# Pectoral fin removal



## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Hi all,

Just thought a timely reminder in order, now that we are all ALL ALL assured a big Spanish Mackeral in the near future...

The Queensland regulation, that one of the pectoral fins must be removed, I think before it is taken ashore. I guess that will stop it from flying in a straight line eh?

I guess it would be easy to forget to do this, and that will be the day some right wing neo nazi fish inspector, will swoop on you like a ton of elephant turds......Don't know if this rule applies in other states. Perhaps I dreamt the whole thing up. Sounds pretty silly really. I believe the rationale is that it is less likely to accidentally turn up in a fish mongers fridge for sale.

Cheers all Andybear, wondering if Spaniards ever come to Scarborough? :lol: :lol:


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

Hi Andy

Some powerboat fishos were fined over this up here recently. The regulation is detailed at t he url below and refers specifically to Spanish Mackerel and, also says that the likes of us "must not possess a dead coral reef finfish unless a pectoral fin has been removed from the fish". I'm trying to find out what a _*coral reef finfish *_is. See the following website:

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/dpi/hs.xsl/28_3054_ENA_HTML.htm

Thanks for the head-up on this, I had heard about it some time ago but your post made me go check it out.

Found it...

http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishguide/

Does not mention snapper and specifically excludes grass sweetlip, a commonly caught emperor around here. Must remember to take a pectoral fin off all of those coral trout and red emperor I keep 8) though...


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

i am missing something here...why remove the pectoral fin????


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Yeah, Mate,

That is probably the question we would all ask........Why for goodness sake remove a fin?

My guess that the rule is to protect commercial fisherfolk, who pay huge sums of money for licences, and the spectre of say for instance The Grand Master of SM (BillyBob) catches say 30Kg of fish, and sells it off at say $10 per Kg, thats a $300 fish!
The dept of primary industries has some sort of duty of care to the "proffisho" (new word guys and gals).

My personal opinion is that it is an absolute crock ....I doubt very much if a queue will form outside of the city fish markets, with sports anglers willing to sell off the days catch! I concede that a fish caught by an amateur may end up on a restaurant table from time to time, but hardly worth legislating such a doughy bit of law. The person that thought this one up, must have been smoking seagull feathers!

We of course pride ourselves in being law abiding citizens, and I for one will (if I remember) take off the pectoral fin off any fish, of the tuna mackeral group, and hope that it will sate the dollar lust of our bureaucratic masters.

Perhaps we could all take out a rubber stamp and print in bold red (Yak caught and not for sale) on both sides of the fish....it would make as much sense!

Cheers all Andybear......and SM stands for Spanish Mackeral.....not the other smutty thing..I would not taint the master with such evil inuendo :shock: :shock:


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

sorry.....it still doesn't compute

i ctach and fish and remove fin, i then sell said fish to restaurant, they chop it up for dinner and sell it......how does removing the fin stop this????????

i think you right andy.....it's a crock


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

Lazybugger said:


> I think the laws not neccessarily aimed at the casual fisher more the unregistered professional. Pro's pay a lot of money for licensing, insurance & workers comp etc. A retiree or someone who has the time on their hands and the equipment could catch enough (ignoring bag limits) and undercut the guys who are abiding by the law. The pro's deserve to have the markets they have paid to enter (by licensing) protected.


thanks for that lazy...i understood the point you are making but how does chopping the fin off stop this??????

whether i sell a fish illegally with or without it's fin makes no difference.......


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Could be the markets at least would only take whole fish with the fins checked on.....Then some other Joe cuts them off.....I know, could be fish cakes then.....but they have to be seen to be doing something!

Sure if you fronted up to a magistrate, having been nailed, the beaks first words be to the effect (not word for word,) but WTF????? aint never heard of this shit before.....ummmmm. then....

Then the prosecutor would point out the law, and the judge would say "march the guilty bastard out"....ching ching$$$$
Bloody expensive days fishing!

Cheers all Andybear :shock: :shock:


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

if i run into a fisheries inspector i will ask.......never heard of frozen fish audits though......


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

I think the rationale behind it goes something like this...

All recreational fishermen (who are not allowed to sell fish) are required to cut off a pectoral fin of Spanish Mackerel (and other specified fish) which they keep. If a recreational fisherman's catch is inspected by Fisheries Inspectors and they find that Spanish Mackerel etc in the catch do not have a trimmed fin, it is assumed by the law that those fish are intended for transfer to a pro fisherman or directly to a shop, a process which is illegal. In other words, the cutting of the fin makes the fish "legal" for the recreational fisho to retain. I understand that there are restrictions on the filleting of fish also which work in with this.

I'm told that many recreational fishos in NQ used to sell their catch illegally on the black market -- presumably this law makes this a little more difficult. It also would tend to help conserve fish stocks because many of those same fishos would go out and catch a boatload of Spaniards, coral trout, etc so they could sell them.


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2007)

Yep, I was gobsmacked when I discovered this law. Even though I'm aware of it I always neglect to do so. It just seems stupid and petty. Its very much a 'guilty until proven innocent' concept. Crezzy!


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

QLD DPI said:


> must not possess a dead coral reef finfish unless a pectoral fin has been removed from the fish


The way I read this, to comply strictly with the law the fin must be removed with the fish still alive. Nice.


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## oztrav (Aug 26, 2007)

it is a stupid rule but there is lots of stupid stuff 
just cut the pec off or better yet chuck it back


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## chi4505 (Nov 8, 2007)

In S.A. we have a similar rule with crayfish. Any crayfish caught recreationally has to have its middle tail fin cut of before you hit the beach.

Once again it seems like a cash cow for the government.

Damian


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## SharkNett (Feb 20, 2006)

Pretty sure that in NSW the onus is on the retailer to be able to show receipts for the purchase of any seafood they have for sale if/when they are subjected to a random inspection.

Seems to make alot more sense. Have never heard of anyone being caught though and probably not as big a money spinner.

Rob.


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## Heath (Nov 15, 2006)

When the pro's catch a fish they prep it to what is called a barrel.
This is essentially headed and gutted. They leave the wings (pectoral fins) on. They do this because the fish weighs more and that means more money for them.
This practice has been going on for decades.

Obviously the law of removing a fin is trying to counter act the black market. A retailer caught with a barrel with a fin missing is buying their fish off the black market. Similarly a fisherman caught with a fish with the pectoral fins still on, could be supplying the black market.
We knock the fins off the fish after they have been bled as they go in the ice box.


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

It gives them the opportunity to prosecute any restaurant etc found with such fish. As such it reduces the demand for such illegal acts so isn't that silly


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## mcbigg (Jul 14, 2007)

chi4505 said:


> In S.A. we have a similar rule with crayfish. Any crayfish caught recreationally has to have its middle tail fin cut of before you hit the beach.


Yup, I park near my diving spot and walk to the water, snorkel around for an hour or two and usually come out with 4 crays in my bag. I usually wait till i get back to the ute and cut the tail fin off in the tray. (It's much too hard to do it under water).

Last weekend I was doing that and when I went to cut the last one, I saw that it had already been cut. Poor bugger, got caught once, got mutilated, escaped somehow, and then managed to get caught again, by hand!


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## Craig (Aug 10, 2007)

HI Heath

Thats an impressive kayak........not sure I'd like to paddle it too far though!!

Yours in paddling

Craig McSween
Adventure Outlet
Shop 3, 74 Marine Parade, Southport.
Retailer of Viking, Ocean Kayak, RTM, Hobie, Perception & Cutting Edge Kayaks
Ph: (07) 5571 2929
Mob: 0407 741748
[email protected]


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