Qld Rec fisher changes in the air

[NAGG]

I don’t think anyone has an issue with basic regulations on fishing provided they are informed and done in the right spirt. Everyone now days understands the need for fisheries management and I’d argue those that continue to do the wrong thing are in a rare minority. In spite our history of bush rangers and rebels Australians are a super compliant population and those that abide by the rules get pretty angry when the see others flaunting them.

That said, I think your line of thinking is ingrained within fisheries management culture. While it’s never said in a stock assessment or similar paper, the conclusions/assumptions made sometimes point to that being a unwritten factor. I think this is the wrong approach from a policy standpoint and we should all want the science behind such decisions to be robust as possible. Right now we are far from that.

Chris , I cant believe you are that naive & believe this . How often does the term "share farmers" appear on this site . I'd like a dollar for every time someone has raised this topic online or in people that I know. If raiding peoples pots / traps (theft) is so rampant in pretty well every location , you'd have to imagine what other rules & regulations are likely to be broken ?.
Even in my own circle of friends / fishing acquaintances - I'm absolutely gobsmaked at how many admit they break the laws (or have) examples vary from minor to major & some pretty serious ones thrown in . I reckon it's most have , do or will. Some examples incl - How they mark or hide their own pots , use of set lines , fish out of season ( because they wont get caught) , keep fish out of season , fish with the wrong gear (bait) , use illegal traps , kept protected species , dont have a SIP when in Qld , exceed bag or slot limits & sell fish . ....... 2 blokes even considered (back in the day) that they fished professionally - because they would target a fish & sell them . Were they licenced ? No.

If you have the conversation or you listen to what people do or have done, you will realise just how willing people are or what lengths they will go to to bypass the current rules & regulations .......
If my fishing acquaintances are representative of the wider fishing community ....... what hope is there ?

Chris

[NAGG]

At days end it would be far cheaper for Rec Fishos to buy their Fish without All the Kakka that goes with it and one would propably end up with more Fish at hand too.
Know thats not what its all about but neither is all the Bullshyte either.

& yet it's a common argument that people want to justify their need to fill an esky because of what it costs them to go for a fish . Plenty of fishoes are about filling their freezer

Chris

[Noelm]

& yet it's a common argument that people want to justify their need to fill an esky because of what it costs them to go for a fish . Plenty of fishoes are about filling their freezer

Chris

I fully agree with your post on people doing the wrong thing, it’s rampant country wide. In a vague kind of way, even doing things legally can see us take way more than we actually “need”. I consider myself a pretty good crabber, and our bag limit is 10 each, I usually crab with my wife and/or my grandson, now and then, there might be a fourth visitor, that gives us 40 crabs, which during the summer, is easy for me, do we really “need” 40 crabs? Sometimes, maybe yes, other times definitely not, this week I will get our bag limit for Christmas lunch, but other times the bag limit is way too many. Now let’s be perfectly clear, I am not some kind of green tree hugger, and will take what I need (legally) but my point is, sometimes the bag limit is too much, other times it might not be enough! Multiply that 10 crab limit by literally hundreds of crabbers during the summer months, then add the “poachers” and the catch number must be astronomical, but as it stands, no one knows (except the pro catch number) I know I have kind of gone in circles, but it points out how difficult it is to manage rec fishery numbers, then add the paranoid fisher who will never comply with catch numbers and it all becomes a twisted fuzzy grey area, with “experts” simply stabbing in the dark on a “best guess” I would love to see the rec catch more accurately represented, and then some real science applied to protect what’s left, and we haven’t even touched on how one area is completely different to another for the same species. The only constant is….”something” has to be done, and I think it’s going to hurt in the short term.

