Fisheries Officers are fed up with inadequate safety and not being able to do their job.

The time for talk is over said PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright.

“Every day of the year, NSW Fisheries Officers fight against the odds to protect fish stocks,” he said. “The community expects the NSW Government is doing all it can to protect the fish and Fisheries Officers, but the fact is it is not.”

The Fisheries Department receives thousands of calls every year reporting illegal fishing. Yet only a fraction of the calls are responded to in real time because the Government refuses to properly fund fisheries compliance. 

On top of the lack of resources, Fisheries Officers don’t have the powers they need to perform their job properly and safely. Simple tasks such as being able to check a person carrying a bag of fish or use a pair of binoculars are not a given for NSW Fisheries Officers. Unlike interstate Fisheries Officers, NSW Fisheries Officers do not even have the basic powers they need to safely protect the fish resource.

“Couple that with inadequate officer self-defence capability and the results can be catastrophic,” said Mr Wright. “Fisheries Officers face an ever-increasing number of dangers such as abuse, intimidation, threats and even assault. Fisheries Officers have been shot at, driven at with 4WDs and threatened with weapons.

“Whilst most commercial fishers play by the rules, the current system allows criminals to infiltrate the fishing industry unhindered. A criminal can apply for a commercial fishing licence without having to provide any ID or can simply work as unlicensed crew for a commercial fisher. Unlicensed crew don’t even have to produce ID to a Fisheries Officer.”

NSW is one of the only fisheries jurisdictions in the world that is yet to introduce GPS tracking of the commercial fishing fleet, an important tool in modern fisheries management. 

There is ample evidence of criminals infiltrating the fishing industry, yet the Government’s laws are making it easier for the criminals. In 2016 and 2020 authorities made the two largest drug seizures in NSW history and both matters involved the fishing industry.

“Fisheries Officers are doing what they can with very little, but what they are asking for is not expensive and it is based on being able to meet basic community expectations” said Mr Wright.