NQ Fishing Inspectors and Sand Crab measurments

[TheRealAndy]

Just to confirm what I previously said, DPI&F do have staff on the water almost every single day. I just got of the phone to one of their staff (who works on the water) and he confirmed that they typically have someone on the water every weekeday and most weekends.

Now considering the pinkenba office operates from mooloolaba all the way to the gold coast thats a big ask. There is also a 3 person crew operating out of redland bay that assist with enforcement in the southern end of the bay

[Scott nthQld]

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!

Regardless on whether or not they are out there everyday in SEQ, I can assure you that they are in fact out everyday in NQ, where the incident occurred. In the last 12 months I've been pulled up numerous times, and on Aussie Day weekend, fishing about 30-40km out from Mission Beach, the first time I have ever been or fished in Mission and we get pulled up. Might have been a long weekend, but i've still been pulled up midweek at night by fisheries.

[trueblue]

time to make a stainless steel crab measuring gauge myself, and make it a couple of mm over sized.

I'll make mine to size with a digital vernier myself, and then being oversized I will have no problems ever.

cheers

Mick

[STUIE63]

most of the plastic crab measures i have checked are 2mm oversize anyway just check yours with a tape measure
Stuie

[Haji-Baba]

How many of you people have seen the plastic measure with foreign a langauge writen on it.

I have two, how am I to know what is said about the crab or which size is which.

I can understand why it was printed, to try to educate some of our newly arrived
citizens.

But if as you say they are not out there very often what is the point?


Haji-Baba

[Blackened]

G'day

I've checked both of my plastic ones, they do not distort and they are spot on with their sizings

Dave

[Lovey80]

Thats my point lads 90% of fishers fish the weekends and they are not out there every weekend. Those are the days that need to be mandatory and have weekdays off. I totally understand that they have unrealistic area's to cover. I had a long chat with fisheries inspectors at Mooloolaba when I got checked last year (2nd time ever and I get out a fair bit before recently). They told me about how they can't cover the area's they want to because of budget constraints and they wont either put more inspectors on or pay the ones they do have over time.

I would seriously consider doing this as a living but I hear somebody has to die before you get a job with them..... can anyone confirm this?

We have digressed from the real issue here and that 1 tosser in NQ as given inspectors a bad name by targeting blokes that believe they are doing the right thing when there are pleanty of foriegners and locals intentionally rorting the system.

At the end of the day size and bag restrictions are easily the best method we have for maintaining our fishery. If we only had more decent inspectors on the water making it actually hard to get away with it then maybe we wouldn't be having closures forced down our throats.

Cheers

Chris

[pontificator]

hmm half a mm and a metal vernier. Did he or she knock the crab's point/s off while measuring? (we are talking muddies here?)

Agree with calibration issue - ask for proof of calibration and when it was done, digital instrument in hostile salt water environment with lots of vibration. Ask for the records for the system that shows that the calibration certificate relates to the vernier in possession of the inspector on the day. Get him or her to demonstrate that he knows how to zero it while in the box. Inspector not the vernier.

Or plead guilty and then in extenuation give evidence of use of commercially available crab measure etc etc. Ask for no fine and no conviction recorded (if this is even an offence that leads to conviction as opposed to just a fine like speeding)

Or do like I do with unjust speeding tickets, which I seem to cop once per decade or so, which is the same as what I used to do when I copped a smack as a kid - didn't deserve that one, but got away with a few, so all is good. Latter option pretty frustrating when you have been busting a gut to be a compliant fisher, I agree.

[bondy99]

Thats my point lads 90% of fishers fish the weekends and they are not out there every weekend. Those are the days that need to be mandatory and have weekdays off. I totally understand that they have unrealistic area's to cover. I had a long chat with fisheries inspectors at Mooloolaba when I got checked last year (2nd time ever and I get out a fair bit before recently). They told me about how they can't cover the area's they want to because of budget constraints and they wont either put more inspectors on or pay the ones they do have over time.

I would seriously consider doing this as a living but I hear somebody has to die before you get a job with them..... can anyone confirm this?

We have digressed from the real issue here and that 1 tosser in NQ as given inspectors a bad name by targeting blokes that believe they are doing the right thing when there are pleanty of foriegners and locals intentionally rorting the system.

At the end of the day size and bag restrictions are easily the best method we have for maintaining our fishery. If we only had more decent inspectors on the water making it actually hard to get away with it then maybe we wouldn't be having closures forced down our throats.

Cheers

Chris

G'day Chris

I went for a recruitment drive last year and yep, very competitive and its a job for life when you get it , if you want it for that long. The pay is shit for the work you do and the hours put in, you are required to work a lot of overtime and weekends at a standard pay, not double time rates until one has worked a set number of hours, when that number is reached and if budget can be stretched then double time pay could be met.

I was told by one of the District Officers (Inland Fisheries) there is a lot of territory to cover with 3 people, 2 on patrol and 1 in the office. All monies have been allocated to the Queenslands waterpipe project. Send me a pm and I can fill you in with additional info if you like.

Peter

[Moonlighter]

Hi guys

There is another option when you are given such a ticket that many people are unaware of outside Government circles, and that's to immediately write a letter to the regional manager at DPIF in the area you're in and to ask for an "internal review" of the ticket by the RM or a more senior officer.

You need to give all relevant details and facts about what happened and why you don't believe it was fair or correct to be issued a ticket, and ask the RM to urgently exercise their discretion to cancel the ticket. And ask them to put further enforcement action on hold until they have completed their review. If you don't hear back by the time the fine is due to be paid, call them and ask what's happening - don't just let it lapse without following up thoroughly.

Of course, there's always 2 sides to every story and if, for example, it emerges that the person who copped the ticket was, shall we say, less than cooperative with the Inspector on the day, that will no doubt come out and will probably influence the manager who reviews the decision. It will also come out if the inspector who issued the ticket was just in a bad mood or being an officous wally.

Its definitely worth a shot, nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Regards

ML