Busted by Fisheries - What should I do?
On a recent trip up to Exmouth we were boarded by fisheries who were doing a routine licence check. My mate who owned the boat and was skipper thought his missus had renewed his licence but that was not the case. We had 19 fish on board with only two licences so had exceed the limit by 5 fish. My mate stuffed up and is expecting the infringement notice.
When they pinged us they took our details and we were told that this was a tricky one because normally if someone on the boat has no licence then the skipper is pinged for exceeding the licence bag limit. Problem was they had never come across a situation where the skipper did not have a licence so for some administration reason they could not ping him.
Today I received a notice in the mail so it would appear that they have decided they would ping me. The problem I have with this is that I had my licence and had only kept 7 fish as allowed with my licence.
Your thoughts please. What should I do? If I contest this then I could face court and administration cost should I lose.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
thanks Ron
Ron are you saying that the fisheries told you that they can't ping the guy without a licence only the person/s who have a licence. Did they explain why that is to you,
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
its because of the
its because of the legislation mate.
yes the lic holder onboard will receive the fine.
if no lic holder the master of the boat gets it.
so put it simply.......someone gets fined no matter what, if you break the law.
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
You might want to check
You might want to check that
Some aspects do not roll back on the skipper licence holder any more
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
constablechris
Posts: 27
Date Joined: 23/02/11
You are the licence holder on
You are the licence holder on the boat so had too many fish BUT
Get your WA fishing org to fund a fight and set a precedence on the outcome. Fisheries may not like this and pull out
Chris
UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
I would make it a bit shorter than that
my advice for what it's worth "seek legal opinion". Do not form a case from the input from this forum (all due respect to everyone).
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
if you don't change something nothing will change
This should go straight to today tonight, and show what a horses arse the DoF is.
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
yeh mate totally agree!!1
yeh mate totally agree!!
1 more thing he did mention was...if we all feel this way, we should submit it in writting to the dept or bring it to the attention of the right people, who they are, i dont know.
maybe the tv like you say, i for one would also add my story if it comes to this.
quadfisher
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 28/09/10
future plans to lose mates!
I have it all worked out, whenever you go fishing , with whoever , whenever
no matter what you catch , dont be the skipper , do hold a valid rbl, but
only ever fess up to your induvidual bag limit, and your fishing buddy ( former)
with the unknown expired licence will cop a , fishing without a valid rbl fine!!
brilliant, anyone chasing a deckie this weekend?
quadfisher
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
i like you theory, but you
i like you theory, but you have it wrong!!
you hold the valid lic, you get the fine.
quadfisher
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 28/09/10
ok ok try this
Dont be the skipper, as he's responsible for checking and ensuring valid lic are carried and counted, as well as ensuring bag limits on HIS boat are adhered to.
DONT carry a valid rbl lic , and ensure you fish above the bag limit set , by the valid lic holders
then , get caught , and you wont get fined or charged or have any legal matters to attend too
even though you went out of your way ( intent ) to break the law!
There now do I have it right?
quadfisher
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
spot on, the lic holder gets
spot on, the lic holder gets the fine, f...n.. bullshit.
but i dont think you would ever get back on my boat again if that happened...lol
Longole
Posts: 55
Date Joined: 20/02/11
this whole "bust the person
this whole "bust the person with the lic cause we cant bust someone without a lic" is total crap. Firstly I'd talk to Recfishwest and get them to talk to Norman Moore direct, if that fails then talk to the tabloid media, one way or another this application of the law needs to change
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Norman Moore Bahhaaa
Norman Moore could help out in this situation, then change his mind and drop the hammer down on the accused fisher, then change his mind again cause an election is coming up, then change his mind after the election and introduce a 1 fish per year bag limit per non licenced fisher with a $60 levy to the skipper for every herring over 26cm boated by a fisher holding a marron licence in the north east province of woop woop .
Thats about how much sense i can make out of this fine. (no offence directed at you Longole, just to the system and Mr Moore)
My friend was checked last week and found his licence had expired by by 5 days. He pleaded his case to to officer and had to hand over 1 fish. The skipper of the boat was told he would wear the fine .
The outcome was an official warning to my friend and the skipper recieved nothing. I think the fisheries put the case as they saw it (an error by the fisher) and used discression to issue the warning to a fisher who made a mistake. He had no prior fines or warnings and held a full licence since the new regulations came into effect.
I have no advice to help you fight this fine, but it sure seems you got stung with the bad end of the whole situation.
sarcasm0
Posts: 1396
Date Joined: 25/06/09
Norman Moore has already announced his retirement.