[NAGG]

I fully agree with your post on people doing the wrong thing, it’s rampant country wide. In a vague kind of way, even doing things legally can see us take way more than we actually “need”. I consider myself a pretty good crabber, and our bag limit is 10 each, I usually crab with my wife and/or my grandson, now and then, there might be a fourth visitor, that gives us 40 crabs, which during the summer, is easy for me, do we really “need” 40 crabs? Sometimes, maybe yes, other times definitely not, this week I will get our bag limit for Christmas lunch, but other times the bag limit is way too many. Now let’s be perfectly clear, I am not some kind of green tree hugger, and will take what I need (legally) but my point is, sometimes the bag limit is too much, other times it might not be enough! Multiply that 10 crab limit by literally hundreds of crabbers during the summer months, then add the “poachers” and the catch number must be astronomical, but as it stands, no one knows (except the pro catch number) I know I have kind of gone in circles, but it points out how difficult it is to manage rec fishery numbers, then add the paranoid fisher who will never comply with catch numbers and it all becomes a twisted fuzzy grey area, with “experts” simply stabbing in the dark on a “best guess” I would love to see the rec catch more accurately represented, and then some real science applied to protect what’s left, and we haven’t even touched on how one area is completely different to another for the same species. The only constant is….”something” has to be done, and I think it’s going to hurt in the short term.

100%

Bag limits vs requirements ..... good point

Here is one for you - In my 40 odd years of fishing I can honestly (hand on heart) say I have never heard anyone else say " We have enough fish / crab "

Fishing sessions have come to an end for mainly

Time
The missus
Weather
Ran out of bait
No fish
Injury / sickness
Breakdown
Work
Bag limits reached ( usually doesn't stop you from fishing though)
No more esky space
Tides

There are probably a few more.

I wonder how others see this ?

When the mackerel or Tuna are on ...... boats will go out day after day chasing these fish & it's not catch & release for sport.

Chris

[docaster]

I find all these accusations hard to believe. Why would people jeopardise losing their boats and gear over a few fish? Fisheries are regularly checking catches at the boat ramp.
Seems to me typical human behavior, blame others because they don't catch anything.
And if an app is introduced.
"People aren't reporting all their catch ". "Ok, the app has to have location on because we know fish are at x spot and he didn't report anything".
Next, "mandatory cameras like the pros, we know the public are lying thieving bastards"
"We need to do raids on their freezers"
What i believe is fishermen traditionally brag about the catch, hence all the photos with the fish shoved at the lens showing the size 3 times bigger then it is.
Up in the north the weather limits the access to the reef for rec fishers.
I trust the majority if rec fishers over the majority of "public SERVANTS" who have to follow the agenda of the UN.


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[docaster]

What i do believe though is those that keep fishing and will then throw out smaller fish, replacing with a bigger fish if caught. And very few will spend 10 mins over the side trying to revive the undersized catch so it doesn't become lunch for the sea eagles.
That in itself is a huge waste of resources, same as trawler bycatches which have to be thrown out.

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[NAGG]

I find all these accusations hard to believe. Why would people jeopardise losing their boats and gear over a few fish? Fisheries are regularly checking catches at the boat ramp.
Seems to me typical human behavior, blame others because they don't catch anything.
And if an app is introduced.
"People aren't reporting all their catch ". "Ok, the app has to have location on because we know fish are at x spot and he didn't report anything".
Next, "mandatory cameras like the pros, we know the public are lying thieving bastards"
"We need to do raids on their freezers"
What i believe is fishermen traditionally brag about the catch, hence all the photos with the fish shoved at the lens showing the size 3 times bigger then it is.
Up in the north the weather limits the access to the reef for rec fishers.
I trust the majority if rec fishers over the majority of "public SERVANTS" who have to follow the agenda of the UN.


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Gee mate - take off those rose coloured glasses & just do a google search "Fisheries confiscated boat"

Check this out

Fisheries compliance enforcement (nsw.gov.au)

You can see just how much gear was confiscated & plenty of other stuff

This is from that NSW fisheries website .

• Home
• Fishing
• Compliance

Fisheries compliance enforcement


Client Contacts and Enforcement: All Fishery Programs (2021-22)

• Around 37,000 client contacts were made (where powers were exercised / not including surveillance).
• The detection of 5511 offences resulting in:
  
  • The issue of 2904 written warnings
  • The issue of 2092 penalty notices totalling $719,780 in value.
  • The commencement of 212 prosecution actions
  • 303 other outcomes such as verbal cautions and stop work orders
  
  
• 224 offences were successfully prosecuted, including:
  
  • 143 court imposed fines totalling $155,950 in value
  • 13 community correction orders
  • 19 Conditional Release orders

[Noelm]

