[Does Any One Know]

My guess is a Steephead Parrotfish. (Chlorurus microrhinos)

Your one looks a little sun bleached but the blue tail gives it away.

Here's some pics:

Waddyareckon Flattieman?

[Perth Whale Shark Expert Wins Award]

Perth whale shark expert wins award

AUSTRALIAN naturalist Brad Norman has won an international award for a plan to involve thousands of ordinary people around the world in a project to save the vulnerable whale shark.

Mr Norman will be honoured at a ceremony in Singapore today after being chosen as a Laureate in the 2006 Rolex Awards for Enterprise, which recognise outstanding contributions to humanity, science and the environment.

Whale sharks, the world's largest fish, are regarded as "vulnerable" to extinction by the World Conservation Union.

They have been sighted at more than 100 places around the globe, yet remain so scarce almost nothing is known of their abundance, breeding habits or habitat preferences.

Mr Norman, who spent 14 years researching the sharks at Western Australia's pristine Ningaloo reef, has developed his worldwide project to identify individual whale sharks and monitor their status and abundance.

Individual divers and tourists with ordinary cameras will photograph whale sharks and log the images onto an international online database that will identify individual fish from the spots on their sides.

Mr Norman said the whale shark was worth saving.

"It is a big, beautiful and charismatic animal, and not dangerous," Mr Norman said.

"Ningaloo's whale sharks draw more than 5000 visitors a year, mainly from April to June, generating ecotourism worth an estimated $US10 million ($13.22 million), and prove that a live whale shark earns far more than a dead one."

Rolex Awards described as "visionary" Mr Norman's proposal to involve thousands of ordinary people in the conservation of the whale sharks.

Mr Norman will use his $US100,000 ($132,000) award money to devote two years to training local authorities, tourism operators and 20 research assistants around the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans to observe, record and protect whale sharks.

[Deep Sea Fishing]

Good stuff Elena and to the site.

Sorry you got seasick but for some people, that's life.

Good report too and good on ya for getting the biggest fish of the day.

Keep at it.

cheers,

Pete.

[60 Ft Rogue Wave Hits Trawler]

I had a similar frightening experience that almost cost me my life in the 1960's when I was just 15 years old.

I was at Mallacoota and was going outside on a mate, Steve Casement's 48 foot trawler

named the Gyp-Sea.

Steve was still in the process of refitting his wheelhouse, so he had sea ply boards

attached to the side of the wheelhouse as well as temporary glass widows in the front.

We were going out to pick up his cray pots with four adults and me on board.

The Mallacoota bar can be a treacherous place at the best of times, but this day was as calm as a cucumber.

As we got half way over the bar, a huge wave, estimated to be over 30 feet suddenly came out of no-where, right in front of the boat. Two friends were standing on the point overlooking the bar and they said they have never seen anything like this wave.

It struck us right in front of the wheelhouse, smashing the glass and tearing the sides off the wheelhouse.

I was seated nearest the stern and the force of this wave swept us all backwards with all the cray pots, ropes and flying glass and sea ply.

I was swept over the stern and one of my mates managed to grab the cuff of my pants as I was going over the back. He saved my life that day!

None of us were injured thankfully, apart from Steve who had a few minor cuts from flying glass.

It killed the engine and swamped the boat. We were taking on water from split boards as this was a clinker built boat

Luckily it was a one off wave, as if there had been a following wave, we would have capsized and been in the shite big time.

Steve lost all his gear, most of it washing up on the long beach days after, but all smashed to bits.

We were all rescued by Steve's brother Dave who came out in his trawler and towed us back in.

By this stage, the boat was just about underwater

It was the most terrifying event in my entire life and I wouldn't go over that bar for about a year after that.

These freak waves can happen anywhere, anytime and are bloody scary.

Here's a pic of the boat being towed back to Mallacoota.

This is Mallacoota bar

[Blue Monday!]

Terrible news. I hope he makes a full and swift recovery.

