Any one ever rung fisheries

[snasman]

I'd just like to know if any one has ever had any luck ringing fisheries when reporting illeagle activities,the reason I ask is a while back I was on the Shornecliff jetty when I noticed a group of people taking everything they caught and put it in their bucket so I rang the operator on duty and told him about what was going on ,he told me that he wouldnt be able to get there as he was on the Southside so then I rang a m8 of mine that I knew was also fishing on the southside and told him about it he told me the same thing was happening where he was so I gave him the number to ring and said the guy is already on the southside give him a call, he rang me back after a few minutes to tell me the guy had told him "Sorry mate I cant do anything about it as im on the north side".
Any one else experianced anything like this, Cheers Snas

[yalta]

why didnt you ask for northside ph number
got to pull thier bluff some times. and get his name.
if he does nothing ask for his superviser and when
he gets on phone ask for his superviser.

[choppa]

much the same outcome was found when i had the run in with the guy using a square hook in ningi creek,,,, police were there very quickly,,,, dpi&f were notified,,, but the delay caused the local boys in blue to contact the local ranger in lieu,,,

i forget the exact number of field officers these guys have out an about on a daily basis,,, i know its low,,,,unless there pushing any issue where they then seem to multiply in force

good work though snas,,, i think the cryptic message there is that even though the bloke knew he could'nt keep jennys,,, he's claiming ignorance over how to identify 1,,,,,makes you wonder what he would have done if the pots held more of em,,,,,,,,i have a fair idea though

choppa

[Leigh77]

I have rang them three times in total...all regarding people breaking the bag limit.

"We have no one in your area!" was the reply.

I asked them if I took photos and gave them the vehicle licence plate number could they do anything...

"No" is what the operator said.

I then questioned as to why I bother ringing up at all...

The operator then started rambling on about how they cant just jump when called...

So I dont bother calling now.

[Phoenix]

Not quite the same - but I tried to phone Queensland Parks & Wildlife about a couple of dogs who were killing large water dragon lizards in a Brisbane park. Apparently I had to go into an office and fill in a form, then they'd send someone to investigate......

So I range BCC - who sent someone out, a few days later.

[seatime]

At one of the recent Inshore Fin Fish Meetings I had a brief chat to a DPI Boating and Fisheries Patrol officer about staffing numbers, work hours and the water police involvement in fisheries enforcement.

He didn't go too deep into the details of course, but the Dept is definately under staffed, basically they work 9-5, 5 days a week. Any large ops, with overtime aren't common, the reporting line is just that, a reporting line.
Only about 6 out of the total water police officer numbers in Moreton Bay are qualified to issue fisheries infringements.
It comes back to funding and staff numbers, there's no money to employ new staff, and no money to increase enforcement using existing staff.
It's probably much more complicated than that, but that was the general message.

[Brett1907]

IT is typical of a government department. They issue all of these rules preventing people from doing certain things. Then they don't enforce it cause most of the funding is caught up in buearacracy.

Did you know if a department doesn't use 100% of their funding this year they get less funding next year!!! So all departments use every cent, then other departments who want extra funding next year can't get it.

Brett

[supertinny]

Found a net in my barra hole early one sunday morning. Rang the fisheries on my mobile and they whre there in 20 mins. Just as he arrived i spotted a guy rowing out of the mangroves but he also seen me. Fisheries guy comendered his small tinny and we went and got the net. It was full of fish barra , tarpon catfish bream . Some were still alive but most wrer dead. Old mate said it wasnt his net but it was pretty obvious it was. Couldnt prove it was. The net was brand spanking new. If only the fisho was a bit later we would have caught him red handed.

[imnotoriginal]

Leigh maybe you should keep calling. If we all call and kick up a stink each time we see people breaking the law they've got to do something about it. Even if it is just a "reporting line" they still would have to monitor how many calls they get, the nature of the calls, what the supposed illegal activity was... And chnaces are these would be a matter of public record. If the numbers spike, suddenly we have a great argument for someone like the fishing party to push for better funding for fisheries. Keep calling, it may not always seem like it's doing the right thing, but it could make all the difference.
Joel

[murf]

Tried to get NSW fisheries involved a long time ago when a QLD pro operation shot a net right through a santuary zone. They woke me up at the crack of dawn with the jet boat warming up with th exhausts facing my ute with me and the missus in the back, hit me head on the roof when I sat bolt upright >:(

NSW fisheries back then told me that they had to catch them in the act and that my photographic evidence was not enough. Fisheries office is only 30mins away by boat or car and this mob took 8 hours to unload the hawl sitting in the santuary zone :o Also all the unwanted species they just dumped back in the water to wash up on the beach in front of us.

I lost a lot of respect for them then but I hope things are changing for the better.

On the other side NSW Fisheries were great when I was setting up an aquaculture business.

Cheers Murf

[snasman]

Hi all thanks for the feed back good to hear some of us have had success with them Yalta I got the number from the dpi site (I think) there are 2 numbers 1 is the report line and the other is the officer on duty its 0419754715 for the officer the 1 I rang and 1800017116 for the report line I dont know if there is a north and south officer but if you know of one I wouldnt mind that number either I think Imnotoriginal is on the money if we all continually ring and report maby some more funding may head there way .Cheers snas

[Donger70]

At Yarramalong weir in southern qld about 3 yrs ago I came across a group of guys using a 50 foot bait net in one of the pools just upstream of the weir. Because of the drought conditions the net was easily spanning the entire pool, I sat amongst the bushes and watched in anger until they brought the net ashore where they proceedded to throw 50 or 60 small fish (15-20cm) up onto the bank to die. I soon had photos of this slaughter, of them and of the vehicles and number plates.
When I returned home after the weekend i promptly rang fishwatch and the boating and fisheries, the officer in charge was very helpful and eager to bring justice. A month or 2 later he contacted me to sign a statement and send him copies of the photos as the case was going to be bought before the court,unfortunately he never conatcted me again to tell me the outcome of the case, hopefully he sent them to prison and/or fined them for every last penny.:(

[blaze]

another hint is to get to know a fishing inspector, I have his private number in my phone.
cheers
blaze

[Reel Nauti]

I have tried calling them for different offences I have seen over many years. Not once have they responded, not once has anything even been investigated. The reasons I have been given: We don't have anyone in your area at the moment. I'm sorry but can I have your name and number.

I have given my name and number enough times and not once have I ever been contacted. Whilst I don't like to see people breaking the law with fishing/etc, I have learnt that it is a waste of time contacting the authorities. And that, I might add, is why people continually reoffend, in my opinion.

Cheers

Dave

[Kiktz]

May be we should as fisho's pay the inspectors cash upon arrival for their efforts.
We might see a bit of a turn around.........

Just bring a light side to a serious topic/ Issue

Aj

[hooknose]

A mate of mine works for Fisheries up north and reckons the sad state of affairs is all Smilin' Peter Beattie's fault. Fishos are getting paid a pittance and are leaving in droves and not being replaced because there is no money due to the mismanagement of water and health. My mate reckons he is fair dinkum embarrassed to be a fishing inspector.
Kids and adults alike who have the necessary tertiary qualifications to become a fisho are continually knocked back when applying for work yet mostly every Fisheries dept throughout the state is undermanned and virtually useless and ineffective when it comes to responding to calls from a concerned and vigilant public.
Apparently there is no light at the end of the tunnel and things will get a lot worse before they get better.


Thanks a lot Smilin' Pete !!!

Cheers !!!

[vanurose]

Can someone give me a private number of a fisheries inspector up here in Cairns. Last week 2 Barra were caught and killed in front of us all. I opened my big mouth and abused the first guy. I reckon if I had a been a guy I would have been knifed as This guy turned on me with very evil eyes and told me to mind my own F....ing Business. All the other men there just looked and said nothing and continued minding their own business. Perhaps I should learn to do the same from now on?
So what's the use?
Cheers
Rose

[baddog]

What we need is a sytem of voluntary or honorary fishing inspectors. There are plenty of people who are sufficiently experienced to know what is legal and what is illegal, and who are local to the area, and who are prepared to do something to help stop this problem. They could do the initial investigation, collect the evidence, and then pass the details on to the DPI&F for further action and prosecution.

Hey, smilin' Pete can even take take the credit because I reckon we would all like to see some action, and not the continual brush-offs. Maybe the DPI&F blokes are scared - remember the inspectors who disappeared years ago. The DPI&F blokes still remember.

We can all help to highlight illegal fishing practices by writing to our local Member. Sure they won't do anything, but they do want to get re-elected, and they believe that each letter written to them represents about 1,000 voters opinions! It all helps.

[Nowhere Bob]

Hey y'all. Some interesting points made. I thought I'd throw in my 10c worth.
Just exactly what would you like to see happen? A rapid response unit in each region with balaclavas & a helicopter? get real.

Brisbane is a large patrol district ranging from Tripcony's In Pumicestone Passage Down to the Logan R, west to the Dams and east to off Moreton & Straddie. This is patrolled by 10 +/- field officers. Current budget & penalty rates means that this is very thinly spread outside of Office Hours. This is bad, but some of the Northern stations have 20 X landmass / waterways to Patrol with <20% of the crew.

So it comes down to priorities and profiles. I encourage y'all to keep ringing - the data IS entered and Patrols ARE scheduled accordingly.

But as to blaming Smiling Pete, well there is probably some fairness to that, but are you going to explain to someone that 'no you can't have that lifesaving operation' because the fish need protecting? I encourage everyone to sit down sometime and try to draw an expenditure pie graph. What percent of tax $ go to health, education, fisheries etc etc? I've tried and the only answer I can come up with is 'I'm glad it's not my problem.'
A little perspective is a good thing and each $ can only be spent once.

So to sum up. DPI&F gets X$/ year that is spread across all the primary industries. Fisheries get a fraction of that, and it is spread across Fresh water, commercial fisheries, aquaculture, research and compliance. The compliance is then spread across Queensland. Some $ come from MSQ & the feds, but that is "Quid pro quo" they want their pound of flesh for it (reasonably enough) so the fishos spend some of their time handing out safety gear & speeding fines. So what do we end up with? underfunded overstretched fisho's who are trying to be in three places at once. Not trying to lay a sob story on you, but rather inform y'all of some of the practicalities.

[snelly1971]

The only down fall i see in the whole system is that ...this is in Tassie....say...your caught poaching cray fish....a local was last year...38 undersize...11 dis membered fish...$11 000...fine and lost his boat...now that is fair enough...he pays it off at $25 a fortnight....so this means that the greedy little prick can still go and poach more fish.....i believe that if you are caught and fined then you shouldn`t be allowed to fish until the fine is paid....i know of a couple of locals who have been caught on several occasions with hefty fines...but because they are only made to pay the minimum $20 a month then of course they are back at it again....????? doesnt seem fair for the rest of us who are doing the right thing.