poor press for rec anglers.

[CreelReaper]

I was reading the Sunday Mail last week and noticed a small editorial by Ian Grant in "Mooring Lines' that did little for the reputation of recreational anglers. The editorial went as follows.

DO THE RIGHT THING
Recreational anglers have a responsibility to protect the environment and the fishery. Bait bags, tangled fishing line, drink cans, food tins and beer stubbies were left to litter an ocean beach campsite on Noosa North Shore this month. Remember this simple rule: all you should leave behind are footprints in the sand.


Now, if it was rec anglers then I would be the first to condemn them. I believe the accusaations as written were squarely pointed at us. I believe this to be a muted point as we all have the same responsibility and thought it to be a slight piece of sensational reporting on his behalf.

I have sent him an email outlining where I thought his editorial fell short and how it does not do any good to point the finger and any one stakeholder group in our fishery.

I have spoken to Lucky_Phill about this and he also agreed that I follow through with the email. I am waiting for a reply and hopefully from there I can wrangle a public apology to all of us recreational anglers that do abide by the rules and look after our environment. Hopefully this apology will come through the same editorial as it was originally written. I will keep you posted.

I suggest that if any of you fellow Ausfish members comes across any bad press or images that are used to incorrectly tarnish our public image that you do the same.

Also send it to Phill to add to all the other material he and many others have gained towards our fight for a better outcome in this latest round of closures and zonings and a better voice in parliamentary circles.

Now I suggest that your letters/emails be clear, concise and non threatening verbally. It is not a public bunfight we want but to at the least sway the thoughts of some of these people. Who knows????? They may even give that public apology and even better switch sides.

Cheers

Shane
ps if you would like a copy of the email I sent to Mr Grant then please pm me.

[choppa]

top marks for the action your taking shane,,,, hoping it doesn't turn around and prove that rec fisho's were to blame tho',,,, bait bags and tangled fishing line are hardly pro fisho gear,,,

its been posted here on countless occassions that the mess and general laziness of people who do leave their fishing possie's as if its the local tip need a kick up the rear end

there was even a chance that the local council was going to close an access road to the top end of ningi creek purely because of the litter and ""possible injury"" status due to broken bottles,,, bait,,, fishing lines etc etc that was left there on a regular basis,,,, this spot is marked with signage that no camping and fires are permitted and even comes with 3 large waste bins,,,,every week theres someone camping,,,, fires are as common,,, and i rarely go there now with chopjr due to the amount of crap that gets dumped there

alas,,, rec fisho's ,,,, going out on trips by myself and with fellow members also means that we bring home more in the garbage bag that what we started out with,,,, purely because we pick up most of what others are to ##@@## lazy to place in their own garbage bag or bin

thankfully (hopefully) theres not many that partake in this laziness,,,,,, but theres enough evidence that shows unfortunately that there's a lot that still do

choppa

[Poseidon]

DO THE RIGHT THING
Recreational anglers have a responsibility to protect the environment and the fishery. Bait bags, tangled fishing line, drink cans, food tins and beer stubbies were left to litter an ocean beach campsite on Noosa North Shore this month. Remember this simple rule: all you should leave behind are footprints in the sand.

Reads like some good advice to me.

It sounds like he was trying to educate those in the community that have trouble cleaning up after themselves and I spose that unless you are their to educate them in person then perhaps this is another alternative, name and shame.

I too have been totally disappointed by recreational fisherman in my area cleaning fish and leaving the rotten frames on the boat ramp about 5 metres from the sign that warns of Crocs in the vicinity and about 30 metres from a waste transfer bin. Bait bags floating around and beer cans following the tide flow. At the time did I feel p*ssed off at my fellow rec fishers, you bet I did and if I had the responsibility of writing for a paper then it would have made the next press in an attempt to draw attention to the problem and hopefully educate those responsible that it is not acceptable.

Rather than trying to sweep our issues under the carpet we should welcome this as press that would be perceived by many out there that we do actually care for the environment as demonstrated by the author taking the time to write the story.

Regards Cameron.

