Article from RFA Newsletter
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EARLY winter is always a bad time for rough seas off the NSW coast and this year is no exception.
The deaths in June of three people at Flat Rock on the Central Coast is a reminder of the risks. The circumstances of this latest tragedy are not yet clear but these drownings, as usual, have raised calls for restrictions on our sport. Most rockfishers understand the risks and take appropriate safety measures and would not want to see any constraints on our fishing or agree with the idea of compulsory PFDs. Nonetheless we believe they should be worn whenever possible; modern inflatable PFDs are inexpensive and comfortable to wear and already compulsory in many boating situations. The RFA strongly recommends you buy one and wear it in all boating and rockfishing situations. It’s a very cheap life insurance investment.
Fishing clubs also need to do their utmost to encourage anglers to wear PFDs, safe shoes, always fish with others and most of all to avoid dangerous locations in bad weather.
There are a number of safety campaigns underway in NSW to educate rock fishers and to reduce the number of drownings. The RFA of NSW has recently been awarded funding to play a major role in these campaigns. Much of this work will be aimed at ethnic communities amongst whom rockfishing is an extremely popular sport.
But all anglers need to get wise to the problem. Some keen rockfishers scorn PFDs and other safety gear, setting a bad example to less experienced anglers, and it’s high time they started to think and look like they are fishing safely.
There’s nothing macho about not coming home to your family.
Image: Warren Keelan
