NSW Maritime held a second Clean, Safe, Wharves workshop at Concord Library this week in response to public concerns over mess being left behind on Sydney Harbour wharves by fishos.
Malcolm Poole, chairman of the Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW, who represented rec fishers at the workshop said, “whilst discussions centre around finding solutions to address commuter safety and the mess some fishers leave after a night out fishing. It’s hard to separate thousands of legitimate anglers who use these areas daily as safe, easily accessible places for families to have a fish and generally do the right thing, from the few anglers who don’t follow some basic rules and use fishing as an excuse to be ‘rebels’.
“The recent media tagging that recreational fishing breeds anti social behaviour is ill conceived and just not true.”
Poole says imposing a total fishing ban on a number of inner Sydney commuter wharves will greatly impede genuine anglers and impact fishing businesses as well as move anti-social crowds to other areas.
Anglers who fish from public wharves are being strongly encouraged to follow some basic rules:
- Vessels have priority at this Wharf – so don’t obstruct them, remove your lines from the water and when they go put them back out
- Do not obstruct passengers – keep your area clear & clean, allowing passengers to hope on and get off ferries easily
- Follow all recreational fishing rules – make sure you know the fishing rules, fishsizes and possession limits, along with the Sydney Harbour Dioxin health warnings
- Collect and dispose of all litter, bait, fish waste and discarded tackle responsibly – pick up any rubbish, in particular hooks, line and bait bags, bag it all and put it in a bin or take it home, then wash down any mess that is left
- Be considerate and keep noise to a minimum – noise travels a long way at night so talk quietly, and be polite in all conversations
- Reduce wildlife injuries by always attending your lines – if the area is clean then there is no injuries, don’t leave any bait, hooks or fishing mess around
- Respect your access to this facility – Be Responsible’ – ‘do the right thing or lose it’
Over the next few months a number of new awareness initiatives for improved short and long term outcomes relating to this problem will be developed and implemented, as will an upgraded enforcement campaign over summer. If the problem isn’t resolved, the potential exists for after hours closures and barricading of wharves as well as heavy fines for breaches.
