Share farming

[gadfly]

For those not in the know, “Sharefarming” is a term given to a process where a person runs a farming property for an owner for a percentage of production. It is also used to describe a process where thieves raid yabby or crab pots.

We have just arrived back from Port Vincent, SA, where we set some crab pots (which we found out later were not legal in SA, but that’s another story). During the day we caught a reasonable quantity of crabs, so decided to leave them overnight. Next day, no bait and no crabs, and one pot was half open. Yep, the thieves had been there. This happened on two nights.

I have experienced this elsewhere, for example lake maraboon dam at emerald, where the locals allegedly have a club like competition to see who can pinch the most yabbies at night.

In Evans Head I was told of a man that “ farmed” other’s mud crab pots blatantly.

Not very neighbourly, and would appear to be fairly common around the country.

It is really common theft.

Anybody had this happen to them?

[Archer63]

No mate...not into crabbing despite having a boat up until recently ...but that’s because I have deliberately avoided getting into crabbing etc.
Could be very expensive to constantly replace quality crab traps due thieving bastards....not to mention the stress involved.
Even had a pro crabber from my suburb busted a couple of years ago for raiding everyone else’s pots in the bay.

I did however buy a couple of the freshwater yabbie traps when we camped at Somerset Dam a few years ago...and yes....the share farmers were in plague proportions there as well.

[diesel]

I caught a bloke years ago raiding one of my cherubin traps at the Gregory River and his reasoning was that if a trap did not have a name tag, then it was fair game for anybody. I told him if I caught him anywhere near my gear again, he could very well end up in a fridge with a toe tag, that's if the crocs left enough of him to be recovered.

I never saw him again.

I know what you mean about red-claw traps at Lake Maraboon, Gadfly. It also happens at Theresa Creek Dam near Clermont and it's not just locals hitting the traps, a few tourists have been caught in the act over the years. The only way to prevent it happening is to be more discreet in where you position your traps, no marker buoys and don't set a pattern of leaving your traps all night without checking - the thieving lowlife mongrels soon work out which traps or crab pots are the easiest to hit without getting caught.

Just out of curiosity, why were you using illegal crab pots in South Oz?

Jeff

[dieseltojo]

We were following a cattle route once, on private property. The sign said knock on the farm house. Six kays up and no farm house but we saw this ute near a dam.

Well it was the owner and his wife emptying some yabby traps.

Told us we could give it a try a catching some, but it was getting late and gave us a half a bucket and pointed us to a great camp site.

I guess if you are far out enough folks treat you well.

There is no need to steal another blokes catch.

[TheHeaths]

Unfortunately Gadfly, the person taking the crabs from your pots was acting illegally, by stealing, and you were acting illegally, by using banned traps. I assume you returned the crabs when advised you couldn't use the traps.

In either case, the crabs were unlucky, and you can hardly complain in this particular instance. Of course, where the traps are legal, it is very unfair when others help themselves.

[Wombat96]

For those not in the know, “Sharefarming” is a term given to a process where a person runs a farming property for an owner for a percentage of production. It is also used to describe a process where thieves raid yabby or crab pots.

We have just arrived back from Port Vincent, SA, where we set some crab pots (which we found out later were not legal in SA, but that’s another story). During the day we caught a reasonable quantity of crabs, so decided to leave them overnight. Next day, no bait and no crabs, and one pot was half open. Yep, the thieves had been there. This happened on two nights.

I have experienced this elsewhere, for example lake maraboon dam at emerald, where the locals allegedly have a club like competition to see who can pinch the most yabbies at night.

In Evans Head I was told of a man that “ farmed” other’s mud crab pots blatantly.

Not very neighbourly, and would appear to be fairly common around the country.

It is really common theft.

Anybody had this happen to them?

I've had shore based divers bandicoot my cray pots off West Cape at the bottom of Yorke Peninsula. We wandered into their camp later in the day sans my boat but discreetly showing OUR scuba gear and the stupid buggers started bragging about their great catch that morning from some gormless boaty's cray pots only 100 metres or so off the rocks. They rather enthusiastically gave our remaining crays back when they realised that we outnumbered them AND we were a little upset. Hopefully they learnt a lesson.

[dieseltojo]

Hey diesel...I like the silhouette of the cowboy....Looks great.
























hey diesel, I like you silloe

[diesel]

Hey diesel...I like the silhouette of the cowboy....Looks great.

I've been a North Qld Cowboys supporter since they joined the NRL back in '95, Paul and a few years ago they used that pic in one of their promotions - I could relate to the theme of it from my earlier years of working in the southern NSW high country.

It was a good time of my life when I didn't have to think about much in a working day apart from whether or not my horse would decide to dump me into the dirt just for the hell of it. I took a wrong turn somewhere back then, ended up in the city for quite a few years and even though I spent a lot of time back working in the bush, it was not the same as those early years. I went back as a diesel mechanic, not as the station hand who had left.

Jeff

[jock]

At my haunts , Somerset Dam, Bjelke Petersen Dam and Boondooma Dam, "Share Farming" is rife.....The worst being at Somerset.
It is illegal to 'hide' your pots by not using identifiable floats (must be at least 15cm across any dimension)...Fisheries officers visit these dams very regularly and will confiscate any nets without proper marking and, whatsmore, will issue fines if they can identify the owners.

We try to secure our nets against the 'honest' casual thief with zip-ties but they dont deter the mongrels who destroy your pots getting the contents out. It really is a blight on the old "trust an Aussie" thing.

Jock

[diesel]

At my haunts , Somerset Dam, Bjelke Petersen Dam and Boondooma Dam, "Share Farming" is rife.....The worst being at Somerset.
It is illegal to 'hide' your pots by not using identifiable floats (must be at least 15cm across any dimension)...Fisheries officers visit these dams very regularly and will confiscate any nets without proper marking and, whatsmore, will issue fines if they can identify the owners.

We try to secure our nets against the 'honest' casual thief with zip-ties but they dont deter the mongrels who destroy your pots getting the contents out. It really is a blight on the old "trust an Aussie" thing.

Jock

That only applies when the pot cannot be secured to a fixed object, Jock. The places I go to after redclaw are usually feeder creeks into dams where there are heaps of logs to tether pots.

Jeff