Environment

ENVIRONMENT: Rock fishing is a risky business

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IN Environment News this month, John Newbery, discusses the loss of access to another iconic fishing spot, Old Man’s Hat, after a recent rock fall led authorities to restrict public access to the Sydney rock ledge.

ROCK fishing is a risky business…. if you’re not convinced, take a look at Greg Finney’s emotional on-camera interview on this website about being washed in without a lifejacket. As well as the risk of drowning, people can also fall while climbing (often fatally), fall or be bowled over by a wave on the rock platform or, very unlikely, be buried under a rock fall.

So how should these issues be managed? Mainly, through angler education. Reinforce in print and digital media the messages of not fishing when it’s too rough, testing ropes and ladders before using them, wearing suitable non-slip footwear and light clothing and not turning your back on the water. And wearing a life jacket in dangerous locations.

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But what do you do about the danger of rock falls, other than putting up a warning sign? Well, early this year NSW National Parks decided to close off North Head’s Hole-in the-Wall track, which leads down to a range of spots known collectively as Old Man’s Hat or The Monkey. As you’ll see from the accompanying shot, they’ve threatened dire action against anyone trying to get down to fish.

Sure, the August 2016 rock fall that led to this decision, following a Geotech report, was big…. but it’s a fair way east of the fishing platform, which itself is not overhung by cliff. And from Palm Beach north to Cape Banks south there are dozens of similar areas where big blocks of sandstone regularly break off the cliff face. Tumbledown, to the south of Bluefish Point and the lead-in walk to the Bluefish Gutters are two notorious examples. That’s just Sydney sandstone… In 50 years, I’ve seen plenty of falls in those locations, but none at Old Man’s Hat.

Might as well put the cards on the table. Personally, I’m really sad about the decision because over the last few years this area has become my favourite rock spot, as I’ve got a bit too old for big climbs. I’ve fished it periodically since the mid-1960’s, but much more frequently over the last few years as joints have tightened up and reflexes slowed. The luderick fishing is great year-round, there are pigs, bream and groper there as well, and in the summer kingies, bonito and salmon can also turn up. It’s particularly good in a nor’easter, OK in a westerly…. only a southerly knocks it out on safety grounds. We’ve recorded quite a bit of footage there for assorted videos over the last few years.

It looks like this could be the end of the road for bush walkers and amateur historians, as well as anglers. There are lots of historic carvings nearby. Don’t know how the Parks service could do much about the situation now a risk assessment is in a report and on file, other than re-open the track with a myriad of “danger: enter at your own risk” signs, which their legal officers probably wouldn’t wear.

So, there’s another favourite rock fishing location off the menu. At least the dive boat operators who pull up just off the front of the fishing platform and the Hawkesbury Bioregion closure advocates should be happy.

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