NSW Fisheries "PLEASE EXPLAIN !"

[scott_b]

Ausfish members
What do you think of this.
I got home today from work and read this in the local paper The Inverell Times.

Fishing Law farce

NSW FISHERIES Inverell staff have been ordered to say nothing about the reason illegal fishing charges against two men have been dropped .
Inverell district NSW Fisheries officer Mark Doering said he had been instructed to make no comment about the matter .
But it is known the NSW Fisheries' prosecution team did not attend the hearing at Inverell Local Court on Thursday of last week .
With no appearance and no evidence the case was thrown out .
The Times had asked NSW Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Ian MacDonald to explain the apparent lapse but no response had been received by press time yesterday .
Narrabri men had been summonsed to appear before Inverell Local Court after they were found by NSW Fisheries with a 50-metre gill net and 67 fish at Copeton Dam on October 18 of last year . Narrabri men were allegedly found at a camp near where the net was being used at about 8am that morning . NSW Fisheries staff seized and impounded the men's three-metre dinghy, a 6hp Mariner motor and the 50-metre gill net used to catch fish including golden perch of up to 55cm and catfish of up to 62cm . Mr Doering told The Inverell Times in October of last year that silver were also among the 67 fish caught in the illegal fishing venture .


Amazed wamjam

[basserman]

just another peice of everdance that shows the minority are still trying to stuff all us others up
but this isn't the first time illegal fishing charges have been droped nor the first charges to be layed since the rlf was brought out
i think all us nsw should write to mr macdonald or ronnie as he should be know and ask why are so many still getting away with fishing like this?
shame ronnie shame!

[redfoot]

well let me relate an antedote- about 6 months ago i found a gill net stashed in the mangroves near my home,it still had a mud crab & some squire in it(remember a pro can get fined 2 grand for any dead fish in a net)
i rang dpi & reported it
a fortnight later i saw suspicious lights in the same area & called fisheries again,this time i told fisheries who was doing this
2 days later the net was still there,so i took it home and called the inspector direct
yes he came to my house to collect it and told me i should be charged with theft!
of an illegal net(no pro would get away with using it ,it was over the legal length & under the legal mesh size)

[basserman]

makes you wonder what hope there is for the fish!
makes me laugh and cry in nsw we buy our rfl (which i think is good if used right) but when people are found fishing without on or haveing undersize fish (when there is a inspecor ) are they fined? no just cautioned then you hear things like this
instead of putting fads out along the coast or more trout(no-native) into all our stream how about putting more inspectors out to fine people so they learn right from wrong
i know of a ex-pro in the hastings who has been done 3 times in the last two years for
1 60L of prawns and illeagal nets
2 160 blackfish and illeagal net
3 120 mud crabs and 45 crab nets
he is still a free man and more than likely still fishing the same way
all these charges were both reported in the port macquarie news and nsw fishing mounthly

[TimNQ]

yes he came to my house to collect it and told me i should be charged with theft!

Id have added assult to the charges
Should be worrying about the big picture.
Tim

[Gazza]

well let me relate an antedote- about 6 months ago i found a gill net stashed in the mangroves near my home,it still had a mud crab & some squire in it(remember a pro can get fined 2 grand for any dead fish in a net)
i rang dpi & reported it
a fortnight later i saw suspicious lights in the same area & called fisheries again,this time i told fisheries who was doing this
2 days later the net was still there,so i took it home and called the inspector direct
yes he came to my house to collect it and told me i should be charged with theft!
of an illegal net(no pro would get away with using it ,it was over the legal length & under the legal mesh size)

Redfooot, this is in NSW with an RFL?
or Qld without an RFL?
i.e. not sure which state your from, or referring to....

[basserman]

another one in the nsw fishing mag this mounth
a commercial fisher from tweed heads was found in cabarita lake without a valid licence, exceeding the bag limit for mud crabs and useing excessive number of crab traps NSW fisheries offocers seized his boat and traps.
at lake macquarie in the hunter region use of all traps is banned, between christmas day and jan the 12th NSW fisheries confiscated more than 200 illeagal crab trap.

i want to know did the fisheries fine more than 200 people?

bet not

[TimNQ]

no it was in se qld
i should be charged with assualt? for taking a black net
whats the big picture?
should i left it there to kill fish?

No sorry you misunderstood me. You should have assulted him for having the nerve to threaten to charge you with theft. He should have looked at the big picture rather than looking at busting someone for theft when they didnt actually steel anything. Whew does that make sense now?

[redfoot]

ah yes ok,gotcha tim -

[jimbamb]

Hey Wamjam,
Do ya recon its another case of Who ya Know not wat ya know...
Smells Fishy to me.
I wonder if you would get off if ya broke one of their rules.???? Bet ya wouldn't!!!!!!
someone orta be accountable.

[jimbamb]

NSW Fisheries !!!!
Still waiting for comment!!!!!!

[basserman]

hey jim what do you thin do ya reckon the 360000.00 would be better spent on the fisheries public relations other than a report to find where the most fish are?

[NQCairns]

Hi redfoot, such a sorry story you told, highlights the fact that a person needs to email Fisheries, never ring, that way you can cover your own butt.
I know from experience that a savy and determined member of the public with a valid complaint etc can and does cause some real stress within the department. Especially if the media is mentioned.
Levels of management sucking up the next level, the higher levels just want to get to the end of the day, the lower level feels the need not to cause any grief to the levels above for open career options.nq

[billy7]

maybe it is about time we all started writing to or local member and asking them what is going on with the fisheries as we are the ones that vote and the ones that have to fork out the $25 bucks each year
billy

[scott_b]

I feel a bit sorry for the fishing inspectors , work there guts out to catch these buggers then it gets thrown out of court.
wamjam