[DR]

Any education helps. i reckon only a small amount actually clean up after themselves, the rest are grubs. I personally think that there are 'Rec anglers' & 'serious rec anglers'.
The rec anglers fish a few times a year, don't give a sh*t about whats left behind & have no idea about whats going on with the green zones etc, or care as they will always be able to wet a line somewhere, to me they are the majority.

The others come to places like this & fish a lot harder & care a hell of a lot more about the environment, but I think we are a minority..
So anything to help educate others may not be an attack on fishing, & without reading the whole story it's hard to say whether it's taken out of context or not..
just my 2 cents worth..

[CreelReaper]

Hey guys, yes you are right....there are some rec anglers that do not do the right thing. I am not disputing that part at all. What you read in blue in my original post is the whole article. So it is not that hard to see it WAS targetted at recreational fishing at Noosa North Shore.
My point is that there are a hell of a lot of people that go there and not everybody fishes. His message seemed to be directed solely at the recreational fishery instead of at anybody and everybody. There are a number of stakeholders that use that area and unfortunately there are grubs in all of them. It is not unreasonable to expect that WE ALL HAVE the same responsiobility not just the recreational angler and that is how the editorial should have been written.

[choppa]

Any education helps. i reckon only a small amount actually clean up after themselves, the rest are grubs. I personally think that there are 'Rec anglers' & 'serious rec anglers'.
The rec anglers fish a few times a year, don't give a sh*t about whats left behind & have no idea about whats going on with the green zones etc, or care as they will always be able to wet a line somewhere, to me they are the majority.

The others come to places like this & fish a lot harder & care a hell of a lot more about the environment, but I think we are a minority..[/I]

So anything to help educate others may not be an attack on fishing, & without reading the whole story it's hard to say whether it's taken out of context or not..
just my 2 cents worth..

DR,,, i speechless,,,,,

the only reason why i didn't encrypt the last paragraph is simple,,,,, most of the serious rec anglers dont read that far,,,,

choppa

[DR]

DR,,, i speechless,,,,,

the only reason why i didn't encrypt the last paragraph is simple,,,,, most of the serious rec anglers dont read that far,,,,

choppa

i am sorry, i miss your point a bit cryptic for me..
Speechless, because i said it first?
Speechless, because you disagree vehemently?
Speechless, because of.....???

[choppa]

speechless because couldn't have stated it better mate,,,,, you 100% on the ball,,,, hence why i said that most serious rec fisho's don't read that far!!!!!!!!!



choppa

[straddie]

Heya Watta

Unfortunately I have to agree with the others, we are our own worst enemy. The big problem is anyone that can hold a rod and buy bait from a servo is called a rec fishermen. We have the same proportion of good guys, mr averages and pure vermin as the general community however like most groups are judged by lowest common denominator.

Just a bit more,
I think long term we are going to have to ease off on some of these journos because it is going to hurt us badly. It's a bit much to expect good press from someone you have called an big .... a few days before.

[CreelReaper]

And once again I am not disagreeing with you. The element that do not follow the rules is always going to be the lowest denominator in the media's eyes. In this instance it was Noosa North Shore, to get along the beach you have to drive a 4wd so it could be argued that it was the 4wd fraternity that caused the littering problem...... The message should be for all of us, whether we drive 4wds, go camping, drive in cars along the road or spend time in the boat or fish. We ALL have the same responsibility. If in fact Ian had actually directed his argument to the 4wders I would be thinking the same. It is not a positive move to pick on any one group of people. Ask yourself are these riffraff in this instance 4wders or rec fisherman???? If I was driving to work and threw out a drink bottle or food wrapper and I did so because I recreationally fish, is because of this I litter???? NO!!!! Its because I am a lazy bugger and do not care about the environment......

Shane

[PADDLES]

what do we do though gentlemen? unfortunately we are all in the same bucket with the "4wdrivers", the "once a year throw a line in at my mates pissup at the beach crew", the "serious recs", the "motorcyclists that rip up and down the beach". if we don't regulate ourselves then the government will do it for us, and that's what they've done. the only way to crawl out of said bucket is to support regulation and hope to have a say in how it will inconvenience you (the serious recs) the least. like i've said in other threads compromise is the key to placing ourselves above the other people in our bucket.