Apology to PRFMA

[wallyfly]

Open Apology to Pine Rivers Fish Management Association re Slippery Mats NPD

Late last December a post was raised on the AFO site about the dangerous ramp at NPD. Several people contributed with comments about the matter but the PRFMA, who maintain the facility and issue permits to fishers to access the dam, apparently took umbrage to the content of my items and have refused to issue me with a new permit for 2012-2013 claiming "I have conducted myself in a way considered to be injurious and prejudicial to the character and interest of the association."

I have been asked,and I have agreed, to offer my apology directly to the PRFMA and publish it in the Brisbane Fishing Online forum to appease the situation and presumably receive a boating permit.

I offer my open apology to the Executives and members of the Pine Rivers Fish Management Association for any injurious and prejudicial comments that, in their view, I have made in this matter.

Since1996 the PRFMA members have funded and released an enormous number of fingerlings into NPD which have brought about one of the greatest fresh water fisheries in Australia for thophy bass.Other species include golden perch, silver perch. saratoga are readily available. Mary River cod are in the dam but are elusive. Snub nosed gar, spangle perch, boney bream, shrimps and redclaw crayfish are all in the food chain as are catfish and a great number of Ceratodus, our unique lungfish.

It is imperative to maintain this fishery as an important public usage facility which comes under the auspices of SEQWater so support the scheme by allocating your SIPS subscription to NPD.

Ian W Mathieson aka Wallyfly

[Bommie]

Ok.

some of the admin. in the PRFMA seem to be hypocrites I am not defending Wallyfly as I have never met him nor should my view affect him in any way, I am just going on what I see.

[shortie]

Ian, If you were incorrect in your statements then good on you for being man enough to apologise.

If you still believe your statements were justified then rock and hard place it is for you.

I wonder what the verdict would be in the eyes of the law for them refusing you a permit due to your comments. I bet there is nothing in their charter that states that is grounds to refuse someone a permit.

[dave45]

Forcing you to do something against your will at threat of loss of something you need.

There's a word for that isn't there? :whistle:

[Cheyne_jones]

If the issue you raised was a real and dangerous situation (and I dont see someone raising that sort of issue unless it was perceived as dangerous) then in my opinion it is totally out of order for them to ask you to issue a public apology in order to get back on side with the group. If that sort of attitude was taken in a workplace by an employer then that employer would be in a very sticky situation with the law. It may have been best to attack the issue directly with them instead of in a public forum, but no matter how they were notified of the issue it is wrong for them to use their position of power over you to leverage an apology.

I do understand the good work they do as a group, and a lot of people draw huge enjoyment from their efforts, but their attitude to this situation leaves a bit to be desired if what you state is true.

Other than that well done for being the bigger person mate, as Shortie said, you're in a tough position!

[crazywalrus]

I can not disagree more with the above statements. I read the posts last year and I felt they where out of line or could be delivered in a better way. Sometimes it is better to have these discussions in private. PRFMA does a lot of good and all their time is on a volunteer basis. Many people enjoy the work of this group and the greater community enjoy the bass fishing due to the escapes. There is always an alternative way to say things. I do not think that the above comments assist Wallyfly in anyway with his apology.

I think we dwell far to much these days on the liability and are way to easy to criticize. Where is society going that we race to sue if we get injured. These issues are the very reasons that sporting clubs and organisations like PRFMA are being closed everyday.

[ellicat]

To threaten to take away what is probably one of the few of life's pleasures that can be enjoyed by someone who is in their 80's is a thoughtless disgrace and a decision no doubt made by a heartless egotist.

[crazywalrus]

To threaten to take away what is probably one of the few of life's pleasures that can be enjoyed by someone who is in their 80's is a thoughtless disgrace and a decision no doubt made by a heartless egotist.

hmmm I was going to leave this alone however I am going to make this point. There is always a lot more to every story than what people are aware of. All organisations have politics within them and I bet there is a reason why a past member is taking issue with the current administration. I really do not care what the politics are as long as at the end of the day things get done. Do the people work tirelessly to better the fishing for people in the Pine Rivers? YES. Do we all get to enjoy the Fishing provided by the stocking group? Yes.