Get well soon Reel em In.

Cheers,

Pete

[Hoodlums Of Sydney Harbour]

Well done Kelvin. Congrats to to the young fella, I bet he was stoked too.

Great to see kings of that size in the harbour.

Wish I could land just one of the buggers.

pete.

[Morse Code Makes Comeback In Sea Rescue]

I think this bloke can thank his lucky stars he's still with us. Fancy taking no safety equipment at all

when going to sea!!

Morse code makes comeback in sea rescue

Morse code, the dots and dashes signalling system first used at sea on the Titanic and long since consigned to the scrapheap, made a triumphant comeback this week in the rescue of a stranded fisherman.

The man had run aground near Hayling Island on the south coast when his boat began taking on water. He had no modern safety aids and no phone - but it was dark and he did have a torch.

Using the code's legendary short and long flashes, he managed to communicate the S-O-S distress message to the coastguard building, where rescue officer Steve Mann was on duty.

"I was absolutely amazed to see the flashed SOS message," Mann, 31, told Reuters.

"I never thought I would ever see it. My colleagues, who have been here for about 12 years, have never heard of such a case before. It is very unconventional."

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Morse "never happens any more".

Nowadays most seamen have VHF radio, flares or at least mobile phones, if they are inshore, to send an emergency message.

But the fisherman, who had transferred all his safely equipment from his 28ft fishing vessel onto a new boat, had none of these for his trip from Emsworth to nearby Thornham Marina on Thursday evening. Just the torch.

Morse code is no longer part of Coastguard training.

Mann, who has been with the Coastguard for the past two years, added: "I have just picked up bits of Morse along the way."

He added: "This man was caught out on the one occasion he went to sea with absolutely no safety equipment.

"Even without radio communication, going to sea without even a portable flare is extremely dangerous and could cost you your life."

[Call For Clampdown On Illegal Fishers]

Call for clampdown on illegal fishers

THE world's governments need to work more closely to clamp down on illegal fishing, delegates at an international marine resources conference say.

Government scientists and decision-makers from more than 30 countries are meeting for two weeks in Hobart at the conference organised by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Dr Ghislaine Llewellyn of WWF Australia said there needed to be more collaboration between government departments to produce better monitoring of vessels plundering ocean stocks.

"Last month in Australia we saw the successful prosecution of the master and fishing master of the pirate vessel the Taruman," Dr Llewellyn said.

"We'd like to see agreement on greater international collaboration to identify and prosecute the owners of boats who flaunt the rules and regulations put in place to safeguard fish populations and marine ecosystems in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters."

The Cambodian-licensed FV Taruman was found to have been fishing illegally for patagonian toothfish in the Australian fishing zone near Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean in June last year.

The 76m vessel remains impounded in Hobart after it was seized by Australian fishery officers.

WWF Australia said illegal fishing operations were hurting already-threatened fish stocks and killing albatross and other seabirds getting caught in their lines.

David Carter, of Austral fisheries, said illegal operations were hurting legitimate fishing operators trying to do the right thing in the Southern Ocean.

Mr Carter said more stringent mechanisms were needed to create a real deterrent to illegal operators.

"We want to see governments agree to share data on vessel owners, agree to manage their vessels in accordance to agreed international arrangements, and create mechanisms to identify and prosecute the owners of vessels," Mr Carter said.

[Introducing....... The Aquarium]

Excellent addition to the site.

This site just get's better & better.

Cheers,

Pete

[Another Ratbag Nation Starts Whaling]

Some background on these turkey's justification in resuming whaling:

I hope our government now suspends ALL trade with Iceland over this.

It's not a lot of trade, but with their very small population, I'm sure any

suspension of trade with them will hurt them economically.

Stand up Australia and show these idiots that it's just NOT ON!!!

Enough of my rant.

Pete.

_________________________________________

ICELAND'S decision to approve new commercial hunting for minke and fin whales has confirmed a resurgence in whaling.

