Lobster pot liability

[fishermantwo]

Just to clarify a point I made earlier. In Australia you do not rent the spot but you pay fees. Fish are a community property and the government decides what the value of the fish is to the community. It then sets fees, not surprisingly they are called "Community fees". The professional fisherman pays for these fees on top of his license fees. The amateur fisherman pays a little in his fishing license if he has to have one. The rest is paid for by the government[yer right!].
In other words its another tax.
The fishermen don't want you tangling their traps and pots simply because of the replacement cost and the loss of the catch. Fish trap will cost from about $300 upwards depending on how much rope. Inshore lobster pot depending on the style will be $60 to $100. He then has to make allowances for share farming. There are always a few in the community who help themselves to the contents of inshore lobster traps. Even deep water fish and lobster traps are pulled by two amateur fishing vessels working together. Its unusual for a fishing vessel or yacht to catch or cut off a properly set bit of gear. I would regularly arrive at my traps and find a new antifouling has been applied overnight. I doubt I ever lost gear this way. Most losses were from one amateur with a sharp knife and a bad attitude!
I'm retired now and have been for 5 years. I still side with the pro fisherman for obvious reasons.

 

[pathfinderstu]

I think somebody should take the lead on this problem and organise an international boycott on all lobster and crab products, am sure the general public will come out in waves of sympathy forcing governments to have a total ban on all pot fishing. I can see the tee shirts now. FREE LOBSTERS!

 

[Seajet]

As I understand it - and I was told this by a real pro fisherman not someone who thinks he is - the main problem with idiotically sited pots is the amateur weeked fishers who supply their mates' pub.

As for ' no fisherman wants to lose his gear ' as I already mentioned they don't care much if a line is snagged and cut as the pot is recoverable with a grapple.

Still well worth cutting free any line in a dangerous place though, before it takes out someone's propshaft or even worse, something else the morons don't care about.