Thread: Question - beach wash up

Heya guys, I don't really come here much..cough cough at all (fishing section!) but today I saw something that had me wondering. Are you legally allowed to biff fish remains over the side of your boat? Are there rules surrounding amounts (private vs commertial) and how far from the shore you are?

While walking along Petone beach this morning I saw about 40-odd fish remains of these bigger, silver, long dudes and maybe 25 bodies of the smaller orange looking fullas. What are these fish and do you reckon they are just washed up onto the beach? To my eyes they looked like they had the fillets cut off them, not just laying there post-seagull.

I hope my curiousity doesn't expose my ignorance of fishing too much!

You are on the right track Dougie, they definitely look to have been filleted.

Some one may have thrown them in from the beach and they didn't wash away.

So these are fish that you'd eat? And it's okay to just biff the garbage onto the beach?

Have too be bloody hungry too eat those fish

Smart ass...

Hard to say from the condition and photos but "look" like could be brim(small snapper) and blue cod so yes eating fish.

Second look and Id say the long skinny ones are blue cod as the skin is attached at the tail, most people do it this way. Fillet off and leave attached at tail,a quick score each side of the pin bones and rip of the fillet leaving all the bones attached to the skin.
The others might be jock stewarts/Maori chiefs/red perch.

blue cod and perch for sure

Can you fish these from the shore or do you have to go out on a vessel?

Anywhere there is rocks

Originally Posted by Dougie

So these are fish that you'd eat? And it's okay to just biff the garbage onto the beach?

In answer to the 2nd question .No its not OK throw it into the sea either from boat or shore.Its actually illegal too,the frames are meant to be kept to prove fish size.Its not just recreational fishers but the commercial boats do it as well.I have seen fish frame washed up the length of the beach here (9km of it).
Some believe that if you clean your fish where you catch them the fish will move & throwing the garbage into the sea fowls the ground .There are people around that would appreciate the frames & heads so why waste them .

Recreationally fish must be landed in a measurable state. You gill and gut into the sea? Im not condoning it(dumping heads and frames on the beach) personaly heads and frames get minced frozen and used for burly next trip

Is burly bait?

A sort of ex-army aquaintance lives near me - I found his stupid chihuahua pug cross run away at the park with a mouthful of fish guts the other day. Apparently old man Army buries the guts in the garden...not very deep obviously lol

Think fish mince used to attract fish to your bait/lure

You can fillet your fish at sea, there is no law or regulation against it, MAF frown on it but at the end of the day, the onus is on them to prove the fish are undersize. I prefer to do it while at sea as we have nowhere to dispose of the frames and at least some fish get a feed out of it.