Mark Pawley's been a fisherman for 35 years -- but lately he's seen a few changes.
His trawler has been fitted out with two wide-angle cameras, scrutinising his crew's every move.
"A lot of people have the idea that as a fisherman, you're just out there to pillage and plunder," Mr Pawley said.
"But I feed my family from what I do here, and so do my crew."
He has no issue with the new technology, but says dodgy operators could still 'high grade' -- that is, throwing back sub-optimal catch -- when it's dark, and not be caught.
"If people want to rort the system, they will find a way to rort the system."
The Government says the cameras will make the industry more accountable.
"If we find that there is an area where there's some dead fish floating, we can track through what's exactly happening," Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said.
The cameras are not just for snapping illegal fishers -- they are also about improving fisheries data, like making accurate assessments of undersize being thrown back.
"It's about the integrity of the commercial fishing vessels," Mr Guy said.
But so far it's only trawlers in 'Snapper 1' which have the kit -- that's about 15 vessels.
Even so, the commercial sector wants recreational boaties to do more.
"The other players in the sector, the recreational fishers and the charter operators need to start collecting some data on the fishery," Sansford chief operations officer Greg Johansson said.
However the recreational group Legasea says there is data available, pointing out that the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has been doing aerial and boat ramp surveys for years.
On the new cameras, the group says it doubts Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has the resources to monitor every minute of footage.
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