do you think a grand is too much????

[choppa]

Fine imposed for undersized fish and bag limit breaches

News release | 10 January, 2007


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A Maryborough man has been fined $1000 plus court costs after appearing before the Bundaberg Magistrates Court.

Kelly Travis Turner was charged with three offences arising out of a vessel inspection made by Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers at Wathumba on the western side of Fraser Island in October 2005.

Mr Turner was charged with possession of regulated fish including one undersized red emperor and three undersize saddletail seaperch, and possession of 11 painted sweetlip which were in excess of the bag limit.

He was also charged with possession of 32 coral reef fin fish which had not had a pectoral fin removed.

The defendant pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to all three offences and was fined a total of $1000 with $64.30 court costs and two months to pay.



i'm not the only person who's thinking what i'm thinking,,,,,,,surely



what annoys me the most is the amount of time it takes to bring these idiots to court,,,,and then when they do,,, its a slap on the wrist and off ya go attitude that makes you wonder why we have bag limit and fish size restrictions in place,,,,,



we can all recall the imbecile that got busted with upteem undersized and female muddies last year,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,still pending



the bloke who was caught in gladstone lifting pots,,, undersize fish on board,, and using a stolen car to tow the boat to the ramp,,,,,,,,,,still pending



i can write a whole book on this subject,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



whats the bet,,, if you had a video camera and filmed MR TURNERS expedition,,, you would probably find another half dozen or so offences that he commited,,,, all in all,,, his concern was to have the matter heard after chrissie,,,so it didn't interfere with his holiday,,,,,,,,,,,



choppa

[tigermullet]

What is the idea behind the requirement to remove a pectoral fin from reef fish? I have been trying to find the answer and trying to think of a reason why it should be done.

One more strange rule - catch a fish, mutilate it and Fisheries are happy. Why?

[Nic]

What is the idea behind the requirement to remove a pectoral fin from reef fish? I have been trying to find the answer and trying to think of a reason why it should be done.

One more strange rule - catch a fish, mutilate it and Fisheries are happy. Why?


So you can't sell it on the black market.

[Jeremy]

Choppa, no I do not think a grand is too much. He has broken several regulations. Ignorance is no excuse.

Fin cutting is supposed to prevent the fish being sold by amateurs on the black market.

Jeremy

[outsiderskip]

i recon he got off light
they could have taken his boat

pete

[-spiro-]

a grand for each fish would be the go. That would hopefully keep him more honest next time. I reccon they should be on the spot fines and ceasures of watercraft/or mode of transport.

[Brett1907]

I may be shot for this... $1000 is NOT enough.

He had 4 undersize fish, double the bag limit on sweetlip and had 12 over the coral fin fish bag limit of 20.

I would probably forget to remove a pectoral fin but I don't fish offshore that often. Its more the blatant disregard for size & bag limits that s#$ts me.

Brett

[finga]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say if the bloke hasn't fished for a long time or is a vistor he may not have been aware of the requirements now.
I mean, how often do you see or hear adds on the telly or radio about changes to the regulations, or even the regulations at all??
Not much, if ever.
How many times have you seen an add about stop smoking or drink driving??
We all know about the regs and fines and stuff but we still get bombarded with the information.
If this is a poor punter who rarely fishes (or fishes elsewhere) and gets his own bait then how is he reasonably expected to know the current rules??.
I know ignorance of the rules isn't an acceptable answer and no excuse. But...
How many of us check all the rules and regulations each time before we go and toss a line from other then our regular fishing area or how many check with the local council of our holiday destination about camping requirements or dog regulations??
How many of us have seen a local regulation and thought "your kidding me" well that's exactly what somebody from other parts may say about these rules when they find out...if they find out..

If the boys in blue have had an eye on this bloke for awhile and he knows the rules then $1000 is no where near enough fine..throw the book at him Dano
If this bloke truely did not know the rules a bit of slack has been shown and he only got $1000 in fines.

I wonder how many times the boys in blue have heard the excuse 'your kidding me, I didn't know that' and I wonder how many times the 'busted' person truely didn't know the regulations.

Education of our fisheries regulations, in my opinion, has no where near the exposure that they require. Especially seeing how popular the past-time is in Queensland.

Who knows how/where to find current regulations?? If you don't look pretty hard on the net or if you don't ask at the bait shop who would know???
Sometimes a rough guide to bag and size limits is placed at the popular ramps but not everyone fishes or launches at these places.

When we visit NSW (Evans Head) I always got the tackle shop to have a bit f a yarn to the young fellow that works ther to get the inside gossop and I noticed a fairly comprehensive
(63 pages) publication put out by the NSW DPI and it's a beauty.
It covers everything from species ID to boating safety as well as tackle requirements. It's not only a rule book but a how to do publication as well. This type of thing getts my two thumbs up real easy.
Never seen one for QLD though. I don't know if there is a guide or not, but never seen one.

Just my two bobs worth

[choppa]

I may be shot for this... $1000 is NOT enough.

He had 4 undersize fish, double the bag limit on sweetlip and had 12 over the coral fin fish bag limit of 20.

I would probably forget to remove a pectoral fin but I don't fish offshore that often. Its more the blatant disregard for size & bag limits that s#$ts me.

Brett

anyone who points a gun at ya brett,,, let me know,,,i've got a small back up to play with,,,i'll take sides with you

the bloke had over 40 fish on board,,,,,,,,and yeh scott,,,i'll give him a bit of backing if it shows that he is tottally unaware of the regs/rules,,,, but i think his age and tenure and the region may add another side to the story

i posted a report last year that showed the TOTAL amount of FINES and CONVICTIONS handed down in 2004 on illegal fishing practices,,,, from memory,,, it wouldn't cover the replacement cost on the house i live in,,,

its a pity that he wasn't an overseas visitor,,,,, he at least would have got an additional nice cup of tea,,, and a free flight back home thrown in

[Nic]

So does it come down to the individual Fisheries officer to know if someone's telling the truth when they say "I didn't know the regulations"?

[roydsy]

ignorance of the regulations is not a valid reason.

$1000 was too light, should have been confiscation of his boat for 3 months and $500 per fish.

[choppa]

So does it come down to the individual Fisheries officer to know if someone's telling the truth when they say "I didn't know the regulations"?


i think the inspectors themselves nic do an absolute admiral job on the limited resources they have,,,,, its getting the offenders through court and convictions that seem to been the main cause of disgruntleness shared amongst people

recall the spread i did re the ""visitor"" to ningi creek using a gill net,,,,, i faced court in a manner of weeks after that episode,,,, i got a stern warning,,, a threat not to take these issues into my own hands,,, and my favourite fishing knife returned,,,, as a bonus i also got the NET,,, (police didn't want it,,, i asked for it,,, they gave it)

now this particular person was convicted of the crime,,,, but his legal eagles appealed,,, and its being reheard """"sometime"""" in 2007,,,

his case centred around not being able to distinguish between a ""bait"" drag net oppoased to a gill net,,,,

this will be another 1 to chalk up on the board as a slap on the wrist and off you go,,,,,

[finga]

i think the inspectors themselves nic do an absolute admiral job on the limited resources they have,,,,, its getting the offenders through court and convictions that seem to been the main cause of disgruntleness shared amongst people

recall the spread i did re the ""visitor"" to ningi creek using a gill net,,,,, i faced court in a manner of weeks after that episode,,,, i got a stern warning,,, a threat not to take these issues into my own hands,,, and my favourite fishing knife returned,,,, as a bonus i also got the NET,,, (police didn't want it,,, i asked for it,,, they gave it)

now this particular person was convicted of the crime,,,, but his legal eagles appealed,,, and its being reheard """"sometime"""" in 2007,,,

his case centred around not being able to distinguish between a ""bait"" drag net oppoased to a gill net,,,,

this will be another 1 to chalk up on the board as a slap on the wrist and off you go,,,,,
:o Your kidding me....a bloke is in strife for using a gill net. You ask for it and the police give it to you.....why not ask for a gun...you might be lucky ;D

[choppa]

sounds hard to believe eh scotty,,,, but yeh,,, they gave it,,, its in the shed at home,,,,, 300 mtrs of square hook,,,

[StevenM]

Not a big enought deterent in my opinion

And will also go on record and say there should be more of it

[nigelr]

$10,000 would be more appropriate in this instance, I believe, and $20, 000 for some of the other cases.
Seriously, they (Fisheries) have to be kidding..................or.....................
is it a case of the magistrate being out of touch with public opinion and handing down an inappropriate sentence, to the chagrin of Fisheries and the disgust of the concerned public?

[Reel Nauti]

I was out last weekend with a mate. We pulled in a grassie sweetlip. I said to the mate that I thought the reg was 30 cm. He says no it's 35. The fish was 33cm so we let it go. When we got home I checked my sheets, 30 cms was the go but my wife went on the DPI & F website and found that it is actually 25cms! We then checked other fish eg cod etc and found there had been several changes. The website changes were made June 2006. Why aren't we all kept more informed about these things?? Why aren't stickers etc given away/sold at bait and tackle outlets always accurate?? It is easy to be ignorant when we are not availed of changed details.

Cheers

Dave

[Wahoo]

yep as most have said 1k not enough

Daz

[tigermullet]

Thanks Nick, Thanks Jeremy. Have been doing a bit of research - I didn't realise that the black market in fish was so large and thought that the problem had been solved years ago. Obviously it hasn't been.

[FNQCairns]

Recrational fisherman have near or next no impact on fish stocks overall, other variables make the difference but he stepped outside the political and regulatory ethos of the times so he must pay.

$1000 too much? Some would shrug it off, others would need to put off paying school fee's or other essential needs to scrape it up and not risk a family homeless, who is to say what his particular situation is.

cheers fnq

[Jaffo]

The law is the law, like it or not. Find out the rules before you go. All the rules and sizes are on the net, I will say a lot are hard to follow eg. new zones and things

[PinHead]

compared to what some people get fined for the potentially deadly activity of drink driving then yes...that grand is way too much

[thehoodedwarriors]

Hi All,

I would agree with some of you, and yes $1000 is definately not enough!

I hate it shen they spoil it all for the rest of us!

regards and tight lines
the hooded warriors

[dunmears]

I remember a few years back my mate and I got hit with a fine of $500 each for not having our names and addresses on four lousy shrimp traps. The fine notice wasted no time arriving in the post and had to be paid promptly.

[gone_fishing]

a $1000 seems quite light dont know the full circumstances to be fair
i know i vic they confiscate gear boats and vechiles if caught catching protected spieces (thats what my mate tells me )
education is a key but people wont learn with out punishment
i think they should talk your gear and fine for illegal activity
be interested to see how many people get slugged with fines with new marine parks opening everywhere

[Redspeckle]

Its people like that :thumbsdown:don't have respect for the law & don't thinks about fishing for future generations
I know that the majority of the fishing community obeys the size and bag limits but when have people like this give ammunition too :rifle: conservation groups and the outcome is whole lot of us is tar with same brush unfortunely
This offence occur at Wathumba on the Western side of Fraser Island in October 2005 Gee take's long time go through the court system >:( and a $1000 fine is a slap on the wrist :disappointed: should been much harsher fine instead (what some people have posted saying penalty's should have been )

FYI
Now Wathumba creek is a yellow zone means one rod with one hook or a lure
Also now fishing inside Fraser Island waters is now a marine park called Great Sandy Marine Park with green zone and other zones in what you can do and can't do here is link see for yourself and if this person was caught today I bet he wouldn't even obey the marine parks rules and regulations below http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/find_a_park_or_forest/great_sandy_marine_park/great_sandy_marine_park_provisions_table/ (http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/find_a_park_or_forest/great_sandy_marine_park/great_sandy_marine_park_provisions_table/)

Mitch:(

[Horse]

Pretty fair to me. If he is caughta second time he should really cop it

:behead:

[finga]

Its people like that :thumbsdown:don't have respect for the law & don't thinks about fishing for future generations
I know that the majority of the fishing community obeys the size and bag limits but when have people like this give ammunition too :rifle: conservation groups and the outcome is whole lot of us is tar with same brush unfortunely
This offence occur at Wathumba on the Western side of Fraser Island in October 2005 Gee take's long time go through the court system >:( and a $1000 fine is a slap on the wrist :disappointed: should been much harsher fine instead (what some people have posted saying penalty's should have been )

FYI
Now Wathumba creek is a yellow zone means one rod with one hook or a lure
Also now fishing inside Fraser Island waters is now a marine park called Great Sandy Marine Park with green zone and other zones in what you can do and can't do here is link see for yourself and if this person was caught today I bet he wouldn't even obey the marine parks rules and regulations below http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/find_a_park_or_forest/great_sandy_marine_park/great_sandy_marine_park_provisions_table/ (http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/find_a_park_or_forest/great_sandy_marine_park/great_sandy_marine_park_provisions_table/)

Mitch:(

Gees no wonder people get confused. Read all the tables and then read the maps and try to make out all the marker points to all the different zones :o
And that isn't all of it according to the bit that reads
"Note: Permits are required for most other activities not listed above. Designated Areas may provide additional restrictions at some locations. The zoning plan does not affect the operation of s.2.11 of the Native Title Act 1993."
What is “as of right” mean??
Verryy confused Scott :'(

[bootyinblue]

Hi Yo hit it on the head with 'not a big enough deterrent'

Fines and sentences are there for 2 reasons, to punish the offenders and also to act as a deterrent to other people.

People balance up the risk and reward and unfortunately as things are at the moment, prefer to take the risk for the reward!

[2DKnBJ]

A Grand is nowhere near enough if he was known by the fisheries to be doing the wrong thing on a regular basis.
I have seen guys loose all their gear , boat and car when i lived in Townsville.Maybe there should more of it down this way.
But as Finga has said there should be alot more education on this matter for the families that are true recreational fisherpersons.

Cheers Dazza

[dogsbody]

how about $1000 per infringment that might have a bit more impact.

Dave.

[Canoedle]

Bloody pathetic, $1000 is a lot less than what this bloke deserved, I take it he lived in Bundaberg, so no excuse for not knowing regulations.

[sleepygreg]

I didnt know i wasnt allowed to shoot (with the unlicenced gun that i didnt know had to be licenced) the plick that was trying to steal my boat. I wonder if that defence would work?????
Sorry guys....anyone fishing in this state knows there are laws about fishing and it is THEIR responsibility to know them. Don't give me the visitors excuse either.....if they are from other states and doing that sort of fishing they are either keen fishos who know there would be local laws or visitors fishing with locals who know the laws.....no excuses. Dont get me started on this one...i could fill a novel with examples of lame excuses for flaunting fishing regulations

Greg

[Feral]

I think the problem is that these sort of minor offences go to court (they are minor, just a lot of minor offences!)

Should have similar system to traffic offences, on the spot fines via a ticket book. You can choose to go to court if you want to fight it, or just pay up. Make it easier all round.

[choppa]

Recrational fisherman have near or next no impact on fish stocks overall, other variables make the difference but he stepped outside the political and regulatory ethos of the times so he must pay.

$1000 too much? Some would shrug it off, others would need to put off paying school fee's or other essential needs to scrape it up and not risk a family homeless, who is to say what his particular situation is.

cheers fnq

ummmmmm,,,, this is not the comment that i expected,,,,,,,, FNQ,,, do some research and you may be surprised on what WE as recreational fisho's do,,, and please understand,,, this is not a stab at you or anyone else on this site,,, but as a whole,,

theres enough posts already on the amount of damage that occurs without me or anyone else confirming

[finga]

I think the problem is that these sort of minor offences go to court (they are minor, just a lot of minor offences!)

Should have similar system to traffic offences, on the spot fines via a ticket book. You can choose to go to court if you want to fight it, or just pay up. Make it easier all round.
You hit the nail fair on the head champ :)
And a better regulation educational regime wouldn't go astray either.

[wombie]

sounds like he knew what he was doing just got busted this time throw the book at him $1000 bucks not good enough.
Paul

[Poodroo]

I think that he should have been fined $1000 per offence and also had his boat and gear confiscated. These are the types of idiots that give all fishermen and women a bad rap so hit him with the full brunt of the law I reckon. The fact he was well in excess of the legal bag limits proves one of two things to me that he was either totally oblivious to the laws or that he was aware of the laws but totally ignorant but didn't give a sh!t. Either way he is in the wrong because there is no excuse for ignorance and there should be no tolerance for people who disregard the law for whatever the reason.

Poodroo

[Brett1907]

I wonder if I was street racing, sideways down the highway while drunk, with no seatbelt, the kids standingup in the back seat in a stolen car with no tread op the tyres and no headlights on at night if I would just get a $1000 fine.

Or would I be charged with each individual infringement???

Sounds like the guy who was drunk at the helm of a cruiser when his girlfriend fell out and died. Horrible thing to happen. The judge didn't even suspend his liscence!! If it was in a car he would be cjarged with manslaughter as well as fined and loss of liscence.

The laws on the water have no backbone. It is time they started backing up all these no fishing zones with steps that actually work, like more patrols and real consequences to flouting the laws.

Brett

[Reel Nauti]

I'm not defending the guy in question, but if a new law comes out for motor car drivers it is all over the media. I made the point earlier on that fishing laws/regs change without prior warning or notice after the event. It is possible, for any of us who don't log onto the bloody DPI and F website to be totally informed today and totally ignorant tomorrow.

Cheers

Dave

[Custaro]

I think $1000 is enough. At least he got caught. He is on the books now as having infringed the rec fishing laws. He won't get off as light if stupid enough to get caught again. $1000 bucks would sting me for a while.

I got caught with undersize mullet. Let off with a warning, but they told me it would be recorded that I have been shown the difference between sea and poddy mullet and would be fined if caught again.

I heard of drink drivers getting a $500 fine. Or what about wankers speeding past schools...maybe $250. That kills people.