At the next election. Circa March 2013.
little johnny
Posts: 5376
Date Joined: 04/12/11
reg 124
already had input from officer (fisheries) ....good luck i hope the fine is small...no dought in my mind just a mistake...a good lesson for all to learn from
Jim
Posts: 1355
Date Joined: 05/05/06
So if you drive a car without
So if you drive a car without a license and get caught speeding, if there is anyone with you who has a license they get pinged?
Probably this way because they cant always get proper i.d from people and are losing out on millions!
Bend over
topperQ
Posts: 45
Date Joined: 07/05/12
I still think you have made
I still think you have made mistake.
Mistakenly assume all the other mate on board are licensed.
If all of you have No license, all of you get pinged.
If the other 2 mates have no license, you licensed fisho get pinged.
Lesson learn, check on each other before going fishing next time.
Live to fish
Rob H
Posts: 5905
Date Joined: 18/01/12
In light of this rubbish
In light of this load of rubbish from Fisheries, there needs to be a contact to check licence validity as with car rego.
As any one could forge a receipt print on the renewal document.
And how the F... can you be expected to be responsible for a dodgy one if there is no way in place to do it?
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
aweall
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 16/11/10
so does anyone know what the
so does anyone know what the outcome of this shemozzle was.
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Take photos of your RST,
Take photos of your RST, Fishing licence, and drivers licence on your phone
If your kids pull your cards out your wallet, you have back up unique identifier for reference UID#
Show officers the picture. If they are in doubt they can check database
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
You can also send those
You can also send those licence images to your own 'online' webmail and say an online storage
Then if your really stuck you can find image or send to other person later.
No one understands the cloud!!!!! iT JUST GOES UP
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
Cruise Control
Posts: 963
Date Joined: 03/11/10
Got pulled over in Coral Bay
Got pulled over in Coral Bay recently and had to produce licences.
As it turned out we needed to have 3 licences for our catch but although I had renewed my licence I was only carrying my expired one. My valid licence was sitting all nice and neat in my toilet bag at our accommodation where I had forgotten to retrieve and carry on me. FO made a quick call and confirmed my licence was valid and all good. I caught up with him later and produced the goods and we had a laugh about it. Not all FO's are difficult and some will go the extra yard to sort an issue.
Its a tough call for you Conrad and the worst thing is that it could happen to any of us.
Rob H
Posts: 5905
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Yes Id like to know also.
Yes Id like to know also.
Because if the it is still as above Id like to know what happens if my 7 year old Mac is the only licence holder aboard-will he be charged with overfishing??
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Check the law Rob HI think
Ok, so the person that did the right thing hasn't asked the 'skipper' and the owner of the boat whether he has a WA boat licence.
If a cross goes against his name that could impact future job prospects then Id speak to a lawyer.
No one goes out expecting the skipper and owner of the boat 'not' to have a licence
Ring the lawyer in the link of a prior case and see if he will do "no win, no fee" for you?
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
Rob H
Posts: 5905
Date Joined: 18/01/12
the "no win no fee" lawyers
the "no win no fee" lawyers only take on the sort of cases that
a/ they are certain they can win and
b/ will likely carry a large settlement of compensation or damages.
Im led to believe that WAF angle on this has changed recently which would make sense-as Id written on here before, if you are not the skipper you have no legal control over the skipper and his actions.
If you have no control, how can you be held responsible for someone elses actions? How could you stop the skipper if he decided "f++k it, Im just gonna keep fishing".
Could you physically restrain him? Take over the radio and put out a pan pan? Take control of the boat?
The whole scenario above becomes ludicrous once examined closely.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Did some searching for you
Did some searching for you
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/fisheries-booking-and-law
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
iana
Posts: 652
Date Joined: 21/09/09
Would this scenario be true.
Four of us are driving along the highway, and we get pulled over by the cops for speeding. We all hold drivers licences, but we find that the drivers licence has expired.
Do one of the passengers get the speeding fine and lose demerit points?
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
I just put my licence # and
I just put my licence # and date of birth in. It says no such record exists even though I have it in front of me.
https://secure.fish.wa.gov.au/fish/ValidateForm.jsp
https://secure.fish.wa.gov.au/fish/LicenceSelectionForm.jsp
This could be the submit form reconciliation throwing a general error though. That is not good because it means my licence is valid but any skipper wishing to check will get the standard Java throw message "No matching records found"
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
Hutch
Posts: 2221
Date Joined: 21/04/13
Yeah, I put my details in
Yeah, I put my details in and came up with the same result. Must be a glitch in the system as my licence only expires feb next year
Bout time
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 05/07/12
hmm pity you were not given
hmm pity you were not given the chance to pay it online at the time of the offence would of saved all the anger and debates about who is right wrong would of taken all of 5 mins to do and i am sure they would let you if you had asked them...