Southport Sand Pumping Jetty - The Details

[Burley_Boy]

Yep this sucks.

As far as racism goes I've go my fair share of Asian mates and we had a good laugh a few years ago as one tried to join the "white Australia Party" of the time.

I note that a family friend of Greek origin was horrified that I would throw fish back. I would just pressume that from his upbringing and background it didn't make any sense to do that irrespective of the local rules. I'm sure a hefty fine would quickly educate him but before that enforcement its unlikely that he would feel it unethical to keep undesize fish.

How people view animals and value life in general is very much the product of their upbringing and what they have been through. We're unlikely to change this very quickly on a large group of likeminded people that congregate together as certain races are prone to do. However the way to a mans head is through his wallet Believe me that if dollars are involved then understanding comes quickly.

The pumping jetty is a controlled environment, you pay to get on the bloody thing so what the hell is stopping inspectors parking themselves at the start and checking the nights catch? They could even hand out a fishing regulation card as you pay or make it simple put 5 species of fish on the card with pickies qty and size limits and if you really think that language is the issue then write it in whatever you feel is appropriate. There is no excuse but only the hip pocket will enforce the habit change and what better venue to start than the pumping jetty. Heck they can even watch telly while they hand out the cards!
Fisheries should get serious or get enforcement by contractors on commission. We don't need any more licences or regulations that put the sqeeze on the honest people, enforce the rules that exist or take up lawn bowls. >

[Angha]

This is a very interesting and important topic and something has to be done about this matter.

I am an Asian migrated to Australia only a few years ago. I like fishing and it keeps me sane. I have learnt the hard way back in my home country, fishing as with a vengence like there is no tomorrow to satisfy the hunger of ego. Our river system where we used to catch 30 KG + fish 20 years ago has no more fishes... drives us insane. I cannot fish back home and here I throw back my catches now. The first week I came to AUstralia a friend of mine took me fishing and I was keeping all my catches ... all below size limit ... He explained to me the reason for the restriction and also the consequences of breaking the rules ... now the fines motivates me to throw under size back when I am fishing feeling low .... and all other time the reason for restriction encourages me to throw all undersize with a song and smile.

It is interesting to note different comments made related to this issue. RAICIST .... it is a very interesting word I often wonder if the table has turned .... maybe my kind are more racist that the whites, myabe be I know the I have advantage and try to reap its full benefit ... Nevertheless I am not sure if labeling " under sized fish keeper" as criminal is justified ... Not all those who speed are criminals just as they need to understand the reason and also the consequences, I think the same applies here. WE ALL HAVE TO PLAY OUR PART ... making people understand and also pushing the button on our phones when we see wrong.

By the way it is not Only the ASIANS but there are also Europians and South Americans that I have seen not following the rules. Ocasionally some little Aussies break this rules but were forced to part with their proud catches by their parents or gurdians. Unfortunately we were never taught to part with our proud catches ... so it was quite hard to understand why there was a restriction to size and bag limits. It took my friend to educate me ... I have no fear after every fishing trip and I sleep well with good fishing dreams.

GOOD suggestion REMO need inspectors from different races.

[Somethn_Fishy]

Hi Everybody,

I'm proud to say that I AM ASIAN. I have been a keen fisher for many years and have seen this type of fishing on many occasions, having lived in Sydney I have seen every different coloured person catch and keep undersized fish. On a different note - I don't think racism is labelled as it is - racism is not about whether or not someone dislikes a certain race of people - its about whether or not a person 'categorises' or 'labels' a person for being different. I know cause i get it every day..

For those of you who say that 'Asians' are the ones that are most apparent in catching illegal fish - I agree, they are certainly the most visibly obvious group - Having grown up in an Asian background I know that the community grapevine is very effective - if one person catches fish in a spot then the next day there are hundreds... this means that they seem to congregate and thus are highly visible as a 'group'.. I do not condone this behaviour but When I encounter it I just tell they are doing the wrong thing and let it be that..albeit I'm really p@#)ed off!!

Recently I was launching My boat at the Sundale Bridge ramp and encountered a bunch of 'Asians" fishing the pontoon (prohibited). I politely told them that they were doing the wrong thing and after some difficulty in language ( I Can't speak Chinese or any other Asian Languag) they apologised and moved off to the adjacent jetty there. As soon as they moved two "White" men took their spot - I told them the same thing and they just laughed and ignored me saying that they would look out for any inspectors/police.

This also occured in the tweed where I found two 'white' men slaughtering small bream off the local jetty next to Dry Dock Boat ramp - I advised them that they were catching undersize bream and that they had better watch out. They rudely told me they knew what they were doing and went on killing small bream (they were even using some as bait)

I'm sure everyone has a thousand stories about illegal fishing - the thing is it really is annoying when everyone gets on the fence and say that 'Asians' are this and 'Asians' are that - after having their say most people will then say "I'm not racist" -- Do you know that the most racist people do NOT know they are Racist... Why would someone who is not racist or who has not made a racist comment have to point out they are not racist???? I'm sure everybody does not like seeing their "Type" put into "" inverted Comas""...

Anyhow i think that illegal fishing is huge problem that will be only solved by dollars - and we know that there is not enough of those to go around - maybe they should just tax us all more and then use the extra dollars to pay for more inspectors... I know everyone loves that idea.

Just a thought - Not meaning to ruffle anyone's feathers - just adding another side to the story.

Thanks all you fellas for the great info and discussions on this site.

[jaybee]

Two good responses Angha and fishy. Hey Fishy lets rattle some feathers, I like the idea of a fishing licence not all do as they see it as another tax, however, how do we combat illegal fishing and extra officers without the dollars? And i have found those mainly opposed to "the tax" scream the loudest against illegal fishing practices.
cheers
Joe.

[gunna]

Guys - please please please don't start pushing for a licence - particularly in the belief that it will provide any significant number of extra inspectors or in any way contribute to solving a problem like this. The NSW exercise has done virtually nothing to overcome similar problems. The money ends up God knows where - and all you end up with is another restriction while the government just finds another way to rake in more money from us. In fact in recent weeks they have diluted the Fisheries Dept even moreso by amalgamating them with other depts. So much for our funding. The best part of regularly coming back to Qld is the right to fish without the licence crap. The existing Qld Fisheries have every capability of monitoring this area a bit more - it just needs the right impetus. Give them some bad press through the radio or current affairs programmes & see how quick they respond.

[firetruck]

Yep totally agree, people taking undersize fish (especially targeting them) should be punished significantly and i think it's a disgrace that so many poeple know what is happening yet nothing seems to be doing to stop this shit. In terms of fines i reckon it has to be an big enough amount that will at least make people think about not doing this ever again.

Like the idea about inspectio officers from different backgrounds.

[el_carpo]

It's good to hear from Asians on this topic. I'm glad you guys spoke up. From reading what you wrote, I believe that I was right. Ben ran into a bunch of jerks who just happened to be Asians. They knew the rules and chose not to follow them. When they emptied their eskys in their car and returned to re-fill it up so as to avoid detection, it proved that they were acting with underhanded intentions and were fully aware of the rules but knowingly chose to break them. Same thing with the THEFT of his bait and their rummaging through his belongings. It's just like the white jerks that ignored the rules about the boat launch and said they were looking out for the authorities that you wrote about. Both jerks, different ethnicities.

I ALWAYS judge people as individuals and resent being labeled as racist by people who don't have any legitimate defense for their evil actions so they make up slander to attack their accuser. That's what I was trying to say in my previous post. I know from reading posts made by Asians on this site and the one I visit locally that not all Asian fishermen are like the ones Ben encountered the other day. I hope no one thought that that is what I was saying. I'm sure that you guys are decent and good people who respect nature, and follow the rules. Trust me, I'm well aware of the fact that jerks come in all different colors. I just didn't want anyone to go labeling Ben as a racist for showing anger at people who wronged him. Tell me, who here wouldn't be angry at someone who stole your bait right in front of you? No one. Ben was the victim. He was wronged. It was the people behaving badly that should be labelled with criticism not Ben just for getting angry.

The racist labelling is a common form of attack here in the US. If a white person gets into a confrontation with a person of different ethinicity, he is almost always labelled as a racist. Race has nothing to do with the confrontation at all, but he'll still get the label. Happens so frequently that it even has a name; it's called "Playing the race card." This is unfortunate. It unfairly hurts innocent people and cheapens the instances where someone actually IS being hurt by a REAL racist. I know that there are racist jerks out there who give people a bad time for no good reason. I know that it hurts to be made fun of and threatened by these idiots. It's not fair and I wish it never happened. It's also unfair to label people unfairly as being a racist when they aren't. I think everyone can agree on that. Bottom line is just be the best person you can be, judge people fairly, and treat eachother with due respect.

Except for the French, they're all jerks! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

[blue_rogue]

Boys, Were do we start.......

I have lived on the Gold Coast for 18 years and seen this happen the whole time. A couple of examples:

Pippies
The Gold Coast beaches were loaded with them 10-15 years ago. You could grab 2 dozen pippies for bait and catch a feed of whiting on the beach, ANY BEACH off the Gold Coast. The Asians, (I mean ASIANS, because they were the only people abusing the system) would come down with the whole bloody family, loaded with buckets and fill them on a daily basis. Straight home and into a soup. Now if you find a pippy on the beach your doing bloody well.

Prawns
I don't know how many of you chase the prawns when they are on up the logan river, but i have a go. Get a few, but not many. Anyway the regulation was a 20 litre bucket per person, (has changed but im not sure). Have you blokes seen a chinaman through a net, they are the best, perfect every time, and full of prawns. This isn't the bloody problem, what the problem is, is when they have grandma, grand dad, there cousins, sibblings and mates all in the boat holding a bucket. This was were the abuse was. All going home with a bucket full of beautiful banana and tiger prawns.

