Finders Keepers?

[Cowfish13]

I just want to know for sure.

If you find a crab/shrimp/yabby pot on the bank, or partially under the water, with no name tags or any other sort of ID on it, can you legally take it?

I know that by law you have to have a tag on it.

So if I find an unmarked pot out of the water and take it, can someone come down much much later and say that it is theirs?

Thanks

[mackmauler]

your probably in the right but dont forget not all red necks think that way, try telling a fired up one that its not his and u now own it, for your own sake one that is clearly not in use might be a better way to put it.

[Cowfish13]

Thats what I thought. But if some guy came down and said it was his, I probably wouldn't argue. There not that expensive, especially the opera-house pots. We get a lot (2 or so every trip) just by casting out lures at NPD.

[mackmauler]

yeh those red claw ones are pretty cheap, be more with crab pots ud have an issue. i troll them up sometimes and they get thrown on the front of the boat, fisheries just collect any they find without tags and dump them ive seen some great pots they have \"found\" i reckon there would of been some pissed off owners one day at the pin they had about 12 piled up on there boat, im sure most just forgot the name tag and would have thought them stolen!

[Line Tangler Dave]

Wouldn't it just be best to leave the traps where you found them rather than taking them, even though you may have the right to do so? They might be cheap, but really they still belong to someone else, and maybe the tags came loose? Just my thoughts:)

Cheers, Fisher_191

[Gazza]

The bay had pots every where on Sunday most unmarked one turkey had painted his floats green to blend in nicely with the water I felt like cutting his floats off

i didn't of coarse as I dont even go close to others pots marked or otherwise unless I nearly run over them because they are green

Gaz

[Feral]

Cowfish, its like anything you find, you must hand it in at the local cop shop. If after a certain period it is not claimed it is legally yours. I dont remember what that period is, but

I think it was either 30 or 90 days.

[Brian D]

Feral who's gonna do that? Not worth the petrol.:S

Here's my view.

If it is not yours don't take it.

If it is not marked or tagged is not your issue but the owners issue.

If you take an un tagged pot the problem becomes yours and you become a thief.

$3 pot is not worth the guilt.

[werewolf]

I agree with Fez, \"finding\" lost property doesn't make it yours

[Feral]

Brian D wrote:

Feral who's gonna do that? Not worth the petrol.:S

Here's my view.

If it is not yours don't take it.

If it is not marked or tagged is not your issue but the owners issue.

If you take an un tagged pot the problem becomes yours and you become a thief.

$3 pot is not worth the guilt.

True Brian - Generally if I find something like that, (not worth much) I put it up where it can be easily seen by the real owner, if its of value, I'll hand it in. When I used to catch trains, I used to find wallets quite often, people would get up and get on the train, wallet falls out of pocket when they get up. I just handed them in at the ticket office.

Had a score quite a few years ago, was fishing down at Pinkenba at the sewage outlet, and there was this mob of kids doing circle work and partying on all night. When we left at dawn, there was a handbag there, had $100 in it, some suspicious looking material in a glad bag and some pills. Also had a purse and an address book in it.

Handbag belonged to a 15 YO girl from Ascot. So later that day I rang up. Got mum on the phone. Oh no couldn't be her daughters handbag, she was staying at a friends last night and did not do that sort of thing, and certainly was not the owner of the drugs.

So I asked, she did not want the bag back, -No definately not HER daughters was the response.

So I pocketed the hundred, and through the rest out.

[bootyinblue]

Ok... want the offical view on this?

Its stealing 'Anyone who steals anything capable of being stolen is guilty of a crime and if no other punishment is available is liable to 5 years imprisonment'

Its a pretty easy thing to prove that you planned to 'permanently deprive the owner of a thing' and therein stole the thing.

Find something, hand it to the Police, get a receipt, after 60 days and all reasonable attempts by Police to find the owner have failed it is yours to claim (that is unless its a pound of hooch!)

[James W]

youre good value booty..its handy to have a police dude on the site..have a karma shot on me;)

[Brian D]

werewolf wrote:

I agree with Fez, \"finding\" lost property doesn't make it yours

But the question was \"if you find a crab pot\". Can you imagine what the cops would say if you turned up at teh station with a wet smelly crab pot. :woohoo: Oh yeah leave the bait in.

[bootyinblue]

The 60 days would come and go real quick!

[mackmauler]

lmao brian, what i was thinking, where does \"claim salvage rights\" come into this, most things lost at sea be it wrecks or whatever are hunted down and the finder does quiet well out of it? i sure as hell would not swim down for one of those lures in shultz if my mate snagged it and then hand it back if he was too pussy to go in after it, is that stealing as well?

[Cowfish13]

I one of my friends snags one of his expensive lures and is to scared to get it off, I charge him money ($5 or so) and I go in and get it:D

[Brian D]

mackmauler wrote:

lmao brian, what i was thinking, where does \"claim salvage rights\" come into this, most things lost at sea be it wrecks or whatever are hunted down and the finder does quiet well out of it? i sure as hell would not swim down for one of those lures in shultz if my mate snagged it and then hand it back if he was too pussy to go in after it, is that stealing as well?

Ha good one Mack. Lets see, I believe the onus falls back on the lure owner to either abandon it or claim it. If someone wants to swim after a snagged lure of mine it all theirs. I could show em where there are at least 4 spinners in the Albert River.

[jeff f]

anything in the water below the lowtide mark that is not marked by a float can be claimed by attaching a float to it. you can then salvage it and the owner has to pay you a percentage of its value(determined by a maritime court in the case of a boat) plus salvage costs to get it

back

[2 wheels]

I sat in on a similar discussion not long ago finders keepers the 2 parties talked back and forth ,value ,responabilty then another fellow brought up an obscure fact in law theft by finding /discovery so any thing is probable with the right council so finders keepers at your own risk

[bootyinblue]

Yea 2 wheels, its stealing by finding. Although I have heard about salvage rights to some extent and looking into it.

[2 wheels]

thanks for the correct term :)booty

[ellicat]

Sounds similar to finding by stealing:blink:

[bootyinblue]

ellicat wrote:

Sounds similar to finding by stealing:blink:

LOL trust you to put your unique slant on things!