Article on illegal fishing/white bucket brigade?

[albertpetersen]

Allo,

I'm a freelance journalist & amateur fish-catcher; I'm working on an article about illegal fishing (all aspects) and would love to interview anyone with an opinion on this. My knowledge of the subject is kind of limited (aside from what I hear from chatting to other anglers) so I'd appreciate any info you can give me.

Cheers

A/P

[bullzeye]

I reckon the title should be foreign rapists" that should catch the eye. I fish at the river below north pine dam and ive seen em there a few times with 2 or 3 Rods each taking everything they catch, big or small, under or over size. And you'd be pretty certain they'd know the regulations involved. they've been busted a few times by fisheries but they keep going back there. And also heard theres a fish and chip shop owned by this mob in Chermside where you can choose the bass you want to cook up. That last part is rumor. Still interesting. Best of luck mate

[goldnugget]

One thing you will find is that most fishers do the right thing and adhere not only by the rules but beyond the rules with many 'keepers by law' being returned to the water.

In my region (Hervey Bay) the locals are very clued up with the regulations and generally it is the overseas tourist that occasionaly (and I do mean occasionally) inadvertantly go and try to keep fish that are undersized with locals quick to point out to them they are not allowed to do what they are doing, at which time the tourist is happy to oblige and release the fish.

There are many biased articles out there that assume that all fishers go out and bag out their limmit, this mostly is not the case (as mentioned above many are released)....probably because of two main reasons, 1) the fisher is out there just taking time out, enjoying the company of friends, enjoying their hobby..if a nice fish presents itself and its time to go home, they may keep it for a feed. This brings me to 2) Logisticly it is very hard to maintain the quality of fish once caught. Unless you have a good way to stop the fish from beginning to spoil, you are not going to keep them, for this reason fishers are selective on what they keep from their catch and when...therefor the bulk are released back into their habitat.

So while I dont have information personally on illegal fishing practices and locations, I wanted to make it clear that it is very few of the general (fisher) population that do intentially go out and break the rules, the ramifications of which affect all of us. If you are going to do an article on fishing practices and some (and I mean few) that break the rules, I would like to see my above point made clear should you choose to write a balanced article.

[mac]

well said

goldnugget

[shortie]

Also remember ignorance of the laws is not excuse.

MAny caught say "I dont know the size limit, i didnt know the bag limit, I dont know it was a no take species."

[daveylad]

do a search on the site there was a good thread here no too long ago about this subject where one of the guys reported some of them, some of the contribtors to that thread are people who are well known here and have been contributing to the site for a long time they are really responsible fishermen they would be good to speak to

[rosstralia46]

would be good to add in the good people that practice catch and release and put in the legal limit and size limit

[Zim man]

would be good to add in the good people that practice catch and release and put in the legal limit and size limit

+1

[chaujern]

Recently, while cast netting for mullet for live bait, I was abused by a someone whom I presumed to be a fellow fisherman. As he rode by on his bicycle, he shouted "Why can't you fish like us Aussies?", and something along the lines of, if you don't stop I'll come around and smack you.

I really hope none are smirking at this point :blush:

Next thing I see, is beer cans all over the road, a mad dash to save beers and cop car pulling up next to DUI.

Point is, because I was of Asian descent, I was lumped into "rapist" category. Sad, if you're Asian.

Local fishermen (male or female) of Asian, Caucasian or other descent, have said the following:

- no worries, these fish are really c%@p bait, stuff putting them back in [when castnetting]

- mate, its for bait, just put a hook thru the lil' tailor, if you're worried, fillet it

- a little short eh? I'll stretch it for ya mate

- nobody check, how many tairor you have, so if fishing good, i put full esky

- mate, I can cast all day, me day job's a mechanic, got at least 30 kgs so far

- eh? have size limit ah? I donno la, now fish dead already, so keep la

- aargh, butter bream [then spits into sea and curses] .. don't throw back in, waste my bait ..

