How much Fish can you have in your Freezer?

[Hell Boy]

Hi all,

in regards to keeping fish in your freezer, i heard that you can't keep more than your daily limit of fish species in your freezer. i don't know if its true, but i can't see how its possible to enforce.

For example, you couldn't be fined if you had 20 full fillets of snapper in your esky that you just brought from the shop and put in the freezer!!!

Not that i would buy 20 fillets of snapper from the fisho. even though u could spend the same amount on fuel, bait and boat running costs and only catch 1 snapper

[Pedro Jnr]

Yes true, our bag limits are a "in possession limit" which includes your fridge at home, if you bought 20 fillets from the shop you would have a receipt from the fish monger to prove it

[Hell Boy]

so it is true, well i really didn't think that would be the case. it seems silly and couldn't see it being enforced, as that would apply to some bait fish in your freezer as well.

but then again if you have 4 people in your household , then you have a "edited by request" of 4 people and it wouldn't be an issue. has anybody been caught for this, as the only way you could be caught is if you got caught with fish over your take limit on the boat ramp and then they raided your home.

and before i get shot down, i do believe in the the fish limits, i've never caught more than 5 legal snapper in one outing in australia. i just can't see how it could enforced.

( you'll have to remove ' daily limit ' from your post,,,, the term is " In possession ". Cheers Phill )

[choppa]

the main area here is if you are seen to be "running" to and fro the shore to offload your catch and then return to fishing,,,,OR if you have been reported doing so

the law states that if you have fish in the fridge/freezer at home, this contributes to your bag tally,, so therefore any request to look into them is enforceable

most reports that i have heard of comes from crabber's, but occassionally a report that merits fish quantities sweeps through

choppa

[fishn-ads]

My understanding was fish in possession limits only apply to certain species of fish (Coral Reef species) and the limit of 20 fish in possession or special areas like tailor at Fraser?

Bag limits are per 24hr period?

gee this is confusing!!!

Not that I'm one out too slaughter fish but i do go fishing to catch a feed or two.

Adam

[Richard]

Hi Adam,

Just to clarify - all bag limits specified in QLD legislation is referring to a "in possession" limit, regardless of the species. Sometimes there are different bag or size limits for different areas though.


cheers

Richard

[dfox]

Years ago i new of an old fella that was fishing every day the weather allowed for spanish mackerel, due to a tip off from locals the fisheries monitored him and when they ponced they caught him with eskies full of fillets, then they raided his place and freezers.
Ive had the fisheries check freezers at home, but i have a commercial licence and everything was in the log books... foxy

[tigermullet]

If fisheries come around here I'm going to get a bunch of friends over who will swear that they live here.

Seriously, the chances of fisheries coming to do an 'in freezer' check at the home of an amateur fisherman is vanishingly faint.

Anna Bligh has run out of dough. Can you imagine what has happened to the DPI budget? They'll be hard pressed to scare up a five litre container of emergency fuel.

If we're lucky, Marine Parks might have some constraints upon them as well.

Won't that be a shame? No more sunning their tits on the deck of their expensive boats. Instead, they'll have to attend shore based training courses, do a bit of filing and get to sit on useless, boring committees.

I'm starting to believe that there is a God.

[Hell Boy]

Thanks guys for the info, i can understand now why the rules are there, but it still seems like a grey area.

[Lovey80]

Let's face it the home freezer check laws are there for those blatantly breaking the law. On any one occaision a serious offender isn't likely to be 'that' far outside the law when caught or should I say that heavily punishable. That first breach is what will be used as the trigger to search the house to sting the offender on the heavy breaches.

The only other times I could see them doing it is for people running big camp sites where they will inspect all the freezers( seen that done pleanty).

Cheers chris

[Noha]

in the nt you can have as much fish as you want in your private residence , but you have to abide by the 30 fish possesion limit in your boat or camp.
if you leave your house, say to take fish to your mates or relo,s you have to stick to the 30 fish limit. cheers

[Mattg68]

on the other hand if someone has over the 'in possession' limit stock piled in the freezer (& know it) the question i'd be asking is: why?

answer: eat fish more often & if you know you have over the limit at home - release.

i agree it's a grey area when you consider that a good deal of fishos probably aren't aware of this info. me partly included.

thanks for raising the issue.

matt

[GBC]

I haven't seen the floor of my bait freezer for quite a few years - they're welcome to come and empty the contents if they like... Still got that dirty great barracouda head that the boys promised would only be there a 'coupla weeks' too....

[GBC]

I haven't seen the floor of my bait freezer for quite a few years - they're welcome to come and empty the contents if they like... Still got that dirty great barracouda head that the boys promised would only be there a 'coupla weeks' too.... Personally I'd rather give away fresh fish to those who'd appreciate them rather than freeze fillets.
All the pearly and snap we got last thursday - goone.

[groverwa]

How much fish can you have in your freezer????????????????

This is from the Fisheries West Aust media: -


Mid West fishers fined over rule breaches

Date: Friday, 22 May 2009

The discovery of more than 180 kilograms of filleted Spanish mackerel in a Kalbarri house in mid-April has resulted in fines of almost $11,500 for a recreational fisher.

Johann Schumi pleaded guilty in the Geraldton Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday) to possessing 181 kilograms of fish fillets, in excess of the possession limit. He was fined $500 and ordered to pay an additional mandatory penalty of $10,872.60 for the amount of fish involved, as well as court costs of $114.20.

The maximum quantity of finfish – either whole or in pieces – that you may have in your possession in Western Australia is 20 kg of fillets of fish; or 10 kg of fillets of fish and one-day’s bag limit of whole fish or fish trunks; or two-day’s bag limit of whole fish or fish trunks.

Special possession rules apply specifically to the Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area and there are also some specific possession limits for certain species of fish.

The Geraldton Court heard that a search of freezers at Schumi’s Kalbarri house revealed a total of 221 kilograms of frozen Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel fish fillets in packets ranging in weight from 16 to 22 kilograms

Outside court, Mid West Regional Manager Greg Finlay said Fisheries and Marine Officers had searched the house as a result of helpful information from the community and surveillance of Schumi’s fishing activities.

Also in court yesterday, Geoffrey Ronald Pearce of Swan View pleaded guilty to being in possession of 11 undersize western rock lobsters. He was ordered to pay $2,964.20 – made up of a $1,200 fine, mandatory penalty of $1,650 and $114.20 in court costs.

Fisheries and Marine Officers apprehended Pearce at Lucky Bay (north of Port Gregory) on Monday 24 March this year, after finding 11 live lobsters, with a carapace length of less than the applicable legal limit of 76mm, stored in an icebox on a tray top utility.

The court was told that, when the officers later interviewed him, Pearce admitted to capturing the undersize rock lobsters that morning. Undersize lobsters are totally protected fish.