I have a cousin in Townsville who does a fair amount of crabbing and is one of those guys who sticks to the rules with measuring his crabs.
He was pulled over by the the Inspector who promptly pulled out a Micrometer from his pocket and commenced measuring the shell via that method.
When my cousin objected to this and checked them against his standard plastic issue measure whereby they all passed the test, the up-himself-with-authority- Inspector advised that he would check them any way he wanted and promptly hit him with a $200 fine because - wait for it - the Micrometer showed a half to one mill discrepency!!!!
Even when advised of the obvious fact that they were OK via the plassie template, the ######## on the other side grunted about "regs are regs" and roared off!
I have found most Inspectors pretty reasonable but like most people in uniforms, it only takes one or two galahs to spoli the record!
Maybe some NQ members can confirm or deny this sort of thing?
Never had a problem with the inspectors and measuring. Have always followed the premice that if its close, it goes back, even if by a smidge. But he should fight it if he believes he is right, although the court fees etc would cost him more than the fine...
Unfortunately I don't crab for sandies, why would ya when there are plenty of big fat muddies about that will give you a better feed that sandies any day.
Fillet and Release Squad
Rules is rules. Ask the inspector to show a calibration certificate. If he cant produce one then guess what, no contest. You could win a court case but you would want to be damn sure that you plastic device is correct. If in doubt I always toss the crab back. I wont take borderline crabs.
all sympathies but it is well known that the inspectors use a digital vernier.....the .5MM is a bit rich......if he was feeling like a go in court he may have a case chalenging on the basis of calibration or simply that the vernier may not be proven to be zeroed correctly.
One thing you can be sure of.... the plastic crab guage will be inaccurate.
It will be a moulded plastic device...( which presents accuracy problems) and most plastics expand and contract considerably with heat.
In this day and age.. most of us would not be taking anything that was not "well legal"
I don't think crabs shrink after death or when taken out of the water but I can tell you fish do.
I took a bream once and measure it on the hook and then measured it when I put it in the esky half an hour later( i was wadeing)... it was 10mm shorter on the same ruler.
cheers
Its the details, those little details, that make the difference.
There does seem to be a bit of a new breed of fisho (fishing inspector) starting to get around. Maybe fresh out of Uni or inspector college),which would account for their being sticklers for taking the regulations to the nth degree. In the past most have been keen fishermen themselves trying to preserve fishing stocks for future generations but mainly because they loved the water and the job. They were common sense people but unfotunately common sense isnt that common any more . Hence the big micrometer and little leaway
THE POOR MAN ALWAYS PAYS TWICE
I was checked over by the fisheries for the first time in 5 or 6 years of regular reef fishing off Mission Beach on the Stralia Day Weekend .
It was a young guy and girl in an inflatable and I was 50 km's offshore ...they were great...and didnt even say much till we went through and clipped the fins of the 15-20 fish we had in the esky while they watched...
They recommended I bring my PDF 1 lifejackets next time that I forgot for the first time ever...only had a couple of ancient things that I use for pillows on overnighters....
They also mentioned that I should redo the faded rego numbers and put a current rego sticker on and take the 05 one off...
I guess they could have booked me on 4 counts but chose not to...
I guess there are always going to be the odd ####### as descibed in the original post...but these guys were very pleasant and I certainly appreciate them just warning me....
Scott
i have heard lots of people getting nicked because the plastic measure was out...
We got pulled up by the same ones Scott, we even invited them to the pub (the chick was pretty sexy) after work. They came up as Deion was bringing in the first big GT, gave us plenty of room until we boated it and then came in for a chat.
We had one trout in the esky which we forgot to clip, but a freindly reminder was all they gave. Plus a few jokes about me feeling a bit green thanks to another boatload of Townsville fisho's they inspected before us.....pricks.
TPP, its unfortunate they pulled out the micro meter on your mate but as others have said, mouled plastic isn't accurate when it comes down to the nitty gritty. Once they pulled out the micro, he should have gotten serial numbers and calibration certificates if he's got any chance of getting off.
Hello everyone,
Just to let you all know the Fisheries officer you deal with or does that sort of thing, i.e. measure with a micrometer is incorrect. They have to be measured by an official guage issued to DPIF staff (Fisheries Officer / Field Officers in particular). These guages have an official ID number engraved or stamped on it.
I should know, I done a training course many years ago, I did not get the job but the rules have not changed when it comes to measuring fish and crabs, if the matter goes to court then the Magistrate or Judge will need to be satisfied that the device used to measure the fish / crab is done so in accordance to the DPIF recommendations as goverened by the Fisheries Regulations
The next time these buggers do that, record details of their vessel and their name tag and report it to the Area Office. E.g. Cairns, Brisbane, Gold Coast etc, each area district comes under the jurisdiction of another office.
Peter
tossers! thats all i can say. NO mate you better get a new crab measure for next time you have a warning? He should have wrung thier bloody necks
Cheers
Chris
Sorry for the outburst but this stuff is crap. DPI-F do bugger all for fisheries when it comes to policing and 90% of the intentional stuff gets passed because theyre not out there enough and when they are they do this crap? All fisheries I have met have been great so hearing this makes me angry.
Democracy: Simply a system that allows the 51% to steal from the other 49%.
Hahaha...trying to chat up a fisheries chick when your boats called "Got Crabs"....good luck fella's...LOLOriginally Posted by Scott nthQld
Mate you are so wrong. They are out there every single day. The real problem is that they do not have enough staff. When you have half a dozen staff working the whole of moreton bay and all the tributaries I can understand why people think they are not doing anything...
What a load of crap Andy! Out there every single day are they??? That is false and you know it!! They are understaffed and that is the reason they are not out there everyday!! How many threads ahave we seen where regular fisho's havent been checked in 5-10 years? If they were out there every day this would not be the case. Not their fault either its the pitiful state govt that is to blame but don't come on here and talk SH!te Whilst the majority of born and bred fisho's do the right thing there are pleanty that do the worong thing. Have a read of regular threads on here just to find that out. the bloke obviously thought he was in the right and had NO intention of breaking the law! That is a very large part of our law system INTENT. This guy should fight it all the way on behalf of all the fisho's that do the right thing. He WILL win it and maybe this tosser will get a kick up the arse for being the tosser that he is!
Democracy: Simply a system that allows the 51% to steal from the other 49%.
I get checked 2 or three times a year and they have also given me a new plastic crab measure with both sizes on it so i would hope if they have given it to me to use then they would go off that measure when they inspected me again
Shane
Well mate I would love to know where you get your info from, cause everytime I ring staff from boating and fisheries patrol I can only get them half hour either side of their shift, because they are always out on patrol. So it might be false, but I might give them a call today and find out exactly how much time they spend on the water. Thanks for the heads up.
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