Point is, illegal fishermen come in all shapes and sizes, please don't stereotype:S

To shoot off a tangent, A marine biologist friend once said this "recreational fishermen are largely responsible for the depletion of fishing stocks". Shocking eh? Well, after much prodding she conceded that the statement is true only if you consider the very few species that fishermen target e.g. marlin. Interesting comment from the discussion was size limits.

Having minimum sizes may result in smaller sizes for a particular species as we only reward smaller sizes. Having maximum sizes like that of flathead may prevent trend of rewarding smaller sizes by releasing fish that have exceeded a maximum size.

Thanks for listening, hope I haven't added fuel to the fire or started a new one

[Travis]

One thing you will find is that most fishers do the right thing and adhere not only by the rules but beyond the rules with many 'keepers by law' being returned to the water.

In my region (Hervey Bay) the locals are very clued up with the regulations and generally it is the overseas tourist that occasionaly (and I do mean occasionally) inadvertantly go and try to keep fish that are undersized with locals quick to point out to them they are not allowed to do what they are doing, at which time the tourist is happy to oblige and release the fish.

There are many biased articles out there that assume that all fishers go out and bag out their limmit, this mostly is not the case (as mentioned above many are released)....probably because of two main reasons, 1) the fisher is out there just taking time out, enjoying the company of friends, enjoying their hobby..if a nice fish presents itself and its time to go home, they may keep it for a feed. This brings me to 2) Logisticly it is very hard to maintain the quality of fish once caught. Unless you have a good way to stop the fish from beginning to spoil, you are not going to keep them, for this reason fishers are selective on what they keep from their catch and when...therefor the bulk are released back into their habitat.

So while I dont have information personally on illegal fishing practices and locations, I wanted to make it clear that it is very few of the general (fisher) population that do intentially go out and break the rules, the ramifications of which affect all of us. If you are going to do an article on fishing practices and some (and I mean few) that break the rules, I would like to see my above point made clear should you choose to write a balanced article.

I used to live in the bay nugget... There are more non aussies fishing in that one creek than the whole of hervey bay, a month after flood its rooted again because they flog the sh!t out of it. Agree with your post tho, most people do the right thing, few times ive been out and thrown back legal fish because i didnt know the size limit, its the ignorant people who think its ok to grow food in their own crap that are wrecking it

[tiotony]

Would love to be interviewed to have my say on this matter but don't live in bris! I think this is a subject of great importance to a lot of us and we get dissolussioned by a lot of what we see, when most of us are doing our best to preserve our fishery.

Understand ignorance is no excuse but feel it would be of great benefit to our fishery if there were more public education through mass media, perhaps tv commercials? Not only would this reduce ignorance of the regulations but could also change the opinion of those who disregard the laws and/or are just plain uncaring.

Agree with Chaugern that its certainly not limited to people of Asian descent, a lot of my best fishing mates are of Asian extraction and are strictly catch and release- they look on me with condemnation if I keep a single fish!

Examples:

Several times have seen indigenous guys with mask/snorkel/flippers/hand spears cleaning out every single jungle perch in a series of pools, inside national park! When I queried them on this was told the fish were quote 'getting too fat' unquote.

Also regularly see indigenous young adults running a string of crab pots in a local creek, maliciously killing every crab they catch no matter the size or gender, by pelting them with large rocks. A couple of times in disgust and horror have berated these kids, who turned around and told me they were 'practicing their traditional hunting rights!'

And lets not forget the worst of the lot; all the redneck bogans who think its funny to maim and torture to death every fish they catch. Makes my blood boil.

On the side of those of Asian descent, was recently putting a dent in the tilapia population of my next door creek and a neighbor of Chinese extraction came down to watch. Unfortunately got a turtle bycatch and this guy got all excited and asked for a look. Gave it to him and he explained he wanted to eat it if I didn't want it. Explained to him that they are a protected species, to which he looked absolutely horrified that he could have unknowingly killed it. To his credit he released the turtle immediately and apologised profusely for his near error. He was rapt with the 20 odd tilapia I gave him though! Explained the deal about the fish in the creek to him and now he's regularly down there flogging the tilapia and carefully releasing all the jungle perch!

