Qld Rec fisher changes in the air

[NAGG]

I think some of these things are very area specific, where I am, in decades of fishing, I have only ever been checked by fisheries a handful of times, why? simply because of the number of ramps, people and the number of fisheries inspectors, the numbers are in your favour! I have seen countless times people taking way over their set bag limit of Flathead and Kingfish, including undersized fish, people using more traps than legal, using gear in illegal places, should I “Dob them in” maybe yes, maybe I should mind my own business, then, in a way, it is my business…..I personally know a few who sell stuff on the side to pay for boating expenses, should I say something? We need to look at this as a long game, not just for today. Fisheries seem to be more concerned about the high value market, Abalone, Lobster and Snapper to a lesser degree, everything else is just bonus if they raid someone at the ramp or out fishing. One things certain though, the rec catch overall is enormous, we can all say ban the pros and stuff like that, but, our take is considerable when taken as a whole, counting it is the issue, as this thread has proven.

I read this & nod my head ......... like you - I dont want to be a crusader .
I've kicked a blokes bucket of undersized bream off Windang bridge when I lived down there ........ then had a knife pulled on me.
One thing I will say .... "not in my boat" I've made people release fish that they wanted to keep . I've been in a situation were I've caught a decent something & released it because I couldn't identify it . ...... I don't want the hassle or worst.

The Windang bridge situation can be observed at any jetty or fishing spot around this country ....... people keeping undersized fish . How many times do you hear the term "Yellow raincoat brigade " ?

Chris

[Noelm]

I hear you loud and clear on the bucket of undersized fish component, it happens everywhere. Right now we have an “issue” with Cockles in Lake Illawarra, there’s million of them, but…….car loads of people turn up, take hundreds of kilos of them and piss if before anything can be done, a few locals have confronted them, tossed buckets into the water, but, it’s never ending, until it’s too late. There is very clear bag limits on them, but that is completely ignored. The fisheries office is about a K from there, but, repeated calls get nowhere, by the time they turn up, it’s all over, how do you fix that? No amount of catch data, laws, bag limits will help. I know it’s a small issue, but, it’s a cog in a big wheel. Most of us do the right thing (well most on here) but (in my opinion) we are the minority by a big margin. Way back in the “old days” I have caught more fish in a session than I would ever need, why? Don’t know, it’s just what we did, you filled the boat, then decided what the hell are we going to do with (say) 20+ 15KG Kingfish, it’s not boasting, because everyone did it….not to mention club fishing comps where every fish was worth points, luckily, those days are long gone for most, but, it all ties in with what we have today

[Lovey80]

That you know of !

Mate you will be surprised at what you learn about others once you get to know them .

Are you going to tell me that no one has kept fish that were undersized - or set a trap (deliberately) not conforming to regulations , exceeded bag / slot limits ? .
That would be akin to trying to say that no one in your circle has drove a car over the drink drive limits.

Maybe it's because the people I know are being open & honest (or dropped the cat)....... The reality is more like that most of us have broken the law at one time or another inadvertently or deliberately.


Chris

Maybe I just run in different circles to you. On my boat and on my mates that I've fished we've regularly emptied eskies to count fish after a lost count on mixed species to make sure we haven't broken our bag limit. You say you have strong feelings about this, but did you call fisheries and inform them of your mates that were openly bragging about selling fish? It's easy to get online and have a whinge, its also easy to pick and chose who you fish with but are you willing to call them out and or inform the authorities?

The worst part is to drag a conversation away from getting comprehensive data on the rec take on the back of a few people doing the wrong thing. I am sure that there's the odd commercial fisherman that do the wrong thing too and we occasionally hear about it. But we don't make arguments against Commercial and Charter log books on the back of a possibility that a few rogue operators are going to fudge their logbook figures or not report at all. Fisheries are happy to call the Charter/Commercial log book data as robust. Why can't we get to a place where we can do the same about the rec sector?

Yes this would be an inconvenience and it's one that I wish wasn't necessary. But if It means that I am not subjected to an unnecessary additional closure. If it means I am not subjected to an unnecessary increase in size limit or reduction in bag limit on a particular species, I am more than happy to have that minor inconvenience over the much larger restriction on my fishing freedoms. Do we not remember a while back the reduction in bag limit on Mahi Mahi off the back of zero science? It was purely done because someone in the bureaucracy felt that taking this many was too greedy.It was quickly reversed once it was highlighted that there was zero science backing the decision.

Like it or not, the mandate of fisheries is to maximise the sustainable yield. Not to decide on what is moral or what is greedy. I have my own self imposed MLS on a number of species. I will also self limit on a number of species. i.e Kingfish I will usually only take one fish because I only like kings as sashimi and don't much like it cooked. But I wouldn't begrudge another person if they wanted to take 2. As long as it is sustainable and they aren't breaking the rules, I have no problem with it.

