Looking at the map, the river from Moon Billabong outlet to the Mouth is clearly highlighted darker than the rest of the river. There are even dotted lines at Moon Billabong outlet and at the Mouth. There won't be any difficulty proving that they are in the exclusion zone, the difficulty will come from trying to prove they were fishing in the exclusion zone.Big Col wrote:Might be a little hard for the prosecution to prove that they where in the exclusion zone?
On the new fisheries brochure it does not state that moon Billabong outlet is the start of the exclusion zone, it does not give GPS Location, the sign that is on the bank is overgrown,
and on the map they have provided (attachment below) it looks as though the exclusion zone starts somewhere around clear creek? definitely after cleanskin creek!
My Question is Why are people calling for the persecution of a few individuals who may or may not have been fishing in a restricted area? Why condemn people who want to go catch some fish? if they have over the bag limit then sure through the book at them why are we worried about a handful of boats catching a few barra inside the mouth of the river, when as soon as the season opens the pros are going to smash the mouth?
Why are we not calling for the removal of this out-dated measure put in place to stop people from killing breeders? (I'm led to believe it was also introduced to appease the pro netters) There is now new controls in place to stop that ie. 1 fish over 90, by opening this area up to amateur fish all year round they are spreading the pressure (this has just happened at Shady Camp, shortly after the nets where removed!!! coincidence?) and people are starting to take advantage of this! has anyone been out to Shady and killed the pig in what would have previously been classed as a closed season? I'm not sure, but the trial held out there and my own experience would make me assume not. And even if they had the majority of big fish are being released due to ethics of the modern fisherman and in part to the new bag limits.
Just something to think about!
PS. I was not down there and will abide by the law until it changes. But would love the ability to fish some of the creeks further down on Australia day weekend instead of fighting with hundreds of other boats! I also like going out into Anson Bay During the build up/wet season and would like to be able to launch from Daly Rather than Dundee as the weather can be a hassle running 100km round the coast in storms.
Big Col
If it's a restricted area, no one should be fishing in it, full stop. No one is being condemned for waiting to go for a fish, people who break the law are being condemned, it's that simple.
Last year, on the first set of neaps after the Shady closure finished, people in the know absolutely brained it catching meteries. This year, as soon as the barrage started flowing, meteries were caught. Both occasions were during the period in which the closure previously existed. I would hazard a guess and say the meteries and the larger fish were released as you say because of the ethics of the modern day fisher-person.
However, what kind of ethics would a person who knowingly fishes in a closure zone have? Would that kind of person release a 90+ fish or simply say it couldn't be revived and keep it? I'm not saying that they would, just speculating.
I'm lead to believe that the persons fishing in the closure zone know the Daly and fish the Daly often. If that's the case, it's extremely poor form and they most definitely deserve the book thrown at them.
You can launch from the Daly anytime of the year (given the ramp is accessible). The restriction between Moon Billabong outlet and the Mouth is for fishing. If you are simply travelling through the exclusion zone, you're not breaking the law. A well known fisho launched from Dundee twice this year and traveled through the exclusion zone to fish upstream from the closure zone.