The very fact this has gone for 4 pages (so far) indicates how hard the whole thing is! What works for (say) FNQ is not relevant for SE QLD……and so it goes. I am not for one minute suggesting I just “stop fishing” if I get my bag limit, but as far as crabbing goes, I know I can get a feed any day I like, so limits are not an issue for me, many times my wife and I have gone out and only taken home 8 crabs (upgrading to the biggest) because on that particular day, that’s what we need. Now, crabbing for me is easy and cheap, I live minutes from the ramp, and use at best $5 worth of fuel, conversely, a day out “deep dropping” for Blue Eye, is a full, day, bags of ice, expensive gear, food, 60+ litres of fuel for a boat limit of a couple of fish! Now that to me is not economical, but I like eating them, would I keep more if I could? you bet! It’s not a one size fits all thing, but at least discussions like this expose people to the ups and downs of others views, and possible compromise.

[docaster]

Gee mate - take off those rose coloured glasses & just do a google search "Fisheries confiscated boat"

Check this out

Fisheries compliance enforcement (nsw.gov.au)

You can see just how much gear was confiscated & plenty of other stuff

This is from that NSW fisheries website .

• Home
• Fishing
• Compliance

Fisheries compliance enforcement


Client Contacts and Enforcement: All Fishery Programs (2021-22)

• Around 37,000 client contacts were made (where powers were exercised / not including surveillance).
• The detection of 5511 offences resulting in:
  
  • The issue of 2904 written warnings
  • The issue of 2092 penalty notices totalling $719,780 in value.
  • The commencement of 212 prosecution actions
  • 303 other outcomes such as verbal cautions and stop work orders
  
  
• 224 offences were successfully prosecuted, including:
  
  • 143 court imposed fines totalling $155,950 in value
  • 13 community correction orders
  • 19 Conditional Release orders

Holy crap, my apologies. Bunch of criminals out there lol. Sad state of affairs.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[NAGG]

I have pretty strong views on this kind of stuff & it's not ideological (not a greenie) . I have no issues with people taking a feed but do when it becomes harvesting.

When you look back at some of the old photo's you can easily imagine how good these fisheries were . Today none of these fisheries are as good as they were & most are just a shadow of the past . We decimated fish stocks based on our selfishness & greed.

So being pragmatic I can see why we need such measures , oversight & regulation.

I'm curious to see what becomes of the Bluefin Tuna fishery here in NSW now that they appear to have made a return - I see the effort to target these runs have increased significantly in recent years - Yes we now have a bag limit of 1 & a possession limit of 1 ....... but we dont have a boat limit - that nuts when you could see a father & sons / daughters all take a fish of 60kg plus for the one household - do you need that much Tuna & how much will be wasted ?. ...... just sayin

Chris

[Lovey80]

Chris , I cant believe you are that naive & believe this . How often does the term "share farmers" appear on this site . I'd like a dollar for every time someone has raised this topic online or in people that I know. If raiding peoples pots / traps (theft) is so rampant in pretty well every location , you'd have to imagine what other rules & regulations are likely to be broken ?.
Even in my own circle of friends / fishing acquaintances - I'm absolutely gobsmaked at how many admit they break the laws (or have) examples vary from minor to major & some pretty serious ones thrown in . I reckon it's most have , do or will. Some examples incl - How they mark or hide their own pots , use of set lines , fish out of season ( because they wont get caught) , keep fish out of season , fish with the wrong gear (bait) , use illegal traps , kept protected species , dont have a SIP when in Qld , exceed bag or slot limits & sell fish . ....... 2 blokes even considered (back in the day) that they fished professionally - because they would target a fish & sell them . Were they licenced ? No.

If you have the conversation or you listen to what people do or have done, you will realise just how willing people are or what lengths they will go to to bypass the current rules & regulations .......
If my fishing acquaintances are representative of the wider fishing community ....... what hope is there ?

Chris

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

[NAGG]

Holy crap, my apologies. Bunch of criminals out there lol. Sad state of affairs.

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Mate - just providing you with some facts & figures ....... Yes there are people who are willing to lose their boats & gear

Considering only about 4% of fishoes get checked in NSW ...... the chance of getting away with it is quite high .

Chris

[NAGG]

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

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

[Noelm]

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

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.

[Corry]

Watch the latest from Reef Adicts, Josh and the boys are getting flogged by sharks, I've never seen anything like it.

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.