Pretty shithouse when a commerical operator can't return undersized fish the proper way!!!!!

at Fisheries would be interested in that, if that is the case.

Time for this bloke to find a new job.

Take a note of which boat it was and dob them in to fisheries. After all the regulations we must follow or get pinged they should be held responsible as well.

Hi Matt,

What day/date did you go out with them?

Cheers,

Adam

 Some charters are "run of the mill"    Mr squid you should of typed mills charters in the search box of this website, and you wouldnt of gone out with them.  I have seen it a number of times on there charters as well.

Its meant to be a professional operation and that is just setting a very bad example god knows how many before and after fish will suffer the same fate?

would u care to pm me his name and or what date and boat it was. I know the owner and will try and make sure it doesnt happen again.

A mate of mine and his old man went out with them at the start of the year and said the same thing, not a release weight in sight. Poor effort guys!

Yeah thats pretty disgraceful,I was out with Nebraska charters on the weekend and we got 5 undersize dhufish and about 7 snapper undersize as well as size dhufish ,snapper and blackarse .All undersize went down with the realease weight and we didnt see any come back up.It took us about 30 seconds per fish .It does seem on the positive side that there is a lot more juvenile fish about so if we all stick to the rules we may actually restore our fishery after all

As we all know, it isnt hard to take the time to do the right thing - Charter operators should be setting the example as its their livelyhood that ends up floating away.....just end up hearing the old 'should have been here last week.....' or '10 years ago they were everywhere......' How hard is it?

one word that fits that deckie is d@#$head. that sort of thing just shouldnt happen

Isn't this the same charter which decided to keep jigging for sambos in the same patch after the sharks moved in and lost -a claimed- 90 fish to sharks?

I think if somebody ever goes on that boat again.

please get a recording on ya mobile...

thats a lot of proof for the fisheries!!! 

I don't just blame the deckie. For the deckie to behave in that way obviously it was with the approval of the skipper otherwise it would have stopped after the first fish and that leads me to beleieve that the culture of that operation is very poor.

Unfortunately it smacks of how a good portion of society has become with the I  don't give a fu*k attitude and it's not my problem!

It really does suck for the operators out there who do a good job of not just putting undersize fish back but in the way they treat caught fish with quick kills etc.

Mrsquidworth, did you raise your concerns with the skipper? He probaby wouldn't have done anything about it anyway but at least he knows your watching the boats practices and may have stopped. (Not likely I know)

Stepping off soapbox now. 

with me, one aged 12, one 14. Both of them had quite a few words to say that mirror many used here already. If kids can can see and understand that the attitude is wrong, why can't an adult, whose supposed lively hood depends upon his actions?

On an up side it is great that the boys are of those opinions.... fish for the future may actually be alive and well.

Too many people fishing. Inexperienced people fishing. Not enough crew. I have only ever been on three charters (all different operators) and it was exactly the same.

Too much to do for the crew. Even if they used a release weight, by the time they got around to it, it would be too late anyway.

Perhaps the individual fisherman should be more responsible, particularly if they are experienced!!

does any one plan on reporting this? if not give me some details and i will.

sad story,but after they have been skulldragged up by the punters,their probably dead anyway!!

Yes some maybe die, but we have all had to go out and buy a release weight, so why shouldnt they?   If one fish is saved out of 20000 fish released..that is still better than none.

I agree, my point is charter fishing dosen't help,when we go out if you think its small you wind up slow to protect the fish even stop occasionly,[I've had some experience in this]charter boat fishos just skull drag before some one crosses over their line,they also need to be educated.

from a redneck of yesteryear. Get with the times decky. They may have got away with that sort of thing in the 80ies but not today..

wrote email to mills charter management with details.  they responded quickly with no comments  and said they would get back to me after talking to crew about it! good to see so many angry posts on this topic too, gives me a little faith back that im not wasting my time fishing for the future.

might be interesting to direct them to this site so the can see what type of negative feedback they are receiving when a member of the public witnesses something like this on they mills boat.

.

Oh well hopefully they learn from what has been said.

The decky was probably on a freeby trip out.Do some decky work for a free ride out and wouldn't worry about anything except putting a line in the water.

