National Parks Run Riot

[bayrunner]

Here's one you need to know:

The South Coast Fishing Clubs Association recently asked Booderee National Park management certain questions about fishing in and around the park. The national park occupies the south side of Jervis Bay including some of the waters of the bay.

Firstly, park management told the association that they could use the boatramp at Murray's beach to access waters outside the park providing fishers paid the access fees.

I take issue with this. The boatramp was there before the park was established. Fishers use it to access NSW waters on the other side of the park. The NSW waters and the fish they contain are the common property of all Australians and are not managed by national parks. It is my understanding park managers are required to provide access for people who are isolated from their traditional activities or property by the establishment of a national park. In this case they have, but they are charging a toll.

In the case of rock fishers, national parks have not honoured their access obligations. Again this is a traditional activity that dates back over a hundred years and again they are charging a toll for us to pass through their park to get at our fish in NSW waters. Allot of the time fishers are even standing below the high water mark, in NSW! Park management rules prohibit visitors from leaving designated tracks to get to the rocks, no matter how close the track is. This has ruled out hundreds of fishing spots.

Boat ramps and access to foreshore controlled by local governments are free. Why are public ramps and foreshore in national parks any different?

Secondly, fishers were told they couldn