Fisheries Officers, can we learn from NSW?

Derminator writes:
Just wanted to relay an experience I had on the Murray River (just out of Mulwala). The area that I fished land-based from was considered NSW territory. Being a visiting Victorian, I did the right thing and duly bought my NSW angling licence.
      On the second morning of my 4-day stay, the bank I was fishing from was visited by two NSW Fisheries Officers in an unmarked, nondescript aluminium punt. They casually introduced themsleves, enquired how the fishing was, what I'd caught, where I was visiting from, had I fished around here before, etc... (I was feeling quite comfortable with this situation - owing to my fishing licence and because I thought I was fishing legally).
      After a good 5 minutes of conversation, I was advised that I was in fact breaking the NSW fishing laws (I was fishing more than one rod which was enforced in that section of the river). I advised them that although I had just bought my licence I was not totally aware and familiar with all of NSW regulations. They
advised that I would not be fined (this time) however, they took my details and would send a 'warning' letter (just for the record).
      They then queried whether I knew the difference between Murray cod and trout cod and had I caught any trout cod in my immediate area. They were keen to talk to anglers and raise the awareness of the plight of the trout cod.
      Upon leaving, I thanked them for taking the time to explain and educate me on local restrictions (rather than just enforce the regulation).
      It was certainly refreshing to deal with Fisheries Officers who were obviously passionate about their job and were genuinely concerned for the welfare of the resource they were looking after - it used to be my opinion (based on eye-witness accounts of the way Victorian Fisheries Officers treat the general angling public!) that Fisheries Officers were frustrated because they could not get into the police force and had to opt for a non-preferred career.
      I am all for having more Fisheries Officers patrolling and managing our vast fishing resource. However, there were some valuable lessons in my experience with the NSW mob (I hope that they were the 'norm' rather than the exception).
      Regards, Derminator.
(27 August 2001)

David Moore replies:
My limited experiences with Victorian Fisheries officers have been all positive. I was checked by officers in Shallow Inlet a couple of years ago. These guys were friendly and quite helpful, even handing out literature on fishing regulations (which I already had). Again last year I was approached by a couple of officers. This time I was in my boat just off St Leonards fishing for whiting. These guys were great too.
      Whilst these fisheries officers were not quite as helpful as the ones dealing with Derminator, they appeared to be doing their job in a professional manner.
      It's a tough job and maybe not all members of Fisheries are quite as customer friendly as they should be, but if we all endured what some of these people have endured, then we may not always come across as courteous, friendly, helpful or whatever.
      The main thing is that Fisheries are out there, hopefully educating some people, or issuing fines to those that deserveit.
(28 August 2001)

Ashleigh replies:
I agree that the Fisheries officers just don't seem to exist. I have fished my entire life (now 27) and am frustrated that during this time I have only ever come across one Fisheries officer (this was about 3 years ago). So I guess I'll be seeing one in another 24 years!
(25 October 2002)

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