undersize fish

[Dug]

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/storyidea/story_ideas.asp

Don't tell us. tell the public > if we all yell loud enough maybe some one may pay attention. I have seen Dart, tailor, bream and whiting all undersize no way there can be this much by catch. The more of us who send in a story idea the more chance of getting a story up. It would be a good story & easy to film.

[wacco_fozzy]

Hey - My TopEnder - The people from Brisbane Extra would like to talk to you. Can you PM me and I'll pass on the details.

Dave

[sir_noelus]

You guys in Qld haven't got this on your own. We see it in fish shops on the south coast and in Canberra. Many species involved, right down to humble ol' flatties. As said, we can be 'nicked' for having them, but the public can go and buy them. Cost the public a hell of a lot less than we often pay by the time we supply cars, boats, gear etc etc. I've seen bream here about 20cm on many occasions, believing they should be 25cms. Whiting are another regular, to say nothing of snapper. Order a whole snapper in a restaurant, I bet it's not 30cm long Noel

[MY-TopEnder]

Ok basically i spoke to Brisbane Extra regarding this, and i'm doing an interview with them tomorrow. The story will involve purchasing these fish for measuring.

If anyone would like to throw a few points to mention in the interview my way then by all means go for it. The main things i want to mention are that as recreational fishermen we pay fortunes in boat rego, licensing, fuel taxes, and so on...and we cop hefty but fair fines for holding undersize fish. However any joe blow who has never touched a fishing rod can walk in and within minutes, be in possession of an illegal fish without any questions over its size. There shouldn't be a case of ANYONE getting away with it. My intentions tomorrow are to get my hands on a couple of illegal bream, a couple of illegal whiting, and maybe a snapper or something. And hey once they're done with them... it'd be a shame to see them go to waste

[mackmauler]

good work top ender, will kep an eye out for the story.

[MY-TopEnder]

Yeah i'll ask them when it'll be on and post it here.

I really didn't want to go this far but then i spose it seems worth it to stop some of these guys.

[Dug]

I wonder what would happen if you bought some of these fish and put them in your esky and went fishing?

If you did get done for undersized fish you could pull out the receipt and say I bought them legally.
Re Talking to Brisbane extra don't go into to much detail, talk in 30 second media bites, give them the main points over and over again, Just this is Illegal, If we do it we get fined, These fish go through the fish board, this is our future resources being sold for $4.95 a kilo. that sort of stuff

[Graham_N_Roberts]

Yeah, what a joke. Call the hot line? I'v been told of wankers chukin' a cast net over redclaw in shallow water at night. They were reported, but they're still smillin'.

I've seen a cast net being cast into a freshwater billabong right near a bridge on the Bruce Highway leading into Rocky.

And yep, the little ones are often on sale in some markets in Rocky, so, the practice is not confined to Brisy.

A bloke feels like turnin' the gear to mulch and stick to gardenin'

[quinnie_600]

Congrats Top Ender,rec fishermen need to be seen to be cocerned about the resource.
Good on ya for following it through.

[quinnie_600]

mmm..concerned not "cocerned.
Sounds like some pornstar work related injury.

[gif]

There was a post here months ago on this as well - undersized Bream etc.

As some of you know I was one of about 4 people who studied the regulations, and helped Nugget with his posts. We also found some errors in the DPI brochure and web site.

In the Act and Regulations there is nothing about bycatch or 10% under for commercial. Nothing even close. I have no idea how such rumours start but they are sure hard to kill. So kill those ones now.

Months ago someone made a post about undersized Bream on Sale at Sunnybank. I was out that way - had a look - bought some measured them myself took them to the Ministers Office called the Fishwatch line while standing at the Ministers Electoral office - and got their attention.

The response was that the fish were legal. The difference between their measurement and mine was that I measured with the tail out flat - not to the fork but to the line of the tip of the tail. This method is in the brochure but more importantly in the Regulations Schedule 4 page 196. This measurement approach is correct as per the words (which is what Courts rely upon) and in a diagram. ( It is also the same in NSW Vic an WA at least)

With the advice of a Rec Fishing leader - it seems that the old (and accepted) method is to pinch the tail together – this would give you another 1 cm - making some small fish legal. Reading between the lines this was the method applied under old legislation. Actually I went back to December 1995 version of the Regulations. Para 21(7) states that (7) the size of other fish is decided by measuring the distance between the front and end tips of the fish.

This is vague and potentially unusable in Court. I could argue that you could take a diagonal measure from an open mouth to the tip of the extended tail. So it seems that for fork tailed fish (Bream) they settled on a straight line but stretching out the tail.

But this is only one interpretation of the Law.

Since then the Law has changed and it seems that the inspectors have not changed. They have not changed because there is ( I am told) a Directive to continue to use the old approach.

Now this is frightening. If this story is true then it is the same as a coup - taking the law into their own hands.

Again - if the story is true, then I am also told that those who drafted the most recent regulations did not follow what DPI wanted. I feel that’s too bad - the Law is the law until it is changed. .

Well what about small fish being caught in other states and brought to Qld for sale? I had DPI staff tell me that too. Talk about pulling the wool over my eyes!


We already have the smallest Bream size allowed in Australia
- 23 cm in Qld
- 25cm in NSW,
- 26cm in Victoria
- 28 cm in SA
- 25 cm in Tasmania
- 24 cm in WA ( and a bag limit of 4)

(Yes I know the Black Bream in southern states is a bigger species)

So if these too small Bream were caught in other states - they are sure illegal there even more! But here is the catch - if you catch illegal fish in other states - and bring them to Qld - it is not illegal to sell them !!! Sometimes the law stinks


If YOU don’t report every undersized catch like these examples - then we will end up with no breeders and nothing to catch - and of course bag limits on Bream and lot of other (not so ) common species.

Guys get of your butts and at least be ready - write down the Fishwatch number under the lid of your tackle box and program it into your mobile phone

FISHWATCH 1 800 017 116


I will now step down from my soap box.


Gary

[gif]

Guys

I just worked out the downside.

If we get the media involved and embarrass the Department there will be consequences.

I just learned that since my ( failed) expose in December they now apply the regulations rigorously - and correctly.

That means that if your fish is just 23cm and you put it on ice and it shrinks 1mm - then you are “busted”.

That’s fine for me - I rarely keep fish - mostly just when my kids catch one so they learn whee food comes from.

And in the Bream Competitions they use the state length - BUT they measure to the fork, not the tip. ( and its catch and release anyway)

So if we want the rules to be tough and inflexible on commercial then expect the same tough standards on rec fishing.

... any thoughts?

Gary

[mackmauler]

There is very little enforcement of the rules, 3 times last 10 years they approached me. they have 2 bicycles on the front line now, poachers better get scared

[Quinny69]

Watch out what you say to those TV ppl,,,,,,those shows thrive on lies and deception.They could easy turn it into"Greedy Rec fishos want more" ,, you guys ever watched Frontline. Good idea,, just be careful what you say on film. MQ

[MY-TopEnder]

Nah it should be ok... i made sure i put a consumer spin on it to. She was asking me mainly what the feeling was from rec fisho's and what is being done.

Main reasons i said for it being a problem is that the undersize fish aren't of breeding maturity and reduce stock levels, and that selling them undersize doesn't give the consumer the best chance to get quality fish.