How Far A Fisheries Officer Travels

[Idol threats]

Hi All

Spent the weekend down at Cullbura beach fishing outside in the Bar Crusher catching plenty of Flathead , not much else around a few sharks but nothing worth a report , anyways the point to the post is we are 5 or 6kms out to sea and this little black dot appears on the horzion it slowly gets bigger and bigger until it stops a couple of meters away from us and says , have you got your fishing licences and we would like to see your catch , well you could have blown me over all this way out at sea and two fisheries officers in a rubber dinghi checking our catch and licences.

All good and a few minutes of chat and off they go again , onto another boat about 2kms further out to sea.

These guys had travelled all the way from Kiama to the heads of the Shoal Haven river in search of illegal fishing activities , we asked how many people they had caught and they said out of 30 or so boats only one person had under size fish on board and two people didnt have a licences.

The question I am putting forward is should this type of policeing be done or should fisheries concentrate more on people who are taking smaller fish inside the rivers and beaches instead of roaring all over the ocean and checking on people who are not breaking the laws.

[Grantm]

GDay Idol,

I think it is good that they go that far out. Sends a message that they are prepared to go anywhere to seek out wrong-doers.

Im sure they will find more people in-shore taking under size fish but it keeps the offshore boaties honest too.

Good on em I say.

Edited November 21, 2005 by Grantm

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

I can see it now .

FI`s break down 6 Nautical miles out to sea and call for help ........and help..........and help.

The question I think that should be asked here is , how much of the Licence Funds should be spent on upmarket Boats , that are capable of prolonged offshore trips chasing possible non licenced fishermen .

And what if a big boat decides to leg it back to the Ramp , how are they going to catch them , and even if they radio ahead , the evidencve of wrong doing could be thrown overbord.

After all , sooner or later the boats have to come in , and most offenders are caught in slack water or at the ramp , so why should valuable resources be wasted on a M`chales Navy .

Bureaucracy gone mad if you ask me.

Mick

[knapers]

Owzat good point but as Grant said, it does send a good message that they are prepared to go out of their way. I still wish more was done about the Indo dogs raping the reefs up north, that should be our biggest concern (i think so anyway).

[Idol threats]

I agree with what they do but it makes me mad when you see the little f*$##ers catching and keeping all sorts of baby fish and getting away with it , I told the officers that the boat ramps are full of so called anglers who have no idea on legal lengths who keep everything , most dont end up on the table but rubish left on the rocks or are fed to the very fat slugish pelican. that makes its home at the cleaning tables.

I would like to see them put the same amont of effort they seemed to be putting on out at sea as the same as in the bays and rivers which cop the most abuse.

[knapers]

I Have seen that way to many times at brooklyn boat ramp, d#ck heads who keep even little reds. WTF is the go with these wankers. I have had a go at a couple of blokes and they look at me in a dumb ass way as if they have done nothing wrong,.

[tyrone07]

Hey Knapers mate i can see where your coming from and i used to be the same and went crazy about people keeping undersized fish. I still do lol but i believe anger is not going 2 solve nothing. I believe it comes all down to education and maybe license funds need go 2 educating the less knowlegable. For example your once a yr fisho are going 2 have no clue on catch and release bag limits etc which can be expected. For example my dad was brought up 2 keep watever fish they caught as thats wat his father did. He didnt think of the consequences but only through me showing him the benefits of catch and release he has learnt to practice the same concept. I dont no how the problem can be solved but there must be some way. Sure you have the exception that they no what they are doing is wrong and theyre are the ones that deserve to never see water again or something. But sterotyping every1 that keeps undersized fish into the category of wanker is not going to help as it all comes down to education. You tell me say you fish with your dad and he believed it was alright to keep as many fish as you could that same idea would be passed onto you and generations afterwards. Thats the problem i wish there was an overnight solution ive seen to many undersized kings kept but i believe is a huge crisis and there are no straight answers. Sorry mate for blabbling on im keen to hear what you have to say cheers mate and at times i cant control myself and get pretty rowdy but thats another thing haha

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

Prior to The introduction of the Licence Fee , I`m willing to bet most of you fellas , never ever saw one single solitary Inspector , and might have been justified in believing they never really existed at all.

The Licence Fee intro was accompanied by an adverising blitz which cost us ( Taxpayers ) approx 30 Millon dollars.

The ads contained one single theme , and were aimed potential defaulters with Stuff like , if ya get caught without a licence " you will face heavy Penalties , Etc Etc , ".

I cannot recall seeing one single AD which dealt with anything like Bag Limits , size limits or anything else that related to keeping undersized fish , the Ads to the letter dealt with the penalty for not being licenced.

Then , the minute the Money started flowing in , Bingo , our TI`s began sporting the latest in Turbo Charged 4X4 Toyota Troop Carriers , and many of them began moving in to new offices .

Some of these offices cost hundreds of thousands of dollars , according to a local TV report here last year.

What a difference a few dollars in the Kitty Makes.

Mick

Edited November 21, 2005 by OWZAT

[Guest lbgking]

The only fishing inspector I have ever seen was at a weigh in and was only there surveying catches. An ocassional walk down Avoca rocks probably would give a higher return for their efforts. Obviously they do not have a quato system like the boys in Blue?

[Grantm]

Theres no denying licence fees are just a revenue raiser and a scam.

I dont however begrudge the fishereis blokes to have good gear and look professional wherever the money has come from.

I like the way the profile of the Fisheries has grown, and we must get out of the dark ages and grow with it.

Dont forget the blokes in boats are usually keen fisho's who use the waterway the most and account for the most fish taken as far as rec fisho's go. Fisheries know if they target these blokes they are targeting the main uses and takers, makes sense.

Targeting the gumbies at the local wharves is probably a waste of recorces as they account for very few fish and although I dont condone the taking of undersize fish it would not be the main focus of Fisheries. Education programs through schools etc would be better.

Target a bloke at sea and he will look over his shoulder for the 20 sessions. Target the warfe rat and he may not return for a year at least.

Dont get the squirts with these blokes just understand that unfortunately there are so many irresponsible fishos still out their doing the wrong thing and doing it every week. These people are hurting us.

Look at some local fishing clubs. Still having monthy comps where 'catch and kill' is the game, and with many experienced anglers account for huge amounts of fish taken. OLD SCHOOL.

All im saying is to expect this type of thing if we are serious about improving our waterways.

Cheers