Blue cod fishing in the sounds - looking for enlightenment

[snail 1]

We have the yacht in the sounds for Christmas and just trying to work out the blue cod fishing regulations. I have got this far:

Season starts 20th December

2 Fish per person per day

Fish must be between 30 and 35cm

Fish must be kept whole or gutted till on shore.

 

So my question is.... If living on boat and we catch a couple of blue cod and fillet them to cook and a fisheries inspector (they are out in force apparently) happens to turn up at that moment (Sod's law) where do we stand legally?

 

Anyone have any experience/knowledge?

 

Cheers

[erice 732]

i suspect those rules are for those 'landing fish'

 

if you eat them on the boat you're probably ok

 

maybe keep the filleted fish scraps in a bag until you've eaten the evidence/fillets?

[Guest]

Pretty sure that if you eat a Blue Cod which is not between 30-35 cms long you are still breaking the law.

[erice 732]

would assume so too

 

so if you were on the boat, just about to drop a fillet into the pan

 

and a fisheries rib raced up, stormed the boat demanding proof that the fillet was taken from a 'legally' sized cod

 

it would be good if you could reach in to tomorrow's bait bag

 

and pull out the 32cm frame that it came from

[John B 106]

I have been told that you should document your catch by taking a photo beside a ruler , perhaps logging it as well. That way if you get pulled up you have date and photo= reasonable proof.

[grantmc 59]

The rules are covered in the Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013.

 

The act is quite specific that the daily catch limit and size requirements includes all fish caught.

[Island Time 1,214]

Agreed Grant, but the issue is that they are not clear on the legalities of boats that do not LAND (ie bring ashore) their fish. Only fish that meet the size regs should be taken. A pic with a date and rule is a good idea if you are not going to eat the (legal size) fish that day. If you are, keep the frame until you have done so.

[Guest]

Per MPI website-

http://www.fish.govt.nz/en-nz/Recreatio ... efault.htm

"Blue cod must not be filleted before landing unless they are eaten immediately. Any cod eaten form part of the fisher’s daily limit."

"Fishers staying in baches or living aboard vessels are not exempt from these regulations and may only land or transport by sea 2 whole or gutted blue cod on any one day."

[grantmc 59]

The sounds must have been really thrashed ... Last time I fished Durville ...

D'Urville is still excellent fishing. But the inner Sounds, not so good.

[AJ Oliver 154]

I know it is a different species, but the collapse of many of the Atlantic cod fisheries demonstrates the need for regulation. 

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/10/federal-fishing-officials-ban-cod-fishing-gulf-maine-for-six-months/iD5F3K4AMJFWmwxuO3acKI/story.html

Sorry if this is too much thread drift. 

[Black Panther 1,579]

I wonder when/whether such measures will become necessary around here???

[AJ Oliver 154]

Well, to be fair, it sounds like your recreational fishing regs are already a good deal tougher than ours - not only on cod type species, but other fish as well. 

http://www.eregulations.com/massachusetts/fishing/saltwater/recreational-saltwater-fishing-regulatons/

[DrWatson 372]

I've read the whole recreational fishing act quite recently and i seems pretty poorly written and vague in places; not terribly precise.

 

Many questions unanswered to hypothetical situations.

 

Definitions of set nets, for example. What if you string a net between two dinghies? What is that classified as?

 

Also, it seems that if you are live-aboard with any fishing gear, it's probably illegal to transit a marine reserve. Or even with certain kinds of fishing gear (ie a snapper "set" net on your boat in the BOI during summer, but a net targeting grey mullet or flat fish is fine. If you take the anchors off your set net, is it then ok to carry it in a zone where set-netting is illegal?

 

Very much open to interpretation...

[Island Time 1,214]

A net between two boats, dinghies or not, is known as pair trawling, and is, I understand, illegal in NZ waters.

[DrWatson 372]

Interesting. And a net tied at one end to your dinghy and the other to a buoy? 

 

Or, anchored at one end and tied to your dinghy at the other?

 

Not trying to cheat the law, just looking for precise definitions, and also making sure that a boat on a mooring with fishing gear on it doesn't land you in court because of some over zealous fisheries officer.

[Island Time 1,214]

That would be a set net, and the regs are different. Have a look on the MPI site....

[wild violet 38]

I do a fair bit of spearfishing in the sounds there is heaps of large blue cod there,the trouble is when you catch them on a line you have to release them and the couta and shags get most of them.The regs are crazy and you probably kill 10 to 20 just to get your 2,how is that helping the fishery?