RIB centre cab looking thing early hours of a weekday morning between St Helena and Mud Is.... My mate and I came off the plane at the site of the pretty blue lights and they came astern with a night sun (super powerful spot light) completely blinding us which was pretty stupid / dumb so I yelled out to turn the "XYZ light off us" and he appologised...

After the spots had cleared (completely blinded us for ~30 secs) he introduced himself and explained we had been stopped for a random breath test (which he did) and safety check. He asked if we had individual items of safety gear (life jackets, flares in date etc) but didnt ask to see them (stowed under front deck). The spot light operating mate then asked how many people were on board (which I thought was pretty obvious in a 5m centre console) so I just smiled and looked back at the other guy who smiled back at me (as if to indicate his partner was a tosser). They wished us a good night, told us that the factory fitted stern anchor light was not legal (not visable from 360deg with people standing in the boat) and would need to be re-located to the wind sheild, and left.. I could argue that the light was a factory standard fitting and a person blocking out 2-3% of a 360deg all around white light was picky etc - but the rules clearly state that, and I knew If I pused it - I was likely to get the fine... Afterall he was being reasonable enforcing the rules that are just that - rules...

The ONLY bad experience "on the water" was with traffic police (road) with a laser speed gun at Grand Hotel Jetty at Labrador on the Gold Coast, doing speed checks on passing boats / jet skiis then fining them when they come back into shore / ramp. I noticed a distraught elderly lady in the car park of the adjacent seafood shop whil;e we were getting ready to launch... Her car had been broken into - and I advised her to go see this police man... His response was along the lines of "I can not help you, you need to call the police".... I seen red...

On the whole though - they are doing their job to keep us safe, and if we do the right thing, we have nothing to worry about. There are good and bad eggs in every walk of life.

[bushbeachboy]

I can ony add to the praise for the fisheries officers. They stopped me in Groper Creek the other morning and checked safety, esky etc. Good blokes. I had some parts of the rego numbers that had fallen off the poly, but they just gave me a bit of advice on how to maybe get them to stick better next time. No lectures, no tickets, no dramas (my safety kit is all good, boat registered etc). It was good to see them out there.