I did not want to highlight the apology however If I was going to make an apology it would not include " Late last December a post was raised on the AFO site about the dangerous ramp at NPD. Several people contributed with comments about the matter but the PRFMA, who maintain the facility and issue permits to fishers to access the dam, apparently took umbrage to the content of my items and have refused to issue me with a new permit for 2012-2013 claiming "I have conducted myself in a way considered to be injurious and prejudicial to the character and interest of the association." This statement is only going to create more conjecture (witch it has).

I understand that people have a right to make statements however I believe that they should have a good think about what they are going to say before they type them on a forum in public. Once something is on the internet it is always there.

Come on everybody we should be getting behind these stocking groups and helping out or at the very least praising their hard work. These people put in their time for your benefit. It is easy to criticize people but if it was not for them we would either have to get off our fat backsides or loose the resource.

[ellicat]

Even knowing the background here I believe a step back by the existing exec to look at the big picture could be a good thing. Sometimes the inward looking members of a committee makes things way worse than they really are.

No-one is dissing the great job PRFMA do. Mine and the other comments that you don't agree with are about the decision you have highlighted in red not the job they do in keeping NPD etc as good as it is.

The thread will be locked shortly so get in while you can people.

[fishingnut]

Same as afo, it's a privilege to be here not a right as I have learned in the past after being banned, can always re apply next year .

[freedomhawk12]

I'm looking at this more to the point, that last I heard the prfma struggled to sell all 400 permits? At which the money goes into stocking this water way? So if I'm correct then , they don't need anymore money as refusing a permit? So this says, they are either out of the 400 permits allocated or they don't need anymore money?

Wally you can have my permit mate, I catch more fish in other places than I ever do at the dam. Only buy the permit to support the group.

I'm sure theres 2 sides to the story, but either way I don't think this is the point?

[freedomhawk12]

Just too add I'm not dissing the prfma in the job they do, the work they do do is great. Just the personal decision made on this matter.

[shortie]

I would of thought that debate on particular matters should be applauded rather than punished.

If anything any comments made would of simply highlighted where 1 particular person believes that PRFMA being lax in their running of things. This should be then debated, addressed/ or dismissed. If it was seen to be a worthy opinion then steps should be undertaken to fix any problems raised. If it is seen to be a useless statement then it should be dismissed and let lie. If it seen to be a minor problem then it could be looked into further at a later date.

I still see no reason why it should affect wheather or not a permit is granted.

There are way worse offences that would warrant such an action. ie: keeping undersized or out of season fish. Netting. Fishing beyond State legislation. ie number of hooks on a line, or esxceeding the number of redclaw pots allowed .

All this drama due to a few comments on an internet forum.

Its a great orgisation but i do believe that in any committe people tend to try and push their own agenda or preferences without looking at the big picture.

[crazywalrus]

I'm looking at this more to the point, that last I heard the prfma struggled to sell all 400 permits? At which the money goes into stocking this water way? So if I'm correct then , they don't need anymore money as refusing a permit? So this says, they are either out of the 400 permits allocated or they don't need anymore money?

Wally you can have my permit mate, I catch more fish in other places than I ever do at the dam. Only buy the permit to support the group.

I'm sure theres 2 sides to the story, but either way I don't think this is the point?

hmmm I have learnt in business that a buck is not always worth getting if it compromises your business. For instance if you where to go back through a members posts over the last 12 months you would get a very negative outlook on this scheme rather than what is actually is like. Ray, Dino, Fishingnut, Elops and many more members use these facilities and benefit from it. The constant denigration to the place either buy the post in question or the debacle over the alleged share farming issues is ridiculous. I am a firm believer that if you have nothing positive to say than say nothing. $100 lost is a small price to pay to remove a negative influence that may turn off more people from getting permits.

[fishingnut]

One of Wally's recent posts was that he wasn't going to reapply for a permit this year as there all gone over the wall, that's doesn't benefit the prfma at all

[Schnapper]

I have had a permit at PRFMA for the last three years and have always been impressed by the way thoses blokes run their scheme. They have been very fare to me along the way even when they once had to point out something I was doing wrong because I had not red the agreement I had signed. I apologized on the spot and they took it no further and we had a good relation ship ever since.

I have also read many of wallies informative reports on this forum and he sounds like a bloke very capeable of defending himself and as he has made the statement above I reckon he would of done so only if he was happy to do so and theirfore I don't think he needs us to comment on what did or did not happen.

I say leave it to the two parties to work things out them selves and the rest of us go fishing

[AFO]

Apology has been made and discussed. Thread Locked

[ellicat]

For those interested in the outcome - the permit was issued.