A FEW Sundays back a mystery man was pulled unconscious from the water at Maroubra, Sydney, after being washed in while rock fishing. Media reports highlighted that he was admitted to St George Hospital in a critical condition but couldn’t be identified. Nothing was in his pockets or in his blue Nike backpack with a name or address. The reports noted what he was wearing in the hope that someone could identify him. Consider this: “He was wearing long black pants, a white long-sleeved button shirt with a grey cardigan, along with a black vest and white speckled boots.”
Can you imagine a worse set of gear to be wearing while rock fishing? No life jacket, no spiked boots or cleats and clothing, which when soaked, would pull the best surf swimmer under.
It’s a tragic story in itself but it must be massively disheartening for the various agencies who have been working for years to educate rock fishers and improve decision making. Randwick Council led the push to create mandatory life jacket requirements for rock fishers, as its high impact coast was over-represented in rock fishing fatality statistics. Twenty-one people have died while rock fishing in Randwick City since 2001, making it the deadliest coastline in the country. The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), NSW Police, NSW Roads and Maritime and the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) all became involved in developing standards and rules for rock fishing life jackets. It would be fair to say there wasn’t always uniformity of views within this process. And politics intervened to partially subvert the outcome. Rather than legislate or regulate centrally, the then Coalition State government delegated responsibility to coastal local government Councils. Some put in requirements, and some didn’t, so in adjacent LGAs life jackets may be mandatory, or non-mandatory.
The DPI and the RFA have both put in big, commendable efforts producing print and digital educational materials in multiple languages aimed at reducing the rates of deaths and injuries. Randwick Council has installed multi-lingual warning signs at popular spots listing the number of deaths that have occurred. The RFA has had an angel ring installation program for many years. But drownings are still much too frequent. Maybe something totally new is needed.
At the Randwick Council meeting on August 22, Councillors unanimously supported a proposal for bait and tackle retailers to display point of sale information about the dangers of rock fishing. The proposal came from Ms Hasti Heidarzadeh Sadrabadi, whose husband Payam and 10-year-old son Mahan died while rock fishing at Little Bay the day after buying their rods and tackle from a major retailer. If they’d been advised on safety gear and rock fishing risks maybe there would have been a different outcome. Point of sale information displays would be good. Even better might be for tackle sales folk to routinely ask purchasers where they’re going to fish, and then provide advice on the necessary safety gear and safe rock fishing procedures.
