my letter to Courier Mail ..

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

if you didn't read the article its about see page 31 Sat nov 15 couriermail.

15/11/03

Surely recreational Fisherman have just cause to be concerned about restricted fishing zones (C-M Nov 15) around the coffee rock reefs outside Moreton Bay when the wealth of “scientific” advice being given to government & the media comes from professionals whose own obsession with scuba diving seems to make them blind to the destructive influence of their own activities.

By her own admission, & not withstanding all her good work, Carley Bansemer has swam with the sharks 200 times in 3 years (that’s a lot), & spends all her time & money attempting to do so. Several scuba dive schools in Brisbane & on Stradbroke Island conduct anywhere up to 3 trips per day with a dozen divers on board to these shark hotspots. Ben Cropp & a film crew went out on one from Stradbroke only a month or so back & were impressed with the skippers ability to put them “on the sharks”. That translates into having put the anchor of the dive boat in amongst the sharks, giving extra “down time” to a diver.

With this many large & strange shapes frequenting their lair, it is little wonder Grey Nurse Sharks are either distracted from their breeding or as a non aggressive species have chosen to abandon their favoured territory & move elsewhere.

I was there when Carley Bansemer addressed the competing fisherman at the opening of the 2003 Straddie Classic with the concerns about the shark. The vast majority of fisherman gave her a good reception then avoided bottom fishing the areas of proposed exclusion & encouraged those not present to do so even though there was no legislation in place to compel them to do so. To the best of my knowledge, the two sharks captured & released were wide of the exclusion zone.

The physical damage bottom fishing does to the Grey Nurse Shark is obvious & recreational fisherman have already shown they are willing to curtail those activities in areas important to the shark. Its time the scuba industry followed suit including those scientists & media personalities who may be loving the shark away.

Chris McAlpine



as letters are restricted to 300 words I excluded rubbishing her scientific opinion that the Grey Nurse don't travel a bit - I've encountered them in the Rainbow channel when I've been freediving & had several swim under me surfing at Main & cylinder beaches (and yes Carley I really do know the difference between grey nurse, whalers, black & white tips, tigers etc having seen them all in their backyard.

Although the article gave rec fishing a chance to respond I felt it lay to much of the burden of guilt at our feet & couldn't resist.

Send your own thoughts to the editor cmletters@qnp.newsltd.com.au

chris

[bungie]

I cannot remember the TV show for the life of me, but it was on in the last few weeks. They had placed a radio transmiter on a grey nurse, in the 10 days they tracked her until she got caught up in fishermans nets and died she had travel 1800 klm yes eighteen hundred k's

[Gazza]

[smiley=2thumbsup.gif] Fair comments Chris [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

These 'known' divesites are part of the problem , as Bungie has mentioned , a 'tracked' shark travelled (in this case) 1800? klms i.e. a long way........a-w-a-y !

I'm sure there 'could be' hundreds of locations ,that the GNS has ,just not 'dived' and just not referenced ,on a map ,for a 'future' exclusion-zone(s) [smiley=huh2.gif]

[PinHead]

"The physical damage bottom fishing does to the Grey Nurse Shark is obvious & recreational fisherman have already shown they are willing to curtail those activities in areas important to the shark."

When have the recos shown they are willing to curtail these activities? Surely a handful at a fishing comp does not represent all recos?
If the Govt was serious, they should just close the place entirely..no fishing..no diving..nothing.

[Fitzy]

Good on you for having your say Chris.

Fitz..

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

When have the recos shown they are willing to curtail these activities? Surely a handful at a fishing comp does not represent all recos?
If the Govt was serious, they should just close the place entirely..no fishing..no diving..nothing.

and for what result !!! There is no scientific evidence the diminishing grey nurse numbers are due to fish hooks - no carcasses - few mortally wounded beasts. My concern is the bias the article is given by the comments of the scientist.

Even if it was a small number compared to ALL rec fishers in the state that avoided bottom fishing Flat Rock etc, it was a large percentage of those present considering it was BY REQUEST.

Responsible government is about balance & equity. A think a more sensible approach would be to limit interaction in the proposed zone. No bottom fishing, no ground tackle for boats except under dire circumstance, pontoons for dive schools & the mooring of their boats, with divers restricted by number & to the area of the pontoon. Do the the drum liners & shark netters keep a species / number log. Considering my encounters with the GN while surfing they must have a mortality rate there.

Pinhead, humour me with a wild comparison.
Imagine if the entire jumpinpin area was closed to all fishing, because of diminishing numbers of luderick & a local scientist said that it is the only place you'll find them.
But whats that you say? - I only fish for flathead with plastics & not even near where the luderick at the pin are. What if its related to the weed they eat disappearing or all those houseboats that anchor along Short Island simply scaring them away. Yeah OK, you hear about the occasional one taking a yabbie, but in all my years fishing there I've never caught one. Hey, is it possible they live down the Tweed as well where that scientist has never looked, & how many end up in mullet gill nets ..... etc

sounds stupid. DOES IT?

seeyainthesurf,

chris

[mackmauler]

my post has vanished onya chris ..... "straddy fisherman protest" news bulletin before, should be on tonights news, this is a grey nurse i think ??? dont see any effort being made to stop this happening. no comment on ya head this time carley

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

have you been misbehaving again rob
the bends can do horrible things though
yeah thats a nurse rob - looks like archive photo of beach netting

chris

[PinHead]

That is my point exactly Chris...the government will not completely close any areas...they are trying to humour the green movement whilst trying not to alienate too many fishos and divers...it is all about trying to maintain votes..nothing more..nothing less.

[mackmauler]

Chris, the shark contractor does catch nurses out there and whites. thought i ran over something at flat rock one day, mustnt of been a jellyfish, another theory is that after that many days spent getting up close and personal with a nurse, in a breeding zone they got it on and sharks to bite whilst mating apparently 8)

rob