Scuba Divers and Fishers fight

[murf]

what are the Green radicalist movement doing to ordinary people?

cheers Murf


http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au...y-snorkelling/

Concern about fishing website
1st September 2010



SCUBA diving and snorkelling operator Mike Davey has expressed concern about the effect a pro-fishing website could have in lobbying the State Government to make changes to its draft Solitary Island Marine Park review.

The website – www.savesol.com – allows concerned marine park anglers to lodge online submissions to the State Government’s marine park proposals.

A pre-written form letter, which can be signed by individuals, opposes the government’s planned changes to sanctuary zones and the proposed ban on marine park prawn trawling.

However, Mr Davey of the Jetty Dive Centre said the submission form also has massive ramifications for the diving and snorkelling tourism industry.

“People may not be aware that they are submitting a form that is asking for the closure of snorkelling and scuba business to the Solitary Islands Marine Park sanctuary zones,” Mr Davey said.

“Without access to those areas, we would be forced to close.”

Of greatest concern, he said, are pages 16 and 19 of the pro-fishing submission.

These sections implicate scuba divers as having an impact on endangered grey nurse sharks, while also implying divers damage corals through fin kicks.

One passage is entitled “Proposal 3. Include scuba divers as a major threat.”

Mr Davey said these sections point to scientific research, which is irrelevant to the local area.

“Research in the area is currently being conducted, including a report on coral mortality, which shows up to 90 per cent of the damage is caused by fishing debris, predominantly from line entanglement and anchor damage,” he said.

[FNQCairns]

HA! love it!! Those cretins that worked hard in concert to close off areas already are going to get their term of fundamentalist regulation directed at them this time around....poetic it is

[brisbane_boy]

This was a long time coming but sounds satisfying to say the least

[Lucky_Phill]

One out, all out.



LP

[Blueroo]

The dive operator doesn't seem too concerned about the effect of the closure to other members of the community such as charter boat operators, recreational fishing equipment outlets, marine mechanics, boat retailers & manufacturers, fuel outlets, takeaway food shops etc etc etc etc.

Also who is doing the research he speaks of in the last paragraph, he doesn't say although he makes a nasty blanket statement. Is he starting a rumor and hoping it will find truth by being printed in a paper. Hmmm.

Are the greens going to put an internet filter on fishing sites now. Hmmm.

Stue

[nigelr]

So, (scuba) dive boats don't anchor up?
Davis seems to be attempting to drive a wedge between his (scuba) dive operations and the other users of this area.
Perhaps a more co-operative approach would prove more productive, especially in a relatively small town like Coffs.........
As for the expressed concerns in regards to the website, he has the same right to submit his opinions, just like any other member of the public.
His attitude perhaps sheds some light on the push for grey nurse 'habitat protection'..........
Cheers.

[murf]

So, (scuba) dive boats don't anchor up?
Davis seems to be attempting to drive a wedge between his (scuba) dive operations and the other users of this area.
Perhaps a more co-operative approach would prove more productive, especially in a relatively small town like Coffs.........
As for the expressed concerns in regards to the website, he has the same right to submit his opinions, just like any other member of the public.
His attitude perhaps sheds some light on the push for grey nurse 'habitat protection'..........
Cheers.

Marine Parks have put in moorings for the dive boats in the protected zones but they still use anchors outside the protected zones

the dive boats have a vested interest in removing fishermen so they can get more profits so they will do and say anything IMO

there are some great people in the dive industry but they make a living from it so $$ comes into play to skew their arguments IMO

looking forward to the talk tomorrow night by Professor Kearney at Coffs deep sea fishing club

cheers Murf

[gorgy99]

Okay I'll bite.

1. I dive and I fish and I hate the Greens.

2. No wedge is being driven between the local divers and fisho's by any divers. Last round of Marine Park submissions in this area the dive operator in this article, and local divers, were working with the fisho's and spearo's as a co-ordinated approach. The savesol website has changed the goal posts this time around.

3. The very arguments used against the Greens on the savesol website are being applied to the divers, by the fisho's involved with this website, by claiming they are the major threat and are responsible for "disturbing" the marine life. Without local scientific evidence.

4. I dive and I pay, you fish and you pay. I guess that makes both our arguments "skewed" murf?

5. I have been on this dive operator's boat many times during the course of many years and never once have they dropped anchor.