Icelandic whaling company Hvalur said it planned to start hunting immediately despite the onset of the North Atlantic winter and the whales' annual migration to warmer waters.

"What's most important for us is to get started," Hvalur chief executive Kristjan Loftsson said. "Our aim is to test all systems this year."

His Government's decision to licence a kill of 30 minkes and nine fins was announced on Tuesday by Fisheries Minister Einar Gudfinnsson.

It follows years of manoeuvring by Iceland to resume a commercial hunt, marks the failure of an international environmental campaign against it and foreshadows a larger kill for trade, possibly to Japan.

Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell said the decision was a disgrace. He said it would increase the devastating human impact on the world's whales and damage Iceland's international standing.

Reykjavik moved after whalers won a non-binding but strongly symbolic vote that declared the world moratorium on commercial whaling was no longer necessary at the past meeting of the International Whaling Commission in June.

"The resumption of sustainable whaling is clearly in line with the will of the majority of IWC members," the Icelandic Government said in a statement.

Like Norway, under IWC rules Iceland is free of the 1982 moratorium because it lodged an objection to it. But unlike Norway, which was the last nation to take up a commercial hunt in 1994, Iceland's actual membership of the IWC is controversial.

It was allowed to vote itself in with the objection already in hand in 2002 during a confused debate brought on unexpectedly. Australia was among nations to strenuously reject the validity of Iceland's objection.

Iceland used the IWC's scientific whaling loophole to relaunch its industry, taking 161 minkes for so-called research purposes.

The Icelandic Government said the IWC's scientific committee had accepted stock estimates that showed minkes and fins were abundant in the North Atlantic. The fin is listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union.

"The world needs to see that commercial whaling is sustainable and a normal result of marine resource management," a spokesman for Japanese whaling interests said.

Greenpeace and other environment groups campaigned strenuously in Iceland against a resumption of commercial whaling, warning the damage to its reputation could affect tourism, and polling the country to show that 82 per cent of its 16 to 24-year-olds never ate whale.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare's whales campaigner, Darren Kindleysides, said this foreshadowed a bid by pro-whaling nations to remove the second pillar standing against commercial whaling, a trade ban.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has bans on whale meat trade. "Clearly there is a bigger move by whaling nations to get CITES to relax the trade," Mr Kindleysides said.

"This is another example of a whaling nation thinking it can act outside the will of the international community."

[Another Ratbag Nation Starts Whaling]

Geez...just when you thought it couldn't get worse..now another ratbag nation, Iceland starts killing whales again.

When will these people learn that there's no justification in killing whales!!

These animals are close to extinction and they just thumb their noses at the rest of the civilised world.

It makes me fume when I read stuff like this.

Iceland slammed on whaling

AUSTRALIA'S Environment Minister Ian Campbell says Iceland is sticking two fingers in the air to the international community by killing a whale species listed as close to extinction.

Icelandic whalers reportedly yesterday broke a 21-year-old international ban on whaling when they harpooned the first fin whale since a moratorium was imposed in 1985.

Fin whales, the second largest species on the planet, are rated an endangered species on a red list compiled by the World Conservation Union but Iceland says they are plentiful in the north Atlantic.

"This is not just sticking a harpoon into a species that's endangered," Senator Campbell said.

"You wonder how Iceland could be a member of the global community with an act like this.

"This is really sticking two fingers in the air at the entire global community, the entire international, environmental institutional arrangements."

Senator Campbell, who has led efforts to have the International Whaling Commission turned into a conservation body, said Iceland was really saying the concerns of the global community really did not matter.

"They can't be taken seriously on any environmental issue in the future," he said.

Senator Campbell said that, without anything else going wrong, fin whales were close to extinction.

[China's Hairy Crabs Spark Health Scare]

da hally clab

Yummm.. Looks Sooooo appetising eh?

Wonder if you have to pick the hair out of your teeth for weeks.

[China's Hairy Crabs Spark Health Scare]

Hmmmm.. sounds like something you should go see a doctor about!

Hairy crabs!!1 Yikes

China's hairy crabs spark health scare

CHINA'S food standards watchdog has urged tighter quality control after Taiwan health officials detected a carcinogen in a shipment of hairy crabs exported from eastern China.

Health officials in Taiwan this week impounded a batch of hairy crabs from Jiangsu province's Yangcheng Lake after some 3000kg were found to contain nitrofuran, an antibiotic linked to cancer.

"In order to guarantee hairy crab exports meet relevant national and regional import hygiene standards, all inspection organisations must conduct full quality supervision, from breeding grounds to export checks," the General Administration of Quality Supervision said.

China's crab farmers, however, nipped back at the claims, defending the quality of their exports, and challenging the media and Taiwan's health officials to visit Yangcheng Lake and conduct further tests, the China Daily said.

"They can catch any crab in the fresh water and take their own tests," Yang Weilong, a crab exporter, told the paper.

"We will take full responsibility if problems are found in our crabs. If not, they should take full responsibility," Mr Yang said.

Around 10 per cent of China's Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs - regarded a delicacy throughout Asia - are exported to markets including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Several health scares have plagued China's freshwater exports in recent years.

In August 2005, South Korean officials found carcinogens in imported Chinese carp at a wholesale market.

Shortly before, exports of Chinese-farmed eels to Hong Kong were discovered to contain malachite green, a cancer-causing chemical used by fish farmers to kill parasites, but banned in China and many other countries.

[Warm Seas Lure Sharks To Beaches]

Warm seas lure sharks to beaches

SHARK numbers off Sydney's beaches have increased by nearly 40 per cent in the past year.

They have been attracted by warmer water temperatures.

Surf Life Saving figures show there were 171 shark alarms in the 2005-06 summer season, an increase on 124 the previous year.

Recorded shark sightings on Sydney's eastern beaches more than doubled from 19 in 2004-05 to 45 in 2005-06.

Despite the increase, data shows fewer are being caught in nets on NSW beaches.

About 92 sharks were caught in nets in the 12 months to June 2006 compared to 132 in 2004-05, according to the Department of Primary Industries.

The shark season begins next month. Experts predict the warmer weather will attract more sharks off the beaches of Sydney and say they will swim closer to shore.

The Australian Aerial Patrol spotted sharks during 56 of 118 surveillance flights last summer.

"Statistics show that over the past five years, there has been an increase in shark numbers," AAP general manager Harry Mitchell said.

"The migration is happening right now. White pointers, probably the most dangerous, migrate to the southern ocean. They are going right past our beaches.

"The sharks are coming much closer to shore. They like the warmer conditions."

UNSW school of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences senior lecturer, Dr Iain Suthers, said there could be much more activity this summer.

"It is entirely possible we have a resident population of bull sharks in Sydney Harbour."

Surf Life Saving chief executive officer Phillip Vanny said sharks were more common around Bondi, Coogee, Maroubra, Clovelly and Bronte.

A NSW Surf Life Saving spokesman said nets at 52 beaches across Sydney have reduced the number of larger sharks but do not deter the smaller-sized sharks.

Shark sightings at record high - and rising

SWIMMERS beware - shark sightings have reached record highs with more expected this summer.

There were 171 shark alarms in NSW in 2005/06 compared with 124 in 2004/05, figures from Surf Life Saving NSW show.

The data also reveals more sharks were sighted last summer off Sydney beaches since shark-sighting records have been kept.

Alarms rose from 47 to 80 across all Sydney metropolitan beaches in the 12 months to the end of June.

In Sydney, north of the harbour, shark sightings went from 28 to 35, while south of Port Jackson, they more than doubled from 19 to 45. Nationally sightings increased from 290 in 2004/05 to 377 in 2005/06.

And more sharks are expected to be sighted as water temperatures rise and large schools of migrating fish such as Australian salmon, swim along the coast.

John West, curator of the Australian Shark Attack File, said shark numbers were tied to the food source and the more food there was, the more animals would be feeding on it.

"But you have more chance dying on your way to the beach than from a shark attack. Having said that, swimming in dirty, murky water at dawn or dusk is probably not a good thing to do," Mr West said.

Anglers who soak large baits off the Sydney beaches after dark in search of prized jewfish have encountered more sharks lately than any other fish.

Local fishing guide no no no said he regularly tangled with whaler and hammerhead sharks in summer in the harbour, while tiger and great white sharks travel just off the coast.

From tomorrow Sydney's coast will be patrolled by a new shark-spotting service called SurfWatch with the state announcing funding for more helicopter and power-ski patrols.

Surf Life Saving NSW communications officer Brett Moore said the new equipment and pre-existing rescue boats would be used to shepherd the sharks back out to sea.

"Our role as surf lifesavers is to patrol the beaches and protect the people. And in the ocean, there will be shark sightings," Mr Moore said.

Typically the sharks that inhabit the surf are metre-long whaler sharks, but in past summers bull sharks to more than two metres in length have been seen chasing fish around the Heads.

In 1999, a three-metre bull shark was netted by commercial fishers off Grotto Point in Middle Harbour and in just a few metres of water.

The great white is a protected species in NSW waters, but last summer, anglers landed numerous baby great white sharks off Stockton Beach, just north of Newcastle, in what appears to be a breeding ground.

But the incidence of shark attacks remains low, with seven to eight cases for an average of 1.1 fatalities a year around more than 27,000 kilometres of Australian coastline.

The latest shark fatality was in January when 21-year-old Sarah Whiley was mauled at North Stradbroke Island in south-east Queensland.

That death prompted a shark summit in April that has resulted in the NSW Government announcing it will increase shark patrols this summer.

[Japan Agrees To Halve Its Catch Quota For Southern Bluefin Tuna]

Finally some action taken against Japan over their illegal over fishing

of Southern Bluefin Tuna. About bloody time too!!

Japan agrees to halve its catch quota for southern bluefin tuna

Japan's annual fishing quota for southern bluefin tuna will be halved to 3,000 tons for five years starting in 2007, from 6,065 tons in 2006, the Fisheries Agency said Monday.

Japan accepted the cut after admitting overfishing during a four-day meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna that ended Friday in the city of Miyazaki, the agency said.

The bluefin and southern bluefin tuna are particularly popular in Japan for their "toro," or tuna belly meat, but stocks of both fish have been falling rapidly due to overfishing.

Most southern bluefin caught around the world is sold in Japan, which imports roughly 10,000 tons annually. It is used mostly for sushi and sashimi.

Representatives from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and the European Commission attended the meeting and decided on the new quotas.

Of those in attendance, Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand are members of the body.

According to the agency, the participants agreed to cut their combined catch of southern bluefin tuna by some 20 percent to 11,530 tons for 2007, down from 14,030 tons for 2006, out of concern over declining stocks.

Australia will maintain its quota of 5,265 tons, while South Korea and Taiwan will each see their quotas fall 12 percent to 1,000 tons.

The new quotas will be effective for five years for Japan and three years for the other countries.

The meeting in Miyazaki is the first time the Canberra-based commission has agreed to reduce quotas since its inception in 1994.

The WWF, an international conservation group, welcomed Japan's acceptance of the sharp cut in its quota but said the agreement was insufficient to rebuild southern bluefin tuna stocks because Australia's quota was left unchanged.

"Considering the fact that almost all of Australia's catch is exported to Japan, Japanese consumers need to seriously think about the issue of how to manage tuna stocks," said the WWF's Arata Izawa.

At present, the Japanese and Australian quotas account for 80 percent of the total catch, and the two countries have criticized each other for exceeding their allowable catch.

Japan was the only member slapped with a substantial quota reduction for so long a period. The measure was partly intended to punish Japan for its overfishing, which came to light earlier this year and drew flak from many countries, participants said.

During the meeting, the Japanese delegation admitted the nation exceeded its 6,065-ton quota of southern bluefin in 2005 by some 1,800 tons.

There are five international bodies that oversee tuna stocks.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas is to discuss cuts in fishing quotas for bluefin tuna at its annual meeting in November.

The moves by the conservation bodies are expected to push tuna prices higher at a time when demand is rising in countries other than Japan.

[Family Punters Club]

Well done TunofFun..a good return there.

Bad luck Mick on Smokin Joe.

I managed a nice 10x10 win on R4 with Biscayne Bay though..so I'm a happy punter.

Better luck next Saturday.

Cheers,

Pete

[Friday Fishy News - October 20]

Thanks for that Flattieman.

I thought they were closely related..just that the goliath must eat more weeties.

Cheers,

Pete.

[Shark Hangouts]

Did anyone see Nine's news tonight with a story on Great White Sharks

and how they appear to congregate in three particular areas off N.S.W. each year to feed before moving south.

Quite an interesting theory if it's accurate.

Probably accounts for the large number of shark sightings in these locations each year.

Check the video report out on their website:

http://ninemsn.video.msn.com/v/en-au/v.htm...p;mediaid=26925

Pete.

[Friday Fishy News - October 20]

Thanks again Flattieman..Some gooduns this week.

What about those Goliath Groper eh? I wonder how closely related to our Groper they are?

Have you ever seen a pic of one?

I hope they keep 'em protected like ours.

Looking forward to next Friday's offerings.

Cheers,

Pete.

[Narra Lagoon]

Just a quicky to see how narra lagoon is fishing at the moment. was thinking about a whiting session around the mouth on the weekend. Any ideas as to when it was lat open?

G'day SirBattler.

I fished the lake today for one lonely flattie (45cm) and a smallish bream (both released).

it seems the lake is still waking up but the fish are in there..just gotta get 'em hooked!

Hooked a bloody big stingray there last week and it peeled all my line off before I managed to stop him,

so be careful wading at the moment.(wear something on your feet) There are quite a few in there.

The entrance is still undergoing sand dredging on the eastern side of the Ocean St bridge so access is difficult at the moment.

You can still fish the western side of the bridge in front of the caravan park as they haven't started

dredging there yet.

The entrance is currently closed while they do the dredging. It was last open about a month ago but didn't last very long before naturally closing again.

It's hoped after they finish taking the sand away to Collaroy Beach, the entrance will stay open longer.

Good luck on the whiting. There have been a few locals getting a few here and there lately.

Chers,

Pete.

[Stranded Fishermen Survive Nine Months At Sea]

Three Mexican shark fishermen survived nine months at sea in a small boat by eating raw birds and fish and drinking rain water as they drifted thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean.

The fishermen said they left their home town of San Blas on Mexico's Pacific coast last November and were blown 8,000km off course after their 8-metre fibreglass boat ran out of gas and they were left to the mercy of the winds and the tides.

Their families had given them up for dead but they found a way to survive.

"We ate raw fish, ducks, sea gulls. We took down any bird that landed on our boat and we ate it like that, raw," said Jesus Vidana, one of the three survivors, in an interview with a Mexican radio station from the ship that rescued them.

The odyssey finally ended when Vidana and the other two men, identified as Salvador Ordonez and Lucio Rendon, were rescued last week by a Taiwanese tuna fishing trawler in waters between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

"They were very skinny and very hungry," Eugene Muller, the manager of the fishing company that found them, said.

The three men were sunburned but were otherwise in good shape. Vidana said he and his crew mates always believed they would be found.

"We never lost hope because we were always seeing boats.

"They passed us by, but we kept on seeing them. Every week or so, sometimes we'd go a month without seeing one, but we always saw them so we never lost hope."