Please forgive long winded post!

[Anhie]

Well said chaujern

[wesfish]

mate very simple this one, take your camera out to mt crosby weir over the next week or 2 after the dam gates are shut, you will find all sorts fishing in the closed waters there, i bet 100 bucks you will not have to wait long , mainly mid week!! as they know fisheries are scouting the area on weekends.

[Bassythekid]

so true Wes

[rosstralia46]

all good points and this is going to be a great article and chaujern is right its not limited to any race but it just happens to be that asians seem to flog these areas till there is nothing left im not saying this is the case in all places by any means it just happens to be that way

[hulk]

You will find people anywhere breaking fishing laws as they do with road laws etc.I went to Woody Point Jetty about a year ago and watched as this bloke pulled up pots with both jennies and undersized ones and bucketed them.Did it annoy me.Damn straight but considering both him and his mate were drinking and I was by myself,it wasn't worth saying anything.I wasn't aware of the fishwatch phone line back then either.Within 5 minutes of him bucketing the crabs, he raced off down to his car put the crabs in an esky and then came back to do the same again. If you want to see this happen,go fishing when most others don't like midweek of week nights.

Make sure any article you do write is unbiased too as you could go fishing midweek and observe 4/10 fishos on that day may do the wrong thing but go to the same place on the weekend and you will find 1/40 do it.Don't manipulate the figures against us fishos because we already get crucified by those boofhead greens in the media.

Hulk

[Tiny Tin]

i live near woodgate and it's defo the locals breaking the legs off undersized muddies for a feed! there's a few grey haired nomads complaining they can't catch and keep 500 whiting any more..wink wink!

illegal fishing knows no racism..you do it or you don't.

[kiwifisho]

This subject will never go away no matter what is done because your always gonna get the scumbags, be it Asian, Aussie, Kiwi etc that will still not give a **** and keep raping the fish stocks wnether it be in greed or for profit. All I can say is all F***ers that are doin it, shame, shame, shame.

Kiwi

[Travis]

This subject will never go away no matter what is done because your always gonna get the scumbags, be it Asian, Aussie, Kiwi etc that will still not give a **** and keep raping the fish stocks wnether it be in greed or for profit. All I can say is all F***ers that are doin it, shame, shame, shame.

Kiwi

And upgrade you health insurance

[albertpetersen]

Sorry for the delay in getting back you; I've been off working on other stories. I think the points you've raised are very pertinent; would you be willing to be quoted? If so, can you send me your full name and a contact number ( a lot of people are keen to be interviewed but are worried about having their name associated with the story...that's how bad it is here!"

Cheers

Al

[elops]

How are your cats Albert

[David88]

I was down at Wello Point jetty one day and saw some fellas with 70mm whiting in their bucket, and i told them to release the fish, as they were undersized. They took no notice and ignored me so i kicked the bucket over so the fish went back into the drink. Needless to say they went off at me, but i stood my ground and told em where to stick it. It helped that i was much bigger than them too lol. And these people wonder why the fish become more scarse? What do they expect when they take everything that comes in?!

Just sickens me that people think they can do what they want. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if i saw it again.

[fishguru5]

I didn't read the full thread so this may have been mentioned. But shorn Liffey jetty is a undersized fish taking haven at all hours of the day/night.

Pat

[madmullet]

this is one of the areas i have raised awirness to and i dont mind my name being behind a story as long as its in true form.

i for one second the artical about the crosby wier and infact most fresh water systems comes under fire by the white bucket.

this is an enless story and i for one will stand and fight for it.....

/>http://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/8-south-coast-reports/342895-sand-pumping-jetty-nightmair

[albertpetersen]

http://atarashinooz.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/illegal-fishing-pine-rivers.html

Here's a link to the piece I wrote (no local papers seemed interested in it...)

Thanks to everyone. Any comments would be most welcome as I'll probably do a follow up article at some point.

Cheers

Al