I understand it may be just the way that they think, but if you want to live here you just have to f*%kig conform with the rest of society. No ifs or buts.

Get the inspectors out there, before they begin to get thrown of the pumping jetty....

[aglassman]

Hi everbody, reading with great interest and feeling quite disgusted about the whole thing.

I,m a 59 yr old with a bit of a cardiac problem. Therefore I'm actually too concerned for my well being to fish the pumping jetty. The last time I went there many years ago I was threatend with bodily harm if I did not GO WAY Whitey.

Now I have a 19yr old son who I try to teach what I believe to be an acceptable standard to judge people by. I tell him I don't care what colour or what language a person is or has so long as they treat me with respect.

I have seen boat loads of people taking buckets and buckets of prawns around the Logan River system. I saw them put about 12 to 15 of these buckets in another boat, this boat came back about half an hour later with all empty buckets. These empty buckets were swapped for full ones and of he went again.

These people are not showing respect for Australia or its laws so I judge these people to be disrespectful. I hope I'm not being racist but they did speak some form of asian language very well. Of course they could Greek, English or even very well educated Australians practicing their second language but I really do doubt it. And it does amuze me greatly that we can be called Aussies or Poms or Yanks, oh I did forget Whitey, Paleface or Bloody White Plick.

I think the best suggestions I have read so fare are
:Inspectors on the pumping jetty when the tides and season are likely to produce lots of fish.

: Radio and TV and shame everybody that keeps undersized fish no matter what they speak or look like.

My suggestion; Put the FISHWATCH phone number somewhere on your fishing gear. 1800 017 116. and use it.
Cheers Pete the old fart

[SeaHunt]

I believe the authorities need to do something before people start taking the law into their own hands. ???
These sorts of problems stem from the HUGE cultural differences between Australia and some of the places people are allowed to immigrate from.
The immigration department need to examine these cultural differences and give preference to countrys that have a respect for the environment and law and order, and then everyone moving to this country need to undergo a thorough indroctrination process that deals with our laws , culture and environmentals morals.

Let me give you another, non fishing related example of problems that can arise.

A woman caught a taxi in Sydney recently and asked to be taken somewhere via a certain route which she believed would be the quickest because she was running late for a meeting, anyway the driver took her another way and she was late , she gives the driver a spray while getting out, and he proceeds to get out also and slapped her across the face and said how dare she speak to a man that way.
He was an Arab and women don't talk to men like that where he comes from.

In some cultures women are treated like second class citizens.
In some cultures environmental issues are not important, like where the gentlemen below lives.
It has nothing to do with race, in some Asian countrys there is a much healthier respect for the law than here, Singapore for one.
The do gooders and overly politically correct Nazis in government think they are creating a melting pot of cultures in Australia. I think it is more like a pressure cooker and one day we will see race riots and all the problems you see in England at the moment.

[Commodore]

The Problem: People breaking the fishing regulations with out consequence.

Since this seems to be an extreme event (at the sand jetty) with so many people not only taking so many fish but with no regard for the environment they are pillaging, you would think some action could be taken. I have seen this happen many times around Moreton bay as well, and I have confronted the few that are blatantly breaking the law. I have called the fish hot line with no action (to my knowledge). I would suggest taking a digital camera, if the offender doesn’t take heed to some friendly verbal advice, some photos of the catch, lines and the vehicle could be taken of the offender breaking the regs, and these pics can then be forwarded to authorities for them to take action.
What do the rest of the Ausfish members think?
A picture says a thousand words.
Matt

[Maria]

Ok people, the replies are great, and some really good ideas and proposals are coming through which is what was intended of this thread. However, most people that talk about the fisheries hotline have the same complaint to make - nothing gets done about a telephone call to them, as Matt illustrated in his previous experiences. Anyone got ideas on how to press the issue with the authorities to get something done about it? Obviously, fisheries aren't going to do much with a phone call at 0200 in the morning. So, post your ideas on further action to be taken.

Ben

[SeaHunt]

How about we get Gary Fooks to call up his minister for all things fishing related mate Henry P (can't spell it), and suggest he gets some undercover fisheries inspectors down there for a sting, some acting as fishermen for a few nights, and a few in the carpark reporting number plates etc. , and then when they got enough info, nab em.
Seems like the cops have plenty of resources for similar surveillance operations when it comes to hoons drag racing or people growing a bit of dope.

[Maria]

Seahunt....my sentiments exactly. People with connections? Anyone?

Ben

[MTpockets]

Something HAS to happen. This cant go on. This site has a lot of people involved with it. Surely we as a collective can start something can't we?
Lets put pressure on a current affair, and the others...... newspapers..... cant we start something?
People power....... very strong when used right.

disgusting !!

Les