News Release - crab pot thieves court prosecution

[QLD_Fisheries]

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/news/NewsReleases/14908.html

The information contained in this document is distributed by the Queensland Government for information purposes only. All reasonable steps have been made to ensure the information is accurate at the time of publication. For more information visit the DPI Fishweb site at http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb

[NQCairns]

Dont bother to read it, no one actually got caught :o just more base propaganda.nq

[peterbo3]

NQ is right. This is straight BS from DPI. What the headline should read is "crab pot thieves RISK prosecution". And everybody knows that! And they also know size & bag limits. DPI are becoming Bandwidth thieves. Send a PM to the author & square him away.

[SeaHunt]

They RISK more than prosecution if they get caught by the pot owners. Copping a fine would be getting off lightly. [smiley=hanged.gif]

[imported_admin]

8 April 2004
Crab pot thieves court prosecution

The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and the Queensland Police Service has warned that people caught stealing crab pots will be prosecuted after a spate of incidents in the Hervey Bay area.

Hervey Bay-based Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) district officer Carl Shurey said anyone caught interfering with or stealing crab pots faced a hefty fine and possible prosecution

“There have been a series of thefts of crab pots as well as people removing crabs from pots,” he said.

“These are all offences under the Fisheries Act 1994 and anyone found breaking the regulations will be dealt with accordingly.”

Officer-in-charge of the Hervey Bay Water Police Sergeant Greg Dixon said stealing crab pots is an offence under the Criminal Code.

“Anyone found stealing pots will be brought before the courts,” he said.

Mr Shurey said people needed to be aware of all the current crabbing regulations including crab pot rules as well as the size and take and possession limits.“There is a take and possession limit of 10 male mud crabs and a minimum size limit of 15cm,” he said.

“People are also only allowed to use four crab pots. They need to be clearly marked with the owner’s name and address and, if using a float, must also have the owner’s name on it.”

Mr Shurey said fisheries regulations were aimed at sustaining Queensland’s valuable fisheries resources.

“Rules are in place to protect and conserve mud crab stocks. By following the regulations these valuable fisheries resources will be around for current and future generations of Queenslanders,” he said.

For more information about fisheries rules and regulations, contact the Hervey Bay QBFP office on (07) 4125 3989, call the DPI Call Centre of 13 25 23 or visit the DPI Fishweb site at www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb

[Gazza]

Any fool want to tell me , that if we had a Crabpot Licence , ::) ,that I would lose less crabpots :-X

[charleville]

I have four crabpots sitting beside my house that i have barely used since I am too lazy to untangle the cords that go to the floats. If we had to pay a licence fee for crab-pots, I would feel obliged to use them a lot more and I reckon that I would not be alone.

ie an amateur crabbing licence fee may well drive more anglers to catch more crabs than happens now and would not be good for the crab fishery.

[Gazza]

;D good point ;D