Most times with crew like that, is what you pay is the quality you get.

I can appreciate your forums offer an outlet for people of all walks of life to express their thoughts and feelings about fishing and show off their latest catch, which is great.  I am confident in the product Mills Charters offers and can only say that given the volume of customers we accommodate each year, the amount of complaints and negative feedback is minor compared to the customers that leave our boat having had a great day out with us. Mills Charters operate in full cooperation with the fishing regulations and guidelines and fully support replenishing of fish stocks and protecting the vulnerable species we can target by abiding by these regulations.  Mills Charters aim to be providing fishing outings for the Perth market for years to come and taking care of under size fish and returning in the appropriate manner is all part of this important process.  The complaint posted by Matt is certainly not the norm on our charters.I am actually really disappointed in Matt as I responded very promptly and professionally to him.  His story of amounts of fish released changes from forum to forum and I have email conversations with Matt that show an immediate response and follow up. It would be bad business practice not to take his complaint seriously.    It is disturbing to think someone can damage our business through the forums and yet, so happily accepted a free trip and also enquired about going on one of our Abrolhos Islands live aboard outings this year.  As I have repeatedly said, it is not common practice to offer free trips but given his initial sincerity toward us I felt the best way to illustrate to Matt that this was not our usual practice was to welcome him out on a complimentary trip.  Again, where there is opportunity for us to improve, we are in full support.  We appreciate all feedback, negative and positive if it enables us to improve our business.  The incident in question has been dealt with in the best way possible and stringent policies for our conduct have been highlighted to remaining Crew as part of our ongoing need for training and education for Crew and our Customers.I have contacted Fisheries Department directly myself to explain the situation and await their response as I can see Matt was urged to take the complaint further through forum responses.  I am not one to hide from any issues and I even thanked Matt for bringing it to my attention.   Finally, as a charter operator, we strive to run a professional reputable company and attempt to recruit the right people for the job.  We pay Crew for their rostered day’s  work. Mills Charters do not allow any Crew to come out as a Freebie as suggested on forum posts, where they work a little and fish a lot.  We do not allow any Crew on board to fish for themselves while on roster. If the fishing is tough on a day, the Skipper will initiate for himself or a Deckhand to drop a line and if they hook up, they pass to a designated customer to give them the experience of catching a fish.  I will not be responding to any further postings on this subject but thought it was necessary to respond to such an important issue in the correct manner. I can however be contacted directly at our office on 089 246 5334 should anyone wish to speak in more detail about the issue.   Regardstash@millscharters.com.au

a very PR response....

"The incident in question has been dealt with in the best way possible and stringent policies for our conduct have been highlighted to remaining Crew as part of our ongoing need for training and education"

How about training and educating the decky BEFORE giving him a job? As said above clearly this behaviour was accepted by other staff on the boat.

Wonder if the PR rep read the other negative comments and reports about this company on the site....

Poor response IMO; you have attempted to tarnish the rep of Matt which appears to be quite an immature response to this post. I certainly understand the detrimental effect this can have to your business being posted on the www. but perhaps acknowledging the mistake would be a better option to slander. The way I read this is the deckie quite simply stuffed up and to hear that he is remorseful for the actions and has been educated would be far more appealing and garner more respect.

My two cents, sorry if it offends  

i have read the responce from mills and as far as i am concerned this thread should be put to rest. my understanding is the problem has been dealt with . the words that read.highlited to remaining crew. read it as you wish but i think it has been dealt with fairly and doesnt need any more criticism .  

Actually i applaud the mills  people for getting on line and making a comment. I do think it important to get both sides and i do also agree that no slander has been directed at Matt as has been mentioned but i believe that both sides of the story has now been put forward.

As i have said no real problem with making mistakes in business(better if you don't) but its how the problems are resolved that make a good company. I would suggest that from Mills comments they have dealt with it in a satisfactory manner.

Everyone is entitled to a right of reply and thats what this was.

Good job by all the party's in coming forward with the complaint and Mills for responding.

Rod

Sorry slight spelling error there making it hard to read.

Sounds to me that this issue has been put to bed.

Mills have dealt with the crew and sound like they were as they should been very concerned once they became aware of the problem.

