Sail-World.com : WA Fishing rules reminder ahead of July holidays
WA Fishing rules reminder ahead of July holidays
The Department of Fisheries Western Australia is reminding recreational fishers to be aware of bag and size limits, before they go fishing.
Northern Region Compliance Manager Stuart McDowall said the reminder had been prompted by a case in Broome Court on Friday (19 June 2009) where two men were fined a total of more than $1,100 for taking more fish than they were allowed.
'The majority of recreational fishers do the right thing,' Mr McDowall said, 'but there are some people who try to exploit our community resource and others who just haven’t checked on the rules that apply where they go fishing.'
56-year-old John Michael Hawke of Kirwan in Queensland and 41-year-old Paul James Sheen from Warnambool in Victoria were each fined $300 and also ordered to pay a mandatory penalty of $150 each, plus court costs of $114.20 each, for offences that occurred in March this year.
Broome’s Magistrates Court was told that Fisheries and Marine Officers were at the Broome Port Slipway when they observed the men returning from Roebuck Bay to shore on their vessel.
After the vessel was placed on a trailer and towed to the car park, the officers inspected the pairs’ catch and counted a total of 23 trevally.
The court also heard that the daily bag limit in Kimberley region for trevally was four per person and that the Fisheries and Marine Officers seized the excess 15.
Outside court Mr McDowall said when cases like this occurred, guilty fishers were not only up for the fine handed down by the magistrate, they were also required to pay a mandatory penalty as well, which amounted to ten times the prescribed value of the fish involved.
'In this case, a day out fishing has cost the men $564.20 each for taking fish in excess of the bag limit that applies for trevally,' he said.
'It is a timely reminder, ahead of the busy school holiday period in July, that fishers need to be aware of the rules that apply in their region. Fisheries and Marine Officers will be out and about making sure that everybody is doing the right thing.'
More details of the rules that apply for recreational fishing in WA are available at Department of Fisheries offices or online at www.fish.wa.gov.au. There are separate fishing guides and also species identification guides available for the Kimberley/Pilbara, Gascoyne, West Coast and South Coast bioregions.
by WA Dept Primary Industries
6:59 AM Sat 27 Jun 2009 GMT
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