Crayfishing rules?
Submitted by TAPOUT on Mon, 2015-11-30 18:19
I have been going through the crayfishing rules and curious about a few things. Wondering if anyone can answer.
Is there a minimum age limit for holding a cray licence?
Once you have you quota of crays out of a pot are you supposed to return the excess crays to water or leave them in the pot?
Just a few questions that people have asked me lately.
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sea-kem
Posts: 15040
Date Joined: 30/11/09
No minimum age limit, both
No minimum age limit, both my boys hold licences. As far as the other question hmmm ;)
Love the West!
uncle
Posts: 9506
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Plenty of folk
Taking their kids out real early
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Minimum age limit
no minimum age limit to hold a licence but I think the licence holder must be capable of catching their own crays eg you can't dive and catch 24 crays and bring them back on your 2 10 year olds licence if they didn't catch them,
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
such a grey area. I drive
such a grey area.
I drive the boat all the time when pulling out pots, however i never actually pull the pot itself!!! legal of illegal??!?
RobertMc
Posts: 326
Date Joined: 19/01/09
still legal mate, as far as i
still legal mate, as far as i understand it your helping catch the crays, ie if your ten year old sorts out the bait for the pots then they are technically helping too...
MandurahMatt
Posts: 613
Date Joined: 18/09/13
Interesting concept i think
Interesting concept i think Divers get raw deal sometimes, buy rights if two guys are diveing and one is in the boat watching the anchor the guy on the boat is still helping out, but as hes not diveing they can only take 16 crays.
Bewdey Fellaz
little johnny
Posts: 5362
Date Joined: 04/12/11
Re pot
As long as you only take 8 out your pot . And don't touch others in pot they can stay in there. Don't remove all and try put back in pot that's not allowed. That's the way I read it.
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Pretty sure...
...that fisheries regs stipulate that all undersize/over bag limit/setose/etc must be RETURNED TO WATER within five minutes.
But I see what you're getting at...if you don't take it out of the pot in the first place, how can you return it?
RobertMc
Posts: 326
Date Joined: 19/01/09
they are returned to the
they are returned to the water, in a pot????
little johnny
Posts: 5362
Date Joined: 04/12/11
It's true
Double triple checked. The take rule . Trust me I always check. Auslobster you got it in one. What u don't remove can stay . Dive different you are taking them from there environment only take 8 up. Don't agree with this one very difficult diving and keeping tags on dive time deco air lists of different things going on. Doesn't hurt to make call to fisheries if you are unsure
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Divers 8 crays
cant find anywhere that It states you are only allowed to bring 8 crays to the surface ! Only rule I can find is you must return illegal or excess crays to the water within 5 minutes of surfacing ! Can you post the link to this rule.
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
Westy74
Posts: 225
Date Joined: 23/11/13
And you are giving those
And you are giving those crays the first chance to have a chew on the new bait!!! Pretty considerate I reckon.
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
here is there guide below in
here is there guide below in the link
http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/recreational_fishing/licences/rec_licence_rock_lobster.pdf
says absolutely nothing about returning excess legal size crays back to the water ...it isnt specifically mentioned , its just always assumed imo
it does say you can only take a bag limit of 8 and must return setose, tar spot and berried females etc
any others legal size you could leave in gaol imo , but why bother really when there plentiful anyway , only leaving them for occies to predate
as for kids , well my oldest son has had licence since he was 6 years old , his grandfather and me put 2 placcy pots in for him at that age ,he used to help pull on the ropes & hand up bait
I always thought that as fisheries gave him his licence ,they must know he cant pull the pots by himself , but it would be a sad day in hell we/he would get booked for it because his grandfather and me helped him pull his pot up ........love to defend that in front of a magistrates court if we had ever of been booked
common sense has to apply somewhere
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Just getting my 2yo sorted
Just getting my 2yo sorted for this season on the briney, no license for him as he is there for the experience & to see if he likes it or not. If he does then next season at the ripe old age of 3 I would consider him getting his rfbl & cray ticket
tiimmbo
Posts: 695
Date Joined: 16/08/09
the little fella will be
the little fella will be outfishing you in no time
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
That's not hard to do, reckon
That's not hard to do, reckon he has me already! Should see it mate, loves being out there & picked him up a great PFD that doesn't hinder his moevement on board. Not much of a fan of fishing right now just wants us to give the throttle a squirt or wrangle crays from the esky!
devhay
Posts: 328
Date Joined: 27/10/14
Which PFD did you go with
Which PFD did you go with mate? My little one turns two in March and i'm pretty keen to get him out on Grandads boat over summer
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Picked up a HutchWilco for
Picked up a HutchWilco for him
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8156
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Not crays my 5y old has a
Not crays my 5y old has a RFFB licence and we usually catch around 10 crabs for a feed and a couple for the old man but if we are having people around I'll get my boat limit of crabs and make sure that he helps me in some way and tell him 'wow, you caught 10 crabs" just in case fisheries asks him and tries to give us a hard time.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I work with a former
I work with a former fisheries officer and his opinion is, you release everything over the bag limit and not back into the pot.
And as saud before, no need to feed the occys. Release them for someone else to catch and enjoy. Bag and boat limits are in place for good reason, one of which is to share the catch amoung all fishers.
Fish! HARD!
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Also begs the question
You have 4 pots out. Get your limit in crays in the first (hell yeh that would be good). Dont check the other pots - why would you?
So now there is potentially another >> the limit in them. Fisheries turn up and say you checked your pot and left them in jail??
So Randall, I dont think that can legally apply above. I think if you have 10 in a pot, and can only take 8 out, you CAN return the other 2 trapped in there.
Notice I didnt say that you would (I wouldnt) but it cant possibly be illegal. You DONT have to pull all your pots everytime you go out. Even if the law say you have to empty them if you lift them, how can this ever be proven, and for that matter stand up infront of the Magistrate.
My 2 cents worth.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
But it is all about the
But it is all about the meaning of the word "release".
You have to release everything above your bag / boat limit and breeding females.
It doesnt say "conditionally release". Image letting someone out of jail but saying oh by the way you have to stay inside your home for another period of time. Thats a conditional release. Its not allowed (except by order of a xourt or parole board).
If it says "release", it means release.
It doesnt say that you have to check and empty every pot every time you go out. So i see nothing legally wrong with leaving a pot unchecked for a day or two.
Fish! HARD!
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
point in question is though
point in question is though
''
where in the regs does it specifically say you must ''release '' ??
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
Doesnt it say somrthing
Doesnt it say somrthing about releasing within 5 minutes?
Fish! HARD!
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
randall thats in regards to
randall thats in regards to totally protected lobsters ,as below cut and paste the guide does not mention specifically what you must do with excess legal size lobsters,
Totally protected lobsters
Lobsters are totally protected at some stages
in their lifecycle.
When lobsters are protected, you may not
take them, have them in your possession, buy,
sell or consign them, or bring them into the
State or into WA waters.
They must be returned to the water from
which they were taken within five minutes of
capture or before the next pot is pulled.
Berried females:
Any species of lobster that is carrying eggs
(berried) is protected.
Berried female
here is there wording on possesion limits/bag/boat limits below also
im sure the ''INTENT'' is you release them back to the water , but that does not seem to be specifically stated in the wording , so i think they might have a hard time charging you with something , given crays can get eaten while in apot and can /do escape a pot & a pot has escape gaps and an entrance neck , i dont think you would be in possesion of them either lol
but again why would you ?
hezzy
Statewide catch limits
Bag limit (maximum Statewide)
8 rock lobsters per licensed fisher,
per day, of which no more than 4 may
be tropical rock lobsters (see page 3
for tropical species).
Possession limit
This means the maximum number of rock
lobsters you may have in your possession,
even if they were not all taken from the sea
on the same day. A possession limit of 24
rock lobsters per person applies, including at
your permanent place of residence.
Boat limit
This means the maximum number of rock
lobsters you may carry on a boat. If there
is only one licensed fisher on board, the
maximum is one day’s bag limit (8), including
no more than 4 tropical rock lobsters. If there
are two licensed fishers on board, it is two
days’ bag limit (16), including no more than
8 tropical rock lobsters. If three or more
licensed fishers are on board, it is three days’
bag limit (24), including no more than 12
tropical rock lobsters.
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
Hezzy, this might shed some
Hezzy, this might shed some light on our robust discussion :)
From the Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 and the Act 1994
s4 of the Act (terms used) "take" in relation to fish, includes catch, capture, entrap, ..... ....fish by any means. (Deginition of fish includes WRL)
s50 of the Act defines bag limits for "taking" fish
s48A of the Act - a person must not take any recreationally protected fish while engaging in recreactional fishing (refer to the size and bag limits in the schedule 3 i think of the Regs to determine that WRL under 76mm or excess of the bag limits are recreationally protected)
s48 (2) (a) of the Regs provides a defence to a charge of 48A if you can prove that on becoming aware of the taking of the fish, the person took immediate steps to return the fish to its natural environment with the least possible injury.
I interpret that as saying if you dont take immediate steps to return fish outside of bag limits to the water (not in the pot) then you're guilty.
Fish! HARD!
Sulo
Posts: 256
Date Joined: 13/08/11
s limits from one pot return
3 bag limits from one pot, return them in the pot, it is really nit picking and should not come into it, all depends on whether you get a compliance officer that wants to go by the letter of the law rather than the intent of the law.
Bottom line is we are allocated 3% of the toatal allowable catch, (which we do not get close to) so does it really matter that much in the long run?
I think the diving rule is absurd, good diving practice says you should have a look out on the boat, so 2 divers dive and one stays on board, should be a no brainer that he is also participating in the catching of the crays and others should be allowed to get his bag for him as well, as long as there are three licenses on board, stay within bag limits, undersize and berried are released within 5 minutes. What is the problem?
Fish safe and have a dive look out on the boat when divers below. It should be encouraged, plenty of boats out there all the time, dive flag up and no one on board. More than one story every year of divers surfacing to no boat.
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Yes, " the shackle broke"
I remember one from a few years back,boat gone when they surfaced. On the Tv news, he held up the shackle to show how it had " broke"--it was obviously bent a bit, you could see how it had simply come undone, then the weight of the boat on the end of the pin had just levered it open a bit more before i t finally came out of the shackle. Mate, it came undone because you hadn't tightened and lockwired it
burnz
Posts: 152
Date Joined: 19/02/15
Gotta have mousing wire on
Gotta have mousing wire on the shackles... Amateurs.
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I agree with the diving
I agree with the diving situation. If you have a licensed person on the boat keeping watch, someone should be able to snare his bag limit.
Fish! HARD!
uncle
Posts: 9506
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Agreed
Surely they can swap divers as well
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
KT26
Posts: 11
Date Joined: 11/11/15
Great discussion guys,
Great discussion guys, learning more every day. Can someone clarify the 24 possesion limit per person. Is it 24 per license holder, or 24 per member of the house. We have four people two licenses. Not that I need to be in possesion of 96 crays, that would be redicoulously greedy. But would just like to 100% understand the rule. I actually first read it as 24 per house, and was panicking because of the amount we were getting (not even bagging out). Was close to pulling two of our three pots out of the wtaer
Cheers
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
My understanding is 24 per
My understanding is 24 per person and they do not have to licence holders. Having said that i think there are requirements to label each persons possession, but dont quote me on that.
Fish! HARD!
Belly Fish
Posts: 499
Date Joined: 09/03/12
It's 24 per person
...irrespective of whether they have a licence or not.
With respect to rule interpretation, I know people that will:
1. Only allow the licence holder to pull the pot...full stop
2. Only allow 8 crays to be taken from each licence holders pots, irrespective of how the other licence holders pots go
3. Will throw back any crays in excess of 8 per licence
But I know far more people that work as a team, assisting each other and sharing the catch. With 3 licences.....if 26 crays come in the first of 6 pots, take 24 out, drop the pot over the side and go home.
I suggest everyone just do what they think is morally defendable...I know what I do, and I'm pretty comfortable with it
uncle
Posts: 9506
Date Joined: 10/02/07
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs