fisheries - are they any use?

[devocean]

Went fishing with one on the weekend and asked him what he has been up to. What he told me was incredible .The amount of work these guys do especially on pro trout boats is huge. They collect heaps of data and enforce the pros very strictly which is great.

Maybe they leave you recreational guys alone because they are to busy with the professionals on the job which is the right way to go I reckon.

When I was a young kid I got pulled up by the pros all the time and I hated them but after seeing how they work up here I reckon they are great. They are our best friends I reckon.

As for the bloke who had nothing to do maybe he can come up here, he can go out at 3am to meet a pro trout boat or trawler come in to the harbour or do night trips out the reef looking for dories with no lights.

[Owen]

I've been checked a few times.
Funniest one was when we we camped on a hole at Yetman (which is kinda between Inverell & Texas)
We were on a property about 60,000 acres in the middle of nowhere and this landcruiser comes trundling down the track. We thought it was a camper or shooter or something.
Turned out to be a fisheries inspector who'd heard someone was netting the river and selling the fish in the pubs in Inverell.
He was a big South African about eleventy seven feet tall and carried a gun.
Wouldn't accept our help to launch his tinnie etc, but apart from checking licences, wasn't particularly worried about us.
I for one wouldn't like his beat.
There's an awful lot of ground out there for a bloke to dissappear in

All the other times I've been pulled up they've been courteous and efficient.
I have no problems with them.
I agree they should spend most of their time on the pro's because they have the capacity to catch large quantities at one time.
Mind you if you added up all the undersized fish that certain groups have a penchant for it'd be pretty horrendous too.

cheers
Owen (being politically correct in public)

[dfox]

When i was commercial fishing out near the shelf off of innisfail, you could just about guarantee a visit by the fisheries coastwatch plane daily, with the odd visit by one of the fisheries boats.
In the gulf rivers (pro fishing) they'd turn up in a helicopter on occasions as well. The inspections were pretty thorough, with entirely everything checked.
Closer to home ive been checked out a few times by both the fisheries and water police in the last few years, im starting to think i must look like the suspicious type ...foxy

[rando]

You"ve only just noticed that foxy??

[devocean]

Yeah we had the helicopter buzz us a few times in kowanyama. Those planes are good and have preety good cameras to

[ahjayem]

G’day All

Had a meeting with two fishing inspectors on the Balgal ramp about sixty-five kilometers north of Townsville at approximately midnight on the 29th December about five years ago. It a fairly dark evening.

As I was reversing my rig down the ramp I had a sixth sense feeling that something was not right. Then I noticed three people standing near the boat when there should have been only two. When I got out of the ute, another person came up beside me. They then introduced themselves and were able to tell me my name, address, and questioned me as to why I was fishing at Balgal, and not closer to Townsville. "I've got a holiday house down the road".

The young bloke did most of the talking, and asked me to produce all my safety gear, as well as looking through the eskies. I didn’t have charts or lights on the boat. So received a $130 ticket for not having the lights. He reckoned I needed charts as well, as it was “open water”, and that the closest “smooth water” was bounded by the shore line and Cape Cleveland and Cape Pallarenda. He was kind enough to let me off though. As it was, the sea was like a mill pond, and I had been fishing about a kilometer off shore in a twelve foot aluminium dinghy.

My bigger boat has been inspected by the water police on two occasions in the Palm Island group as well. They had a “mother” boat and traveled about on jetskis. I had all of the correct equipment this time though. They were mainly focused on safety gear, but had a quick look through the esky.

I also attended a “Safety at Sea” educational session conducted by two fisheries officers, on Palm Island about thirty years ago. The talk, as well as being very interesting and informative, was also oriented towards practicality.

Tight lines

RJM

[Dignity]

Only asked the question because this bloke was employed to delve into black maketeriing of fish. I have been stopped and my experience was that it was revenue based eg
At Mooloolaba ramp pull in and the bloke checked the the rego, we had the right safety gear and had a cursory look at the fish in the esky. My mate said thy're all over we have a measure on the bait table, he looks across and see's my home made table with some marks on it and immediately calls his made across with his steel meassure. Any idiot could have seen that our fish were well and truly over the limit as we impose our own size limit which is above the legal limit.

