Someone is illegally drowning turtles near the Hawkesbury River.

[Flaviemys purvisi]

It has just been brought to our attention at AFT that some thoughtless idiot has been drowning turtles near the Hawkesbury River by using illegal traps!

He is leaving them unattended after they are baited and set, and after being set for 3 hours the turtles drown.

If any members know whose traps they are please report it to NSW Department of Primary Industries here...
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/compliance/report-illegal-activity
as well as NSW Environment and Heritage on (02) 9995 5000 or by email
[email protected]

Discovered today: 2 illegal traps in Bushells Lagoon in Wilberforce, NSW. Almost 20 drowned turtles!


Now is a timely reminder to ask members of the public and especially the members here to remove any traps from freshwater rivers, creeks, lagoons and ponds to check for illegal activity, similar to the ones above. All of those traps are illegal in Australian waterways. The traps need to be destroyed and it needs to be reported as soon as possible!

 

[Bl69aze]

I saw a post on Facebook, however they were saying they found a few nets with turtles sitting in direct sunlight with multiple dead turtles

 

[EddyFade]

That’s horrid! Hope they catch who ever is doing this and perhaps put them in some sort of trap? Maybe even under water also?

 

[Snapped]

That's disgusting, why would anyone do that? Bastards.

 

[Flaviemys purvisi]

Just a brief of some legal and ILLEGAL traps in Australian waters, so if you see any ILLEGAL ones, you know what to do. Info obtained from the AFT forums and posted with permission from APS admin

Legal Yabby Trap (Opera house style trap)
Although a legal yabby trap in inland waters of Australia, it has been known to drown small turtles. When using traps like these its best to use bread with Vegemite for bait instead of meat.
Note the relatively small metal rings at each end that the Yabby must climb through making it impossible for medium and large turtles to gain access through.


*** NOTE. We've seen these modified before where the rings have been removed and replaced with large rubber bands... This allows turtles to push through, be trapped and drown.


Legal Bait Traps (Concertina)
Available in a variety of colours and great for catching feeder fish and freshwater prawns. Use bread with Vegemite for fish and for freshwater prawns.



Illegal Yabby Trap (Opera House style trap)
Many freshwater turtles have drowned because of these traps being left in dams or rivers overnight. The turtles are easily able to push through the long horizontal slit at each end.



Illegal Crab Trap
These Crab Traps are illegal in any inland waterways (freshwater) of Australia. I have personally seen many turtles drowned in these traps as well.



Illegal Drum Net
This trap/net pictured is a relatively small one. I have seen large ones with 44 Gallon Drums used for the trap entry. This type of trap can catch and drown anything from freshwater Turtles to Platypus and diving birds, including Cormorants and Darters.



Illegal Fyke Net
These traps/nets are illegal in Australia unless permits have been granted by Fisheries and local wildlife authorities and displayed on the net. These nets/traps are commonly used for scientific purposes (RESEARCH) by scientists and researchers. They can only be purchased in N.Z and shipped to Australia. The end usually has a large float in it to allow any animal trapped in it to come to the surface to breathe. These traps catch a lot of Turtles and Platypus. Some Fyke nets have 'wings' coming off the sides or a single strip of netting extending from the middle of the front of the trap. These extra lengths of netting work like a barrier that the animals swim along until they enter the trap. This extra netting makes the net extremely efficient.