Though I am glad to hear the fish were biting for you and your son.
(Colin 1 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

+ the fact that some people are just morons.

John

I head a little FURTHER NORTH each year,
Leave the cities behind, out of sight of mind,
.......

Is pretty useless. Witnessed a number of people catching undersized tailor at the Mandurah bypass bridge the other night and not throwing them back. Rang Fishwatch and the first thing I was asked was, "What time is it there?" They're not even in this state! Hell, they may have been in India for all I know.

The fact that so many people are doing the wrong thing tells me that they've never been checked, which tells me that there simply aren't enough fisheries officers to go around. But you should see the new you beaut Fisheries/DPI/Water Police office going up in the Mandurah Marina! And how much rent are they paying for that prime office space on St George's Terrace?

I think citizen's arrests are the go. Or maybe citizen's beatings...

We see the same thing at Port Kennedy, I don't see why the Fisheries employ some of us fishos, I spose you have to be 6 foot plus so you dont get your head kicked in. I've only ever seen them once at Port Kennedy.

TT ( karl )

I hate it when people do that, especially if they dont cook and clean them all and then they throw them out some people just dont get it do they. We only ever take what we can eat that night and always release the rest

When we went to point walter last the bloke next to us was very strict with sizing and i shook his hand and said thanks whenhe left. anything under 30cm was instant throwback, no ifs or buts from the kids they just did it. must have thrown about 20 back and only kept 3, even ones at 29.9cm was a throwback. Good man 

_________________________________________________________ 

You couln't wipe that grin fom my face even with a hammer.

It probably contributes to the fact that we get so many undersize choppers in the metro area. All these people keeping juveniles and not giving them a chance to grow to 30+ cm.

If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

Good that you and your son got into some tailor and released those past your limit. Well done Joe.

Bad that people are gready (As John said - goldrush mentality - bang on John) and that DOF make the selection process for FMOs so hard and are obviously underfunded.

Colin Molloy

RECFISHWEST Member

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Can't really blame the fisheries, way too many ground to cover.

imo, it's all up the mentality of every fisherman. Sadly, only a small numberof us are actually recreational fishermen that will abide by the rules. Personally, I hardly take any back. I just enjoy catching and releasing them, but yea I've seen plenty just taking whatever they get.

I have absolutely no fear in telling people that are doing the wrong thing. Gently at first as they may not be as aware as others (even though you don't drive on the road without knowing the rules, but that is another story). I guess my point is, if we want to assist in a sustainable fishery, we have to take it upon ourselves at times to educate the masses. If they carry on after you have had a word, then walk away. No need to get into a punch up about it and at least you know that you did the right thing.

Three days without it and I get a little jumpy

Boys part of the reason for me coming to OZ is that you have strict regulations on your fish sizes and limits.  Not only is the countryside beautiful but also the fishing is A1.  Back home in the UK because we let anyone and everyone fish and trawl, the beach fishing for the majority of the time is awful. A lifetime ago tuna used to be caught off the cornish and irish coastlines and only recently are they coming back to irish waters, too much overkill is bad news for the longtime future of our sport.

Rayman

Saw a group of snorklers at Mangles bay today cleaning up on the crabs, i saw them diving constantly but was not sure if they were catching anything, maybe they are from the country and don't know crabbings banned in the Sound i was thinking,,saw them running out of the shallows and threw bags of crabs in the back of the Nissan which was parked at the waters edge.

On a good note the Sound is chockers with crabs with two big blueies attacking my Harmitsu squid jig and i was drifting over big blues every few metres,,,not a squid sighted i went morning and late arvo,,,

Colin 3 > long standing and highly respect member of the prestigous Colin's club.

Dreamweaver, if you what you said about the FMO is true, then I guess the fisheries should really look into recruiting some extra help.

 I agree with soupster too. I'd go and tell nicely if anyone's doing the wrong thing, then again not everyone is happy when you talk to them about that heh. Oh well, I guess just do the right thing yourself and it will probably help in a way or another along the way.

 I guess a lot of people have the mentality that there's plenty of fish around that one that you take will not make a difference. I still think that some patrolling and strict fines will probably deter the stubborn ones from actually doing it again.

I've seen people up our way doing the wrong thing, most of the time they're tourists and when questioned about it they apologise and say thanks for letting them know about the rules etc.. People should take it apon themselves to find out before someone tells them.

If you ask me I think that even people who stay within the limits are taking too much sometimes.. in most cases I think the bag limits are far too generous.

Limit your catch not catch your limit :)

Well done Joe on the bag of tailor, good report. As for the ppl doing the wrong things i'm hearing it all day today. I told them that Fisheries officers cannot be everywhere and you need to call the Fishwatch number if you want to make a difference.

