As per the information the officials of Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) have caught two people fishing using homemade wooden spears while making their way up the Fitzroy River barrage fish ladder on Sunday. They will each be issued fines of $400.
Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) acting district officer Brenda Stevenson told that the fish spearing incident was just one of a number of fisheries offences that have kept officers busy during the past few weeks. She further added that those people would be issued the infringement notices for fishing within the closed waters 400m downstream from the Fitzroy Barrage regulated waters.
It is stated that Rockhampton Regional Council regulations also prohibit unauthorised persons from accessing the barrage area which includes the fish ladder. In another operation QBFP has checked 65 set pots in the Fitzroy River and subsequently seized 33 unmarked, illegally set pots.
Stevenson explained that when using crab pots, surface floats must be marked with the owner’s name and the crab pot must be correctly identified with the owner’s name and address. Failure to correctly mark crab pots further exacerbates the on-going problem of crab pot theft and crab pot raiding.
Stevenson said despite these offences, recreational fishers were well behaved in the Capricorn region during the current school holiday period.