It was not clear why none of the boats stopped for the Mexicans earlier on, and they were lucky to be picked up in the end because they were fast asleep and only noticed the rescue boat was coming for them when they heard its engine.

Details of the extraordinary journey were sketchy, in part because of language difficulties between the Mexican fishermen and the Taiwanese trawler crew.

The first reports were that they had been lost for three months, and Muller said he thought they were drifting for 11 months.

Vidana and relatives in San Blas said they set out on their dramatic fishing trip last November.

Muller said he understood that there were five men aboard the boat when it set out from San Blas, and that two of them jumped overboard a few days into their ordeal. But Vidana made no mention of any missing fishermen.

In San Blas, relatives and friends of the fishermen had given up hope and were astonished to hear of their survival.

"I lived so sad ... Now that I know my grandson is alive, I just want him to come home," Francisca Perez, the grandmother of Lucio Rendon, told the Televisa news station."

"There are no words to express it. The emotion here is very strong because we thought they were dead," said Efrain Partida, a fellow fisherman from the small village.

Mexico's government is sending an official to meet the survivors in the Marshall Islands when the trawler that picked them up returns to port in a couple of weeks. The government will then help them return home.

A follow up on those hapless Mexican fishermen lost at sea back in August for 9 months.

It looks like they have done very well from their ordeal.

Pete.

______________________________________

Fishermen's ordeal set to make them rich amigos

MEXICO CITY: Three Mexicans who spent nine months drifting across the Pacific Ocean in a flimsy fishing boat eating raw fish and seabirds are to be paid at least $US3.8 million ($5 million) to turn their story into a movie.

The three - all fishermen who said they were too poor to afford a better boat or modern fishing equipment - have signed a contract to sell their story to an Atlanta-based company, said a Mexican Government official in San Blas, the fishing town where they began their odyssey.

The company negotiated eight-year exclusive rights to market the story to film companies, book publishers and merchandisers, said Silverio Aspericueta, part of a team of federal, state and municipal officials that led the negotiations on the men's behalf.

The final amount could be higher, Mr Aspericueta said. "The $3.8 million, they said it could be double that. That is a base."

The men were feared lost when their eight-metre fibreglass boat ran into trouble off Mexico's Pacific coast last November.

As their families gave them up for dead, they drifted more than 8000 kilometres before being picked up in August by a Taiwanese tuna trawler near the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific.

The three had survived by catching birds and fish to eat and drinking rainwater - and occasionally their own urine.

The men initially faced investigations because some doubted their claim that they meant to fish for shark when they set off from a coast known as a major drug trafficking highway. However, the Government has found no evidence they were smugglers.

Mr Aspericueta said the company is negotiating with several movie companies, including Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures. "We became famous overnight," he said from San Blas.

[Man Dead After Being Swept Off Beach]

ONE man has died and a teenage boy is in a critical condition after being swept off rocks at a beach in Sydney's south east.

A third man is in a stable condition in hospital after being rescued from the water near Malabar Beach about 3pm (AEST) today.

Four men were fishing off rocks at Boora Point when two of the men were swept into the ocean, a NSW Police spokesman said.

"A third man dived in after to rescue the men," the spokesman said.

All three had to be rescued by lifeguards after struggling in deep water about 40m off the beach, a Westpac Helicopter spokeswoman said.

One man died at the scene while a 17-year-old boy had to be airlifted to Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital.

He remained in a critical but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The third man, 18, was taken to Prince of Wales Hospital by ambulance and was in a stable condition, the spokeswoman said.

The age of the deceased man is not yet known.

A follow up on this tragic story in today's Australian.

Final act of a hero

A SYDNEY man who drowned in an attempt to save two rock fishermen from boiling seas, will be nominated for a posthumous bravery award.

Tu-Binh Ly became a victim of the most dangerous recreational pastime in NSW when he dived into two-metre waves off rocks at Malabar Beach last Saturday.

About seven rock fishermen are killed annually despite moves in recent years to install safety features at dangerous fishing spots.