YES, they dont always come out BUT the info goes onto a registery and when they get a few hits in the same area they make the effort to get there!

FISHWATCH # 1800 815 507 i have it in my phone and have used it before including having them come out and bust chops! 

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference *

Owner of "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South St, O'Connor, Perth Ph 9337 5682

I will put that number in my phone Ryan,,i know the Fisherys cant be everywhere at once but my gripe is they are nowhere,,i have never seen one while fishing and i am nearly 42 years old.

I will try that number on the illegal crabbers at Mangles Bay and see what responce we get , i heard reports today the illegals are not just catching them but using spears to do it,,tsk,tsk

Colin 3 > long standing and highly respect member of the prestigous Colin's club.

I saw the same thing two nights in a row at kwinana.
Fishing on the jetty and the beach near the grain terminal.
One old lady put everthing she caught in a bucket. We got heaps of tailor but they were all around 25cm to 28cm. We released all ours but people were taking them without measuring. And it wasnt just one person which is a shame.
Will put number in my phone and ring fishwatch next time.

Fishing isn't a matter of life or death, it's much more serious than that!!!

As far as I understand, if you get caught, then you go to court where your fine is determined by a magistrate. Makes sense in the higher cases, particularily when licenses are involved.

Makes you wonder if they could implement something like parking fines for the smaller ones? I.e. on the spot fine, relatively small value (say $50), rather than something a lot more complicated. If they could get VFLO's or similar to issue, you could get several 'eyes on the street'. They wouldnt be able to confiscate, force or do anything else though. It can get pretty complicated legally I guess. Though parking inspectors seem to be able to do it without a problem, but I guess they can record the rego and avoid the owner most of the time (plus they are 'accepted' by the public). Perhaps have registered people able to dob in license plates and then the fines are sent (somehow I doubt they chase up much random comments, as the perpetratir could then claim it wasnt them)

--------------

Always interested in someone to go fishing with

I can see reporting details to Fishwatch re Tailor fishermen and women fraught with problems,,"hello the guy next to me has undersize tailor"

Fishwatch > "Thanks what state are you in, i will record the details"

Maybe we all need to have the local fisherys number in our phone as well ?

After all we need some where there ideally within 1/2 hour, they should be like rangers driving around near the beaches attending to the calls as they come in. (or down the beaches)

Colin 3 > long standing and highly respect member of the prestigous Colin's club.

Fishwatch down load the info and acting Fisheries officers have acess to that info and they also get mobile calls etc. The best way is to get all the details and pass it on, i used to get really annoyed but that got me no where so calling IS going to do something and often for the longterm!

I've seen the Fisheries, not as much as i like but without "Hotspots" how can they justify leaving a "fish bust" etc or warrant leaving an area!

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference *

Owner of "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South St, O'Connor, Perth Ph 9337 5682

Hi Ya,

Was at Canning Bridge Sunday Aust Day weekend and saw a guy using a net from the platform under the bridge.  Meant to ring Fishwatch when I got back to the car (neeed my glasses to see wa I was doing) and forgot.  Mind you, I don't think he was going to do any damage as he was letting the net float east of the bridge in a straight line on the incomng tide.  Don't think he had much idea really.

Cheers.


RECFISHWEST member

Thanks for the number Ryan. Didn't know there was such thing, but will keep it in my phone.

" Hey, what for you doing? No throws `im back, I maka fishpattie eh ?. Putta all fishes in da mincer ana crush de bone.
You put `im back big wasta, my country we eat everything!!"

How the *^~# do you convert these people??

I`d rather be fishin`!!!

With some VERY BIG withdrawals from their bank account Rainbow - marked Dept of Fisheries - Fines Enforcement

Colin Molloy

RECFISHWEST Member

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

It would be nice to seen a sign at our local beach stating fish sizes, in fact you don't seen many around rocko at all, may be thats what needed, abit of advertising about fish sizes to get the public to notice would be the best way, make the signs big and high enough so people cant mess with them.

TT ( karl )

A VERY good idea Karl - along with the penalties perhaps  !

Colin Molloy

RECFISHWEST Member

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

I think that's a good idea too Karl. The first year I was in Aus, I have no idea there's such thing as bag limit and fish sizes limitations as I've never heard of such thing back in my country, nor in other countries I've been to. If such notices are put up in hot spots, such as north mole, etc, it'll probably help in a way or another.

 Not to mention that fines etc including the hotline for FishWatch should be on it too.

