NSW

Repeat offender jailed for stealing fish on states South Coast. Fisheries Officers from the Batemans Bay District and the State-wide Operations and Investigations Group, Regional Mobile Squad, apprehended a repeat fisheries offender on May 9, 2022, in Ulladulla. The offender faced the courts this week and was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 11 months …

Fish for crabs responsibly this summer! Crab fishing is a popular activity, particularly during the warmer months in NSW. Sought after crab species such as Mud Crab and Blue Swimmer Crab can be effectively targeted using traps and nets and make for a fun time on the water and provide exceptional eating when back on land. Here are some useful …

New drone technology continues to assist Fisheries Officers in the field. Fisheries Officers from the State-wide Operations and Investigations Group have put an offender before the courts by utilising new drone technology allowing officers to capture crucial evidence that resulted in multiple offences being detected. The use of this new and evolving technology is just another modern step forward for …

As I typed the first article of 2023, I tried to remember exactly where 2022 went. For some reason, I can only recall floods, low pressure systems, gale and storm-force winds, a few more floods and further miserable weather. However, to be begrudgingly fair, we did have a couple of weeks of sunshine during that time. While the Bureau of …

During a recent patrol of the Yarrawonga Weir fishing closure, a group of passionate young recreational fishers alerted Fisheries Officers to some stranded fish. This vital information was also reported to local Fisheries Officers by the owner of the local tackle store. As a result of this vital information, a large number of native fish were successfully saved from an …

A large cobia, originally tagged by Wildside Sportsfishing Charters, was recently recaptured. This recapture was particularly exciting for the DPI tagging program because it set the record for the furthest distance travelled by a recaptured cobia since the program’s inception in 1973! There were 1405 cobia tagged and 35 reported as recaptured in the program. Angler Russell Cleaver caught the …

A quick reminder that yabby traps are prohibited for use by recreational fishers in all NSW waters to help prevent inadvertent capture of native wildlife. Do your bit to save our native aquatic wildlife and do not use ‘opera house’ style yabby traps. Instead, eco-friendly open pyramid lift nets or hoop nets should be used as alternatives to yabby traps …

With summer finally here, it is likely that popular fishing locations will start to see an increase in fishing activity and in some cases, unfortunately, that means more litter and lost fishing gear. Fishing related litter has not only been identified as an important environmental threat in NSW, but it can contribute to poor recreational fishing social licence amongst the …

Illegal Net seized after tip-off from public. A 200m mesh net has been seized following information from the public. The net was recovered from the Batemans Marine Park in the Batemans Bay (Clyde River) Habitat Protection Zone. Netting is prohibited in the Clyde River. The net was hidden below the surface and had no visible floats, the informant encountered the …

Hi everyone, here we are at the end of 2022 already! The months have flown by so fast and we’re now into the summer fishing season. We are still in a La Niña phase of weather – in fact, this will be the third summer in a row of this type of pattern – which means higher-than-average rainfall, and this …