They've called in on us up north in remote areas (now green areas so that is another avenue blocked) and checked everything out, and haven't been happy when they can't find anything and it often gets a little nasty and we can't understand their attitude. Was there on one occasion when they found a camp near us that had 1 mud crab too many and they threatned to charge everyone unless somebody confessed. They really came on heavy and one poor bloke got a heft fine and a record. Mind you they were not around 1 month earlier when it was hard slog to get into the place due to the wet still hanging around and the pros got everything and made life intolerable for anybody else near them (eg firearms involved).

Have been on the Swains and watched as the reefs are raped of coral trout. The fishermen (literary licence used) get 4 times the price for a Plate sized trout than anything larger. Seen them target them specifically. Have even been offered an esky full of the C.T. for a slab of beer - told them to p!ss off. I have a friend whose son is a chef and he regularily sees coral trout and other fish which are definatley undersized. His industry has given up notifying the fisheries as they just do nothing. He has worked for some places where black maketering of fish is rife but once again when trying to do something has been told it is of no use as nothing will happen. He has been out with me and I throw fish back which are larger than most things he sees and he is astounded.

I suspect that the main issue is major understaffing. Probably if one had a deep and meanigful look one would find that there are not enough staff to manage the estuaries in populated areas let alone anything even remotely off road let alone the sheer incompetence of some of the management.

IMHO - sucks - where does our revenue from registration go, certainly not into any ramps although have seen a couple of upgrades which have taken many years, many of the beacons and buoys around the place need maintenance. The govt sucks enough money out of maritme shipping to maintain the mainstream equipment eg light houses, mains shipping channel markers etc but the recreational sector sees little of any money spent.

[Dignity]

foxy, been buzzed by the coastal patrol - they like to take lots of pictures - have actually seen some and they are impressive - was near a pink zone and almost into a green zone once and they certainly took an interest in a little tinny but we didn't gety any visits as they also buzzed our camp and we were there for another 7 days so should have seen something.

Ps: this has happened on more than 1 occasion

[Shafty]

Have had a fair bit to do with Fisheries and water police in the Staits, Gulf and rec. fishing.

Like every group there are good and bad. For the job they do their pay is pretty ordinary and as an avid fisherperson, would love some aspects of their job but they are restricted by government budgets where funding priorities are determined by things other than fish stocks. There is more revenue in speed cameras and drink drivers than blokes out breaching fishing regulations.

Also, it can become very hairy confronting blokes in isolated locations, unarmed, where you may be in a position to enforce huge fines and seize boats and vehicles. I know of a couple of inspectors who went missing around 1770 quite a few years ago - nobody assumed crocs were involved.

I enjoy being stopped by the fishoes. Shows they are are out there to the general public and has a deterent value. I know I will be OK for safety gear and the esky contents. Its a bit like driving past a radar trap under the speed limit. Gives you a little scare but a lot more relief that you were doing the right thing, and that they are out there trying to stop the idiot element.

On a professional note - had dealing with then in relation to guys selling shark fin from the back of a vehicle. Attempted to get someone to attend by calling the on call number and couldn't get through to a person. Pretty disappointed at the time - but there are only so many officers going around; actually working at the time; and not attending to other matters. So passed the info on and hopefully something was done about it.

On the other end of the spectrum, was diving on a reef between Murray and Darnley Island 120 km north east of Thursday Island, and had my picture taken by a Coastwatch plane. Knew the guys stationed on Horn Island and was amazed at the detail in the photos and the fact they managed to come across us up there. Also very reassuring.

Of all the Fisheries guys I've met 99% are keen fishoes. They are out there doing a job to improve the quality of our fishery because they want to make it better. Damn right they are of use. And no I'm not an inspector....

My thoughts only,

Shafty