NSW South Coast rock fishers are up in arms over reports the Defence Department has stopped overnight access to world famous land-based game ledge, the Tubes at Jervis Bay.
The Tubes is situated on Beecroft Peninsula, the northern headland of Jervis Bay, and has been the scene of famous land-based game captures for many decades. The rock platform is one of the few land-based game fishing locations in the world where rock anglers can tackle everything from tuna to marlin and sailfish.
The Tubes also lie within the Department of Defence’s Beecroft Weapons Range (BWR) which is owned and occupied by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The range has been regularly used for Defence weapons and other training activities since the 1800s.
While rock fishers have had reduced access to many famous Beecroft Peninsula rock platforms in recent years due to Jervis Bay Marine Park zoning, access to the Tubes (and popular camping areas such as Honeymoon Bay) has remained unrestricted, apart from access via boom gates manned by Department of Defence rangers.
Fisho understands that this situation has now changed with anglers in recent weeks told by rangers that access to the Tubes is only now permitted between the hours of 7am and 7pm.
Many seasoned LBG fishers see this is as a farcical situation, especially as many choose to spend long hours on the platform and camping out to secure positions, and bait, in the peak of the LBG season.
While access into the Beecroft Weapons Range has been restricted to anglers, Fisho also understands that the same restrictions do not apply to paid campers who are still permitted to stay overnight or in holiday season at camping locations in the BWR such as Honeymoon Bay.
This apparent double standard understandably has angling groups miffed.
While rec fishing organisations such as ANSA NSW have been asking the various authorities involved for clarity on why night access to the Tubes has been stopped, no clear response has been forthcoming.
A spokesperson from NSW Fisheries though has said they believed the restrictions were an “issue of public safety”.
We will keep readers informed of any updates on this issue when they become available.