Last week anglers continued to ignore threatening seas and risked their lives by fishing from the rocks where Mr Ly died.

Mr Ly was fishing with two friends - Jimmy Ngo and Thuan Dinh - when a big wave washed Mr Ngo off the rocks near Boora Pt around 3pm.

Mr Dinh dived in after him but quickly got into trouble, followed by Mr Ly as his distraught girlfriend dialled triple-0.

An ambulance was initially wrongly directed to nearby Maroubra Beach, where two lifeguards took to the water before discovering the correct location of the incident some seven minutes later.

When beach inspectors Kevin Davidson and Josh Maree arrived at Malabar aboard a jet ski, they found the three men floating among fishing equipment 75m from a rock shelf.

"One bloke was floating (on his back) and was breathing like a fish with two arms out,'' Mr Maree recalled last week.

"Another was face down with his head about half a foot under the water, and across from him again was another guy who was in dire straits - he was going under.''

After a quick triage assessment, Mr Davidson dived in and hauled one breathing victim on to a sled behind the ski.

He pinned the exhausted man by lying on him face down and hooked the dead man's armpits behind his knees.

Meanwhile, Mr Maree untangled the third patient from fishing line and hauled him up.

He said the dead man had suffered serious wounds after being smashed against rocks.

Surf Lifesaving Australia spokesman Sean O'Connell said the heroic fishermen would be considered for a posthumous meritorious award.

"SLSA's meritorious awards recognise surf lifesavers and members of the public who have demonstrated outstanding deeds of bravery,'' he said.

Police have expressed their support for such a move.

"It's an heroic act to dive into the water in an attempt to save another person's life,'' Acting Inspector Winston Woodward of Maroubra Police said.

Rock anglers continued to ignore dangerous seas last week despite the Malabar fatality and another incident in which fishermen were swept into the sea at Clovelly.

Meanwhile, brothers Manuel and Pablo Gonzalez fished between Bronte and Tamarama on Tuesday despite the death of their uncle while rock fishing several years ago.

"Today it's rough but it's not coming over us,'' Manuel, wearing rock cleats and enjoying a beer, said. "We have been fishing here for a long time.''

Bronte lifeguard Terry McDermott kept an eye on the brothers after closing Bronte early in the day.

"No professional lifeguard worth their salt would be at ease on patrol if a rock fisherman is there most of the day,'' he said.

Angel ring lifebuoys have helped prevent 24 similar drownings in the past 10 years.

The Australian National Sports Fishing Association has installed 80 rings at popular coastal fishing spots and produced DVDs and other educational material in foreign languages. But there are no rings at the scene of Saturday's tragedy.

"We need help from the Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities to get all our translated material out there into their communities,'' National Safety Officer Stan Konstantaras said.

"If you can't swim, don't fish on rocks - find a more sheltered location to fish and always wear a life jacket.''

[Sunrise..sunset]

Truly beatutiful pics Blackfish.

A great time of the day, I agree. A pity I'm usually tucked up in bed then.

Thanks for sharing them.

Pete.

[Endylagout Island 2006]

Fantastic report Mondo.

MORE PICS...MORE PICS...MORE PICS... Pleeeasee!

They are absolutely terrific.

Pete.

[Friday Fishy News - October 13]

Thanks for another fine collection Flattie.

I was intrigued by the bounty story on pikeminnows.

"

Vasilchuk, who drives a cab when he's not fishing, was about to catch his 4,786th northern pikeminnow since the May 1 start of the bounty season. He was going to add another $8 to the total he has earned in catching these silvery fish with a long snout and a mouth that can open to 1 ½-2 inches."

Wouldn't that be a great idea to put a bounty on carp in our river systems and have

bounty hunters paid to get rid of them.

Perhaps this has been suggested before and knocked back for some reason but it to me seems

a win/win situation just to rid ourselves of these introduced pests.

Hey...maybe leatherjackets next LOLOL

Pete.