Matt can report back when he goes out on his trip of any changes in crew attitude

very professional response by mills charter i think:)

I guess there are three points about this response that bother me:

Firstly, there was no expression of regret regarding the incident, in fact it neither confirmed nor denied that the incident took place. I assume this might have to do with the fisheries enquiry?

Secondly, to express disappointment about Matts decision to accept a free trip seems irrelevant. I would take a free trip if offered.

Finally, this post does not clarify the action taken. As the Faulkners have said "remaining crew" suggests that the decky is no longer employed. But personally I would much rather read that his employment was terminated as he breached company policy. This would be a much stronger statement. The fact that this wasn't stated leaves some question in my mind about what action was taken.

Totally agree that its great to get a response from the company on the forums. I hope measures are put in place to ensure it never happens again on this charter or any other. IMO the company should be held responsible as I assume the owner of a recreational boat would be?

I am very interested to see what the response is from fisheries.

Whether we agree with the response from Mills or not is really an issue. At least they had the balls to get on here and respond (even if it was the standard form response).

As my grandmother always said "The proof will be in the pudding" and hopefully they have learn't and maybe change their practices.

Mistakes are always made even by the best of us. it's whether we learn from them or not that counts. lets hope Mills learn from this one.

But not sure if I agree with everyone here. When I first read Matts statement I was totally surprised that in this day and age and with all the strict changes that have been inforced on all of us that it would be in everyones best interest to comply so the rules don't get any harsher, Charter operators especially as this is there means of business. I must admit I was horrified at the actions of the deck hand and still am. In my eyes there is a problem with training and Mills Charters should address this immediatly as it is there reputation at stake.

Basically I was thinking the worst of Mills Charters until I read that they offered Matt another trip because of there actions at no charge which he accepted. To me this should of been the end of the banter because if Matt was that disturbed with what happened then in my eyes you wouldn't step on the boat again. Now Im not saying Matt has whinged just to get a free trip but to prove a point in my eyes his case would of been stronger if he declined because of the deck hands actions and for concerns it might happen again. In this day and age it is very easy to get on the net and express your feelings but unfortunatly for us that respond we only get snippets of information to go off, and our responses can do some serious damage. Personally I think it would of been a better decision to front the operator and if no satisfaction was gained there then chase through to the fisheries, and to be honest I would go to the fisheries first and the reason for this is that it is there job to inforce the law, isnt that what we are now paying for a licence for.

I believe that all business's can make mistakes and yes I have read a few things concerning Mills Charters but I also read plenty of good things so where Im going with this is that everyone can and will make mistakes, but the difference between a good and a bad business is how they handle there mistakes and what they do to improve. I think it is good to talk about these things on the net as this I believe helps everyone improve and have a look at what others do etc but I do think Matt could of worded his arguement better, not to deface Mills business but maybe to open there eyes to there actions so they can improve and then maybe offer a better service to there valued clients.

To have the operator of Mills to come on here and tell his story I think was a good move and really I didnt see where Matt's name was tarnished, he simply stated his side of the story in the same terms that Matt did his. Appreciate that if anyone got on a forum and said If anybody is considering a trip on a charter boat and is a responsible fisherperson i would strongly recommend not using Mills Charters out of hillarys(Mrsquidworth opening comment). If it was youre business being slandered how would you react. I thought Mills comments were justified, and to be honest even though they have done wrong, very wrong I believe that even Matt can't live up to his opening comment as he is happy to go for free(different story when theres no charge).

2 wrongs don't make a right and would a free trip change your attitude towards the said company, I wouldn't think so. Sorry guys I think poor form on both parts but a great opportunity to improve in a much harder market. 

I think Matt should go for the free trip and report back. If no change then report it..... If all good come back and report that.

No point pissing and moaning about what might of changed or not. Go and have a look.

does a free trip out on a boat justify releasing fish in the way that they were. I wouldnt take the freebie but I would take a copy of a video of that boat doing the right thing and releasing fish properly. just my 2 cents worth

Kinda glossed over the real issues here I thought. Time will tell to see if anything has really been addressed.

JMO

Cheers
Dale

I think this and the other thread has been done to death.  It is now closed.