I was at the gold coast seaway today filleting a luderick at the cleaning tables. The ones just beside the rock jetty for the ferry. I noticed one of our 'northern friends' catching very small fish from that jetty. There were two other fishermen also looking on in disgust as this guy pulled the little fish out, put it on the jetty beside him, unhooked it and passed it to his friend who discretely dropped it into the water, where he had a plastic bag full of them. I never actually saw that they were keeping them as they were very subtle about it. The other two guys sitting on a bench seat near me were certain that they were undersize bream so I told those guys they should ring the fisheries watch line which was probably on one of the signs around the carpark. They couldn't be bothered. I decided to do it myself so I went down for a closer look at the fishermen and saw that they weren't bream at all. Small trevally maybe but at that distance I still couldn't be sure. The two other fishermen started calling out 'too small' every time he reeled one in. When they looked like they were packing up I went down for a closer look. Being a regular ausfisher I knew that the fisheries officers don't touch Asian fishermen catching undersize fish under everyone's nose because it wasn't worth the risk of getting stabbed. So I was a bit worried about approaching these guys, but for all I knew they may not have even known the rules. As I climbed down the rocks the guy with the bag picked them up and walked up the rocks a few meters away. He was followed by the two catching the fish (there was only one rod between them). When they got up the rocks they were met by yet another one. I think there may have even been six altogether. As I walked up the rocks I asked if I could look at their fish, but they ignored me. I asked them again at the top if I could have a look at the fish in the plastic bag. They didn't understand what I was saying (apparently anyway) so I asked again and pointed at the bag. Something clicked and the guy with the bag lent forward and opened it as the other Asian men crowded around me, ready to kill me with one karate chop if I pulled out a badge. I looked in and that's when I recognised the fish. I'd seen these small fish for sale in an asian style fish shop when I was following up a lead from ausfish that all these shops sold undersize fish. I think they were called scad. They look like little trevally, but slightly different. They are a small vegetarian fish. They were all still alive (water in the bag) and all the same species except for one yellowish green one that might have been an aquarium fish if it wasn't so big and ugly. Well well well, nothing illegal here I thought to myself as I backed away, glad that I wasn't stabbed by these shifty looking immigrants.
Moral of the story: next time you see someone with a different skin colour and different face who speaks a different language and has a different culture fishing a different way to you and keeping fish that you couldn't even be bothered to clean yourself, right under your nose, get your facts straight before you go onto an internet forum sprouting your racist, ignorant dribble.
Gook is a meaningless name. I obviously did not use the term to imply inferiority, just to catch the attention of the people who do. But if anyone is offended they could ask the mod to edit the title.
They are called Rabbitfish. They would have been using weed for bait with a very light rig and may have been targeting or hoping for a ******. You don't catch bream on that gear. You can always spot the pretenders by the way they carry on about this one.
I wonder if they make the same comment about white fishermen every time its a whitefella getting busted - probably not coz its one of their online mates getting busted. This is the first time I've seen a non-anglo name on a fishermen getting busted, and I've been following the progress in NSW, QLD, Vic and some from the other states.
"Ps Dont forget to thank the libs for prety much stopping the boat loads of illegals comming here, The genuine refugees still get looked after but the queue jumpers have stopped comming, Who cares if a queue jumper who destroys their papers are left on an island to think about it, I dont."
Some people will swallow what their party tells them hook line and sinker. Most queue jumpers arrive by plane and overstay their visa. Most (nearly all) boat people are genuine refugees. Their actions are supported by international law. Australia has been rightly condemmed by the international community for flouting these laws and taking such a pigheaded and inhumane approach to the problem of refugees. There are no floodgates and there is no flood - not into Australia anyway, but there is locally (at the source) and into Europe and America. This has nothing to do with our government's policies but is determined by other factors. The Australian Navy allowed a boatload of them to sink and left them there until a few hundred of them had drowned. Refugees are not terrorists and no terrorist would use that option to get into the country. Labels like 'queue jumper' are dreamt up by political parties (the Coalition) who cannot sway people with rational or even emotive argument so they turn on the scare campaign instead.
Dingo if you publish something stupid online then of course you will cop some flak for it. If you are an uptight self obsessed moderator then people will just take that criticism elsewhere. Only a moron would think that your boorish behaviour would stop people paying out on you. You threaten women and call people in the middle of the night then wonder why people do it anonymously? Do you really think that it is only one person who hates you? Its nothing to do with being tough, its just speaking your mind.
Arsenic spilling into river
From: AAP
August 22, 2005
MASSIVE levels of cancer-causing arsenic have leached into Victoria's Maribyrnong River over four years from a Port of Melbourne site.
About 200 people, mostly local Vietnamese, fish within a kilometre of the arsenic poisoning at Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner west, each week.
The latest report, conducted by independent auditor Roger Parker, has found groundwater is leaking high levels of arsenic, copper, zinc, lead and ammonia into the Maribyrnong.
A Victorian newspaper said despite a series of contamination tests over 10 years, the Port of Melbourne and the Environment Protection Authority did not know about the extremely high arsenic levels.
No impersonating, threats, swearing/abuse, posting personal information or pasting from other web sites -> put in a link instead. Anonymous posting is recommended. bill_kotan@fastmail.com.au