Green zone fines

[Flex]

Over heard a work college talking the other day, Apprently he misread his GPS and got caught fishing just inside a green zone with 4 other mates.

He said he heard the plane fly over and thought he was fishing in the right spot but wasnt,

4 weeks later he received a fine in the mail for $10000. Apparently $2grand per person fishing in his boat. He received a photo and apparently you could make out each and every person fishing with a rod . Now I wasnt going to go call this bloke a liar,maybe he was boasting I dunno, but does the government actually fine you "per person" for fishing in a zone?

I always was under the assumption it they simply fined the boat owner the one fee?

[cuzzamundi]

Is this for real? Firstly, crazy that they can photograph and fine you! Secondly, I thought it was a five hundred dollar fine per angler. Third, I think they can/will charge each person in the boat if they're all fishing. Sounds odd, as I've never heard of recco's getting pinged that way! I'll be if he's telling the truth! Crazy stuff, mate.

Cuzza

[captain rednut]

i know a bloke whom received a photo of his boat trolling in a green zone. nice picture too. it does happen and it cost him $500.

[odes20]

A friend of ours works on a big Fisheries boat out of Cairns and is being made redundant as he says the State Gov has run out of money and his boat has not been out since April?

Maybe they are upping the technology
John

[FishHunter]

If the technology the fisho's use cannot accurately determine the exact limit of a green zone what technology is the government using that is accurate enough to base a prosecution on?

[D river]

I know of a pro trout boat a mate of mine worked on that his brother owned that got done off cooktown somewhere by a photo n there fine was big enough to put them both out of business

[TheRealAndy]

I know of a pro trout boat a mate of mine worked on that his brother owned that got done off cooktown somewhere by a photo n there fine was big enough to put them both out of business

I also know a pro trout fisho had this happen. He had dories out fishing, and one guy ventured into a green zone. Got a pic from a plane and fined him.

[FNQCairns]

I guess with the right program it would be dead easy to fly over viewing an lcd with camera view, cross hair anything of interest to pull its coordinate then simply plot this coord onto any everyday mapping program,,,actually this end point probably happens on screen in real time.

Considering the act is illegal, although the law is entirely based on fundamentalist ideology I feel bad for any human (especially anglers)doing no wrong morally/naturally or socially but still being charged for it.....at least today it is now no longer a mandatory criminal conviction, I guess considering the human quality of this country today, is a small mercy.

[MTAQ/BTAQ]

I am a boat licence provider in Brisbane North and a recent customer of mine says his friend was fined $500 for dropping a line in Tripcony Bight (Pumicestone Passage). The 6 months of warning people has elapsed and they are now fining people for fishing in the green zones of Moreton Bay.

Speaking of taking pics, I was recently launching my jet ski at Scarborough Boat Ramp with my 5 year old grandson and a customs vessel cruised passed and someone on deck snapped a pic of us launching the ski, thinking they may have been pedophiles (only joking) I took out my phone and snapped back - but, after the recent drug bust at Scarborough there could be more to it.

[murf]

down here in Coffs Harbour the fine is $500/ person and another $500 if you anchored, yes a mate learned the hard way

we have a little grey helicopter that takes pics of you in the Solitary Islands marine park (I know because a mate used to fly the thing )

but that is some serious money

cheers Murf

[Pazz01]

Well I remember a couple of guys up here in Cairns contested the accuracy of the GPS and got off there fine. But, to be find $10k is pretty steep. $500 each yeh, but not $10k, sounds like a bit of a porky to me.

Moral of the story, don't fish in green zones.

Pazz

[kc]

Having been pretty involved in the Cairns case it would be interesting to see how such a fine would stack up in court. The reason the Cairns guys won is that GPS evidence can not be used as the sole means of fixing a position at sea (under maritime law) ....Just like every GPS tells us when we boot it up. This is an "Aid To Navigation, NOT a navigational device"....This was the basis of the Cairns defence. AMSA has successfully convicted skippers who have an accident for soley relying on GPS and not using other navigational means to confirm a position...ie line of site bearings, compass bearing, visual references etc. so the crown can't have it both ways. They can't prosecute soley on GPS evidence and then prosecute someone who is using GSP as the sole means of fixing a position. I am aware that planes rely on GPS with these images and if there were no visual references (such as there would be near and island or in an inlet) the crown would lose in court(again). Moot point and legal issue I know and best not to fish even near a green zone but the Cairns case made the buggers sharpen up proceedures and highlited to stupiity of green zones with no reference points or line of site markers. They could not enforce these fines if they were properly defended in court but like most people, just plead guilty and cop it.

KC

[Flex]

Well I had a browse through the GBRMPA website and found no info on Penalties/fines.

Are fines different amounts in GBRMPA zones compared to the ones further south? Im thinking that may be the case.

KC- I have argued your point on many occasions, whats stopping me fishing in the middle of a greenzone when legally the greenzone maps supplied from the website aren't navigational charts? How can they prove I was where they say I was.
But since that precedent was set in cairns Im sure lots more could get off if they took it further.

[Leon Kruse]

Over heard a work college talking the other day, Apprently he misread his GPS and got caught fishing just inside a green zone with 4 other mates.

He said he heard the plane fly over and thought he was fishing in the right spot but wasnt,

4 weeks later he received a fine in the mail for $10000. Apparently $2grand per person fishing in his boat. He received a photo and apparently you could make out each and every person fishing with a rod . Now I wasnt going to go call this bloke a liar,maybe he was boasting I dunno, but does the government actually fine you "per person" for fishing in a zone?

I always was under the assumption it they simply fined the boat owner the one fee?

mate this certainly does happen and it happened to my good mate he got fined for his wife and 2 kids and the fine was $1800 per person caught fishing in a no fishing zone

[kc]

Lots would have gotten off if they defended the matter but I am aware that the enforcement agencies tightened their proceedures.

YOU as a skipper are suppossed to know where you are. The GBRMPA maps are a guide only but they do describe the boundry co-ordinates. The actual LAW...the seldom seen thick white book....the legislation which underpins the maps, is also available and all anglers are suppossed to have studied this (yeh right, if you can find one and if you can speak double dutch...even qualified navigators have trouble with it). It can be demonstrated clearly that the legislation and the maps have errors, one particular "howler" in my neck of the woods.

A breech relying on GPS co-ordinates only was and would remain flawed at law (as I suspect cameras in planes would be...unless a visual reference point such as an Island appears in the image)....breeches detected "on water" are first fixed with GSP and then the GPS co-ordinates confirmed "by other navigational means" (compass bearing, radar, line of sight bearing etc. Once the GSP is "confirmed" the breech is bullet proof.

Regardless of anyone feelings about green zones (mine are well known) the onus of proof should be on the crown. It is however the case, under the new state based green zones , that, in laymans terms, an angler is presumed guilty and has to prove innocence. It is one of the abominations of this legislation which I was at pains to point out during my "past life".

The GBRMPA "on the spot fine is $1100 (maybe that's $1000 + GST

I don't know what the state based fines are as I only fish in GBRMPA waters and don't follow the process as much these days....

KC