Fish bites: Aw shucks! Law-breaking abalone divers lose boat
Boat seized in abalone bust; Queensland's new fishing app; Gascoyne fishers wedded to the waterTwo recreational fishers have lost their $55,000 boat and all their dive gear after being sprung with more than 10 times the legal bag limit of abalone.
According to the Victorian Fisheries Authority, the par was caught near Point Wilson, on Port Phillip between Melbourne and Geelong, with 116 abalone onboard in December last year.
Victoria’s daily bag limit for abalone is five per person.
The abalone was discovered after fisheries officers boarded and inspected the boat, with many of the abalone hidden away in concealed compartments. Many of them had already been shucked from the shell. The boat was escorted back to the Werribee boat ramp where it and the dive gear were seized, and the live abalone returned to the water.
The VFA said the fishers faced Geelong Magistrates Court last week where they pleaded guilty to a number of offences including possessing a commercial quantity of abalone.
It said the court ordered the forfeiture of their boat and all their dive gear, as well as imposing a ban from fishing for, possessing or being involved with the processing of abalone for two years.
The man was fined $2000 and the woman was ordered to make a $1000 contribution to the court fund, it said.
Queensland fishing app updated
Fisheries Queensland has updated its recreational angling app with a number of features that make it easier to grab a rod, pack the boat and hit the water.
The new version of the “Qld Fishing 2.0” app now includes features such as:
- ‘Can I fish here’ updated so you can see when you are near or have reached a marine park zone
- Hyperlinks created from ‘Can I fish here’ to relevant ‘Know the rules’ sections
- Symbols added for species with temporary restrictions and pest fish
- Fish aggregating devices (FAD) locations updated
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) estuarine conservation zones added
- Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS) prices updated
- Australia Post outlets that sell SIPS permits updated
- Headings updated for GBRMP zoning in ‘Know the rules’
The updates are in direct response to feedback from the app’s users. But there is more to come, with users soon able to report how many fish they catch, and how many they pay tax on after a shark bite-off.
Qld Fishing 2.0 is available via Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
Gascoyne fishers spend a silver anniversary on the water, survey shows
The West Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has released a snapshot of how recreational fishers have used the Gascoyne Coast region that reaches from the Zuytdorp Cliffs at Denham in the south to the Ashburton River, near Onslow, in the north.
The region includes the hugely popular Shark Bay. Target species in the area include grass emperor, Chinaman rock cod and pink snapper.
According to the snapshot of the 2020-21 season, 13 per cent of the state’s recreational boating community visited the region to drop a line. They spent the equivalent of 55,27 boat days on the water, fishing for almost 221,000 hours – the equivalent of 25 years.
More than two-thirds of the fishing took place in autumn and winter.
Importantly, release levels were high for most fish species, with 62 per cent of grass emperor returned to the water, 54 per cent of Chinaman rock cod, and a massive 83 per cent of pink snapper – anglers are only allowed to possess a maximum of three snapper in the Gascoyne region, or just two in the Shark Bay area.
Half the fish were caught in near-shore areas, while almost 40 per cent targeted demersal fish around the inshore zone.
Other popular species caught included blue swimmer crab, redthroat emperor and squid.
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