I had hoped all local parties with vested interests in this matter could work together for the common good: to put the bureaucrats back in their place, and let the real people get on with living in the real world, but I guess I was wrong.

[murf]

Okay I'll bite.

1. I dive and I fish and I hate the Greens.

2. No wedge is being driven between the local divers and fisho's by any divers. Last round of Marine Park submissions in this area the dive operator in this article, and local divers, were working with the fisho's and spearo's as a co-ordinated approach. The savesol website has changed the goal posts this time around.

3. The very arguments used against the Greens on the savesol website are being applied to the divers, by the fisho's involved with this website, by claiming they are the major threat and are responsible for "disturbing" the marine life. Without local scientific evidence.

4. I dive and I pay, you fish and you pay. I guess that makes both our arguments "skewed" murf?

5. I have been on this dive operator's boat many times during the course of many years and never once have they dropped anchor.

I had hoped all local parties with vested interests in this matter could work together for the common good: to put the bureaucrats back in their place, and let the real people get on with living in the real world, but I guess I was wrong.

I is just a messenger as above I defended the dive boys in no take zones that moor on buoys

I did talk a bit in depth last night about it and said we need unity and yes the blokes that put up savesol will fight tooth and nail to keep the scuba divers there

the scuba divers should have allocated areas of no fishing for their businesses so they can make a living and show people some old bigger resident fish etc that is an easy one and one I reckon any fisherman would agree with

I believe it is more to do with that Marine Parks have not taken into account the stress all the divers could possibly have on Grey Nurse Sharks whilst on resting and possible breeding during the day when sitting in gutters??? I have not scuba dived for 17 years so am not up to date with their own code of conduct or how they police it?????

we all need to unite and fight the green wave, some things we will never agree on but as a whole we are outdoor recreational people and love the environment we just hate being lied to by the greens and government

all my opinion of course

cheers Murf

[murf]

3. The very arguments used against the Greens on the savesol website are being applied to the divers, by the fisho's involved with this website, by claiming they are the major threat and are responsible for "disturbing" the marine life. Without local scientific evidence.

.

I do believe that one of the studies done was a local Solitary Islands study so go figure that?

unless first time/novice divers have improved out of site then they will break the coral as they bounce around until they get used to diving

cheers Murf

[brisbane_boy]

I get pretty upset when I think about carly scaring the grey nurse sharks around flat rock, as to point 3 it makes perfect sense to remove divers from such a sensitive area permanently. If any divers need the tub of vas there should be generous portion left from prev usage about the time the divers sided with the greens.

[gorgy99]

Murf,

the blokes that put up savesol will fight tooth and nail to keep the scuba divers there

Not sure what you mean by this. I assume the organisers of the website are not prepared to retract their misleading anti-diver statements.

I note they still want divers to complete the form as they have given them a box to tick, to indicate which group they represent on page 2. Don't know any who will complete the whole submission though given the contents of pages 16 & 19.

I do believe that one of the studies done was a local Solitary Islands study so go figure that?

There has been a field study done across 15 sites in New South Wales which concluded there was no effect on the Grey Nurse population from scuba divers. This study was published by Primary Industries. What I was referring to was, the savesol website uses a study from outside this area against the divers who use this area. This is bad enough, but this is also the very argument used by anti-Green campaigners against the Greens when they trot out their studies from unrelated areas trying to prove some untenable link to supposed relevant data.

From the savesol website: "Then we KNOW you have either been affected, or soon will be by the RELENTLESS push of those that can only be termed as UN-Australian to prevent you enjoying Australia."

So, by their own definition the organisers of savesol are un-Australian.

Unity would have been better for the end result, but we were given no choice.

[nigelr]

Thanks for taking the time to add your opinion to this debate gorgy99.
For what you consider it to be worth I can tell you there was an issue promoted in the submission, I'm guessing by the pro fishing sector, regarding beach haul netting, that I vehemently disagree with.
I made particular reference to this issue and my opposition to it in my submission.
That is one aspect of the of the online pro-forma I found worthy, the fact that there is an opportunity to write your own views and opinions and not just swallow the whole shebang.
As murf alludes, it could well be a case of 'united we stand devided we fall'. Personally I strongly deplore the idea of a rec fishing body being in alliance with the pros, but desperate times lead to desperate actions and it appears the green movement is a real and growing threat to all our pursuits, and as such, perhaps the implications of this situation need to be dealt with in the first instance.
Cheers.

[caster226]

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