I can tell you I have nearly had a fusty cuff with some indigenous Australians up north where by I have measured a fish as undersized and was requested / told to hand it over . Upon advising it was undersized I was informed that thoses fisheries rules do not apply to certain Australians .
I refused to hand the fish over and promptly returned it to the water , when the next fish came to the bank I had 3 people attend to my fishing line and remove my fish. I small heated scuffle took place and my my undersized fish was taken away .
My mate who is far less diplomatic than me and super passionate about fisheries , decided that the next fish would be going back in the water regardless of size. He stood at waters edge with fillet knife in hand , I have no doubt he would have used it and not to fillet the fish , the persons moved on to the next law abiding people and bullied thier way to few more undersized fish and then went on their merry way. No fishing required just abuse your birthright.
Now the fine for having an undersized fish in Qld can be huge , so tell me how this system is fair.
Fish are fish , undersized is undersized , no matter who you are or where you come from. Maybe one day the govt will get serious about protection .
I will say that I fish in yamba each year and the boat ramps are awesome , I always see fisheries patrols out and about doing checks . So I am happy to pay the licence . I would pay it in qld if the funds went towards pure enforcement . We have enough laws to protect our fishery just not enough bite to enforce them.
Give our fisheries officers wider enforcement powers and the judicial support they need then our fisheries will flourish , not more scientists and more studies. And for those who blame commercials for everything , the recreational fishers can do horrendous damage to a fishery as well. I have had a few discussions on jetties after looking in buckets.
In the US the rangers / fishos etc have massive enforcement powers and use them . We need to get serious about our wildlife.
Rant over