[Lovey80]

This was insane, I've never seen sharks like that before, and buggered if it would be me in the water with them the way they were in a frenzy.

It is purely anecdotal and maybe the illegal practices in the Rec sector really are worse than I think. But I am confident there is a shed load more mortality now from sharkings than there is from illegally kept fish. Especially if you were to compare it to 10-20-30 years ago.

I would certainly like to see more sharks taken from the Commercial sector. I am not sure that relaxing the regulations on recreational would have much impact because pretty generally we don't want to mess around blunting knives on shark. But on the rare occasion I buy fish and chips from a take away, I am more than happy to order flake. It would be super cheap too. A lot of people struggling at the moment could do with a cheaper option that is in abundance and available fresh locally.

[disorderly]

id suggest you find some better fishing acquaintances. No one in my circles acts like this.

Was also my thoughts exactly....

Edited the rest due to my mum telling if I had nothing nice to say then say nothing at all..

[NAGG]

I hear you loud and clear on the bucket of undersized fish component, it happens everywhere. Right now we have an “issue” with Cockles in Lake Illawarra, there’s million of them, but…….car loads of people turn up, take hundreds of kilos of them and piss if before anything can be done, a few locals have confronted them, tossed buckets into the water, but, it’s never ending, until it’s too late. There is very clear bag limits on them, but that is completely ignored. The fisheries office is about a K from there, but, repeated calls get nowhere, by the time they turn up, it’s all over, how do you fix that? No amount of catch data, laws, bag limits will help. I know it’s a small issue, but, it’s a cog in a big wheel. Most of us do the right thing (well most on here) but (in my opinion) we are the minority by a big margin. Way back in the “old days” I have caught more fish in a session than I would ever need, why? Don’t know, it’s just what we did, you filled the boat, then decided what the hell are we going to do with (say) 20+ 15KG Kingfish, it’s not boasting, because everyone did it….not to mention club fishing comps where every fish was worth points, luckily, those days are long gone for most, but, it all ties in with what we have today

You say it's a small issue - but it's replicated up & down the coast - 100s of times each week.
I stil remember the issues had up in Qld with Nomads taking more than the bag limit of winter whiting ...... then getting nabbed .

You are 100% correct when it comes to practices of the past - I was certainly part of the problem (club days) or just keeping everything you caught .
Funnily I can actually recall my Ephinay ..... the day the penny dropped (Feb 1997) - South West Rocks ....... The pack up saw us fill a 150lt Esky with frozen fillets (Jew , Flathead , Kingfish & cobia) in addition to a cauliflower box . I also gave away a whole 40lb Jew to someone who gave us some good intel on fishing the place. .... We ate a stack of fish while we were there . It was a WTF moment ...... I didn't have the freezer space & ended up giving as much as I could to family when I returned home . After that trip I usually kept what was immediately needed plus a bit more...... unless my deckie wanted to keep more .

Actually , The more we recall these incidents & talk about it ...... maybe others might come to realise that it's not all roses out there when it comes to fishing compliance.

Chris

[NAGG]

Maybe I just run in different circles to you. On my boat and on my mates that I've fished we've regularly emptied eskies to count fish after a lost count on mixed species to make sure we haven't broken our bag limit. You say you have strong feelings about this, but did you call fisheries and inform them of your mates that were openly bragging about selling fish? It's easy to get online and have a whinge, its also easy to pick and chose who you fish with but are you willing to call them out and or inform the authorities?

The worst part is to drag a conversation away from getting comprehensive data on the rec take on the back of a few people doing the wrong thing. I am sure that there's the odd commercial fisherman that do the wrong thing too and we occasionally hear about it. But we don't make arguments against Commercial and Charter log books on the back of a possibility that a few rogue operators are going to fudge their logbook figures or not report at all. Fisheries are happy to call the Charter/Commercial log book data as robust. Why can't we get to a place where we can do the same about the rec sector?

Yes this would be an inconvenience and it's one that I wish wasn't necessary. But if It means that I am not subjected to an unnecessary additional closure. If it means I am not subjected to an unnecessary increase in size limit or reduction in bag limit on a particular species, I am more than happy to have that minor inconvenience over the much larger restriction on my fishing freedoms. Do we not remember a while back the reduction in bag limit on Mahi Mahi off the back of zero science? It was purely done because someone in the bureaucracy felt that taking this many was too greedy.It was quickly reversed once it was highlighted that there was zero science backing the decision.

Like it or not, the mandate of fisheries is to maximise the sustainable yield. Not to decide on what is moral or what is greedy. I have my own self imposed MLS on a number of species. I will also self limit on a number of species. i.e Kingfish I will usually only take one fish because I only like kings as sashimi and don't much like it cooked. But I wouldn't begrudge another person if they wanted to take 2. As long as it is sustainable and they aren't breaking the rules, I have no problem with it.

Maybe it's because I fish with common folk

& no I didn't call fisheries & dob these people in (some are good friends) ........ but I certainly let them know my thoughts & there are people that I know that I wont go fishing with.

BTW - If you had to empty out an esky to count your fish ..... how many times were you over your bag ? - yeh right you were under every time How many times did you adhere to your individual bag limit or do you just pool the count & divide by the number of people on board ? ..... I reckon I know the answer.

Chris

[NAGG]

Was also my thoughts exactly....

Edited the rest due to my mum telling if I had nothing nice to say then say nothing at all..

As I said - When you get to know people & see / hear of their behavior / past practices etc ....... you get surprised.

Chris

[rayken1938]

The easy way out when people do the wrong thing. It is only temporary but easy to make permanent with just a stroke of a pen. Below from SEQ water website.
Seqwater will temporarily close Spillway Common at Wivenhoe Dam from 5pm, Wednesday 20 December 2023.
The temporary closure is to support community safety following an increase in occurrences of unlawful fishing and swimming in the spillway near the dam wall.
Swimming and fishing near a dam wall or spillway is dangerous and strictly prohibited, with offenders not just risking significant fines due to their actions, but their safety and the safety of those around them.
The closure includes the carpark, public toilets, lookout, day-use area and Atkinsons Crossing Paddle Craft Launch Point.

[tunaticer]

These days I ask my deckie if they want a feed of fish or crabs when the first "takeable" fish arrives on board. My "takeable" size is well in excess of the rules e.g. snapper are 50cm at the minimum to enter the box.
If we decide not to take a feed for the day everything is released.
I think the biggest of catches was 30 whiting between two of us or 7 flathead or 4 snapper.
A dozen sand crabs is our boat limit. Mud crabs is 2 each.

We often catch lots of decent fish that go back.

My father and my grandfather were greedy frigging pigs that would take anything legal and leave when they stopped biting. I hated their attitude and regularly kicked them in the guts over it. Just as well they are not around these days to rape the stocks.

Like all other government directives this will fail because Average Joe will not report accurately if at all.

Just bring in licencing for recs and increase the inspectors on the water so you should be checked for compliance around every 2nd trip.

It would be at least 5 years now since I have had a fisheries inspector come near me.....water police and maritime safety check me every 2nd trip in the Bris River these days, always a good chat and happy to see them.

[Kev_McC]

The point is still that data is still urgently required to give fishery managers the insights they need.In my mind it’s worth supporting these initiatives. It’s a bit rich to criticise science for lack of data but then refuse to provide the exact data that is required to improve it. I’ve been boat ramp surveyed by Qld Fisheries maybe 4 times this year and am happy to divulge everything. This should provide really useful data on effort and catch from recs, and there does seem to be of it in recent years.
i agree with Lovey in that a simple app could do this most effectively and I’d use it, as would many I know, as long as there’s assurance about no geotagging.

[Noelm]

If the “average Joe” doesn’t report their catch, then the long term impact will bite them on the bum real hard! The collected data will show hundreds of boats registered, yet only minimal catch recorded, instantly requiring further restrictions to let the fish recover.

[docaster]

If the “average Joe” doesn’t report their catch, then the long term impact will bite them on the bum real hard! The collected data will show hundreds of boats registered, yet only minimal catch recorded, instantly requiring further restrictions to let the fish recover.

See, there you go assuming the fish are caught, like i said dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Report bugger all fish caught and "they" reckon there's no fish stocks. So unless everyone reports full bag limits they'll be further cuts.
Sounds like nsw needs more regulatory measures then more size and bag limits. And what about where the fish are caught? How will they know that? It also sounds like fisheries assume every boat registered goes and plunders every weekend. Sounds like that happens down south though. Up here boats can only get out every couple of months.
Every fishing rod is in the water every weekend.
As usual 99% are f....... over because of the 1%.
And with the commies bringing in half a million from countries that have never heard of size and bag limits, and also have no regard for common law what do we expect.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Noelm]

Docaster, I think you need a double thickness tinfoil hat…….no one trusts the Government 100% to do what we want, but, without adequate tools to “fight” with, we are on a hiding to nothing, like it or not, change will come, and it’s going to hurt.

[Lovey80]

Maybe it's because I fish with common folk

& no I didn't call fisheries & dob these people in (some are good friends) ........ but I certainly let them know my thoughts & there are people that I know that I wont go fishing with.

BTW - If you had to empty out an esky to count your fish ..... how many times were you over your bag ? - yeh right you were under every time How many times did you adhere to your individual bag limit or do you just pool the count & divide by the number of people on board ? ..... I reckon I know the answer.

Chris

never been over a bag ever when counting. Always happens when number start to rise and some forgets what their number is. The whole boat shares the fillets equally and if the government is willing to set boat limits on fish, I’m happy to multiply the individual bag by the number of people on board to get to a boat limit.