Hi All,

I'm a very casual fisherman... About 4 years ago while fishing at the Cut during my annual holidays a fisheries guy or volunteer was walking along giving out free soft plastic rulers that had legal fish sizes and bag limits printed on one side with a ruler on the other.

I've been using that ruler for years (only really going out 2-3 times a year). It was only last week that i found the sizes have changed for a couple of species and bag limits changed. Before that i didn't have a clue.

My suggestion would be more on education. It would be simple to enforce all shops that sell bait to ask people if they have the latest ruler/sticker and if not give it to them. That way whenever anyone picks up bait they are being told what the limits are and sizes etc... Signs in popular locations with bag limits and sizes would also greatly assist!

There will always be those that disregard those rules and thats when on the spot fines should come into play, but for the most part i think a lot of people would respect the regulations and abide by them. 

As a side note; while in my local tackle shop this week i asked if they had any and he said they hadn't got any with the new limits and sizes and only had the old rulers for sale... That's pretty poor considering the Fisheries department would have had a significant amount of time to prepare something and get it in place well before these revised regs came into effect.

Going back on what you said earlier Col, the biggest problem is funding.  Theres just not enough coin in the coffers to put enough officers out there to get the guys doing a small part of the damage.  When it comes to recreational fishing, the occasional person taking a few undersize fish is considered as relatively small damage compared to a few of the operaters who could do a months worth of rec damage in one sitting. 

It takes 6 months for the recruitment process to be completed and the costs of doing that are signicantly high, which means they have to have a strict recruitment policy to ensure the people they employ are likely to stick with the job for a substantial amount of time.  FMO's also have to patrol in 2's to comply with OSH policy, which ties up resources (but is well and truly understandable out in the bush) Also the fact that their are risks involved with apprehending people (or groups of people as I nearly found out last year just 'advising' people what they were doing was wrong (3 fijian islanders and 2 vietnamese with 150 litres of trocus meat from Quobba))

FMO's are certainly out there and doing the best they can given the resources they are given.  I do tend to agree with the $ value assigned to fines and the potential to fund more officers through appropriate penalties, but we all know that goes back into consolidated revenue and has to be spent funding 'pollies' pay increases. ;(

I'm no physcologist, but, (and I'm sure you'd agree Adds) no recruitment regime can ever guarantee retention of staff - people's life paths etc will cause attritition no matter how robust the intake regime is in that respect.

I can understand that DoF want to maximise the quality of staff and get (hopefully the best people) (well, almost, I mean, I didn't get in ), but don't you think it's a paradox? Have a recruitment process that culls over 100 intake down to five - that's a definite attrition up front compared to the aversion of a possible (but inevitable) attrition the regime is designed for - that causes the big upfront attrition - if you get what I mean .

So we end up with very little growth in the number (and scale) of FMOs.

As for the safety side (OHS (who's the idiot that changed it to OSH LOL)), I know where you are coming from. As a Court Security Officer I get to escort (at times) Maximum security prisoners.

Yes, we are fully kitted up - but there is still a risk and your best 'weapons' are your mouth, senses and reflexes - and, most importantly - how you approach, deal with and interact with people.

We ensure a VERY controlled environment and usually know the people we are dealing with.

Comparively, when you look at what FMOs face - that's MUCH more potentially dangerous. 

Colin Molloy

RECFISHWEST Member

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Yea snort, the plastic rulers actually helps. In fact, there was only one time I was offered the crab ruler when I bought the crab scoop. I didn't see any of the fish plastic rulers or maybe I should've asked. If the fisheries can start by distrubuting more of the plastic rulers to tackle shops and have them given out to customers that would be help too.

Those stickers are handy to have, i have one on the tray of my 4wd for when im down the beach but since the new fishing rules came in i have been trying to get hold of some new ones foe me and my mates boat, i went to the fisheries department at the begining of January to be told the new ones wont be available till late February.

Personally I just check the fisheries site for up to date information. Only aiming for a few fish in the river/beach. I have a measurement scale on my tackle box so only have to memorise the legal size. Then again, I hardly take anything, just measure fish for the fun of it against mates or for posting up any giant. :)

Lets get a group of us and just bashing these folks,,that would send a message on the 6 o,clock news,,better still lets get a volunteer and prentend to beat him up then after we leave him bloodied and bruise (tomato sauce all over his face) we yell out loudly down the beach "that what happens to undersize tailor catchers!!! "

Another option is just tip out the buckets that have undersizes in them ,,after all they can't complain to anybody that someone let there illegal catch go,,lol

Make sure the owners are older or smaller than yourself

Colin 3 > long standing and highly respect member of the prestigous Colin's club.