HAD A GUT FULL

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Hi all,
Interesting post.
Straddie mentioned before, that there may be some provision under law that you are not allowed to interfere with a pro fisher doing his stuff. This togther with the "common courtesy" comments had got me wondering about ownership or rights to a school of fish sitting in the ocean.
I was thinking that since rec fishos pay a rec licence fee in NSW, and since fisheries have used some of those fees to buy pro fishing licences, could a rec fisho claim that he/she now in fact has a shareholding in a pro fishing licence? Would he/she not then have the same rights under the law as the "pro" and if he/she was fishing a gutter first, then be perfectly within their rights to tell the pro who shows up after, to piss off to the next gutter. ???
I'm fully aware that you would have to be willing to die for the cause, but in theory at least?
Or for example, if every Ausfish member put in $100 and the $400,000 or so was enough to buy out a licence, could one member who is fishing a gutter already, then tell the pro who shows up that he is already conducting a professional fishing operation (albeit a very inefficient one ), and that he has established a work place, etc and that they by law need to bugger off somehwere else?
Just a thought.
Cheers,
jeff

[peterbo3]

Section 90(1) Fishing Regulations

A person must not obstruct a fisher, or someone else acting under an authority, who is using a net to take fish, unless the person has a reasonable excuse

Max Penalty - 100 Penalty Units

So what is a reasonable excuse? If you were there first, maybe? Up to the Magistrate. But regardless of the Fishing Regs, no fisher is allowed to forcibly remove you or injure you to enable them to shoot away. That is assault. > > >

Anyway Kev, when you are 6'8" tall you have got em by the balls.

[Gazza]

$400,000 , Steve would be on his way to Sth.America in a flash!!

[Brett_Finger]

$400,000 # , Steve would be on his way to Sth.America in a flash!! #

hope he takes me - fitz and Nugget with him...
hookin,TBF

[Gazza]

BF , so do we!!!!

May not be much stock left in his shop when you get back

[basserman]

Basserman your question is an easy one best experienced rather than answered, sit out in morten bay and start pulling in spotty mackeral or wander up to Fraser and start pulling in tailor and see if people try fishing over the top of you. # You will quickly find common courtesy isn't very common.

then i'm glad i live in peacful quite port macquarie
if you see a boat with in 100 meters or another person on the beach thats too close here


simmilar thing to the jet ski's
when i see these wankers roaring around annoying people i think- bewdy. keep going guy's annoy the shit out of everyone- eventually they will cut their own throat and have restrictions applied, banned from certain waterways.



already has happend in NSW (the place of the good news )

jet skis are alread banned from all sydneys waterways (upsets bob carr too much) from broken bay to port hacking and in between (broken bay=hawksberry, sydney harbour, bontney bay, port hacking) and all rivers there of
so if they do keep it up or too many people do get hurt it wouldn't be too much for QLD goverment to ban them from set waterways

[straddie]

basserman I avoid the crowds too where possible, you could probably add the pumping jetty at the seaway to your list of places not to visit as well

I have been pretty lucky with jet skis have seen plenty around the beach but never when I have been fishing, touch wood.

Those thundercats and tiny racing boats have killed off a few gutters for me though, and the odd low flying F18

[straddie]

Dazza, not a good plan. All that will happen is someone gets hurt, physically or financially and I would be happy to bet the final outcome probably wouldn't be what you think.

Gorilla_in_Manila that won't work I think the over riding thing isn't so much the license but being a net operation gives it right of way.

Peter thanks for finding that I thought I had seen or heard that.

You gave me a laugh with this too
"So what is a reasonable excuse? If you were there first, maybe? Up to the Magistrate." I can imagine how that one would go

REC: Judge I went there for a nice relaxing holiday. I had been fishing the gutter for over an hour when these guys come from nowhere and tell me to get the hell out the way because they want to shoot their nets. I told them now way was I moving, I was there first!

PRO: Judge I'm a 3rd generation professional fisherman, my family have lived and fished there every day, 365 days a year for the past 70 years. Who was there first?

Sorry but it makes me laugh

[peterbo3]

Not as clear cut as it seems. ???"Using" may refer to having shot away - past tense. It does not give any pro the right to muscle or intimidate anybody else off the beach in order to shoot away - future tense. And when you bring in a possible assault or threatening language charge it all gets murky.
And in case people think that I also have something against commercial fishing - not so. I owned a prawn trawler working out of Cairns for a good number of years.

[Big_Kev]

Straddie you seem to have hinged your defence of netters on your own interpretation of one law.
As Peter has pointed out there are many laws under which one could argue the point of right of way for either party.
And unless this has been tested before and a precedent set, it would be an each way bet.
But seriously I think that the court would have more important issues to attend to, other than some spat between pro's and Rec's over the right of passage on the beach.
Cheers Kev.

[jaybee]

Never had any problems with netters up here, when i went and lived in NSW for a while can remember a time a netter come up to me whilst fishing a gutter, and he said we are going to have a shot shortly and you will have to move when we bring the net in, we will let you know, they did, i moved, and in the end was presented with half a tub of mullet, bream, tailor and whiting. Guess they have change over the years eh. However, i feel if common courtesy prevails, and netters can offer a couple of fishermen a feed then why not, I can see potential problems if there is quite a few recs fishing the one gutter though.
cheers
Joe

[straddie]

Kev I am not really trying to defend pro's. When pro's are doing the wrong thing they should get what they deserve.
What I have been trying to do is give a little bit of balance and back ground.

I didn't make an interpretation of the law anywhere.
I am guessing it's my REC vs PRO in court story that must make you think that. It was a joke just thinking of what the judge will be thinking to himself about having to even hear the case and the how the sides of the case will be argued. As you said the court has better things to do with the time.

If pro's and rec's want to purposely confront each other there will be blood spilled, the different laws will be used against one another. I am guessing like all thing like this the only ones that will come out ahead will be the lawyers. That and the laws get changed making buying fish more expensive and parts of beaches being closed down while a net is run. No one will be better off.

In all honesty it doesn't really matter to me what recs or pro's want to do to each or try to stuff each other up, I'll just pull up a chair and have a laugh at the goings on, then when I have had enough, I will wander up to the next gutter and have a nice quiet fish

[straddie]

Jaybee thats pretty much my experience with pro's as well, but I also know what has been said about being told to ***k off out the way happens as well. Some of them sure as hell aren't angels.

I find 99% of people are pretty decent when you cut them a little slack.

[SNAFU]

i have hade this happen to me on stradie(net arround you while you are still in water) only to find them at pub 2 hrs laterwith fish in back of flat top truck while they do BUISNESS in summer lastyear, i must admit.4 TONS OF FRESH TAYLOR ANYONE.

[jaybee]

straddie

I find 99% of people are pretty decent when you cut them a little slack

Got to agree with you there straddie, I guess (or assuming) when the Government put the cut backs in for both recs and pros, if they used a little finesse, the air would be a little thinner between us. (recs and pros) What do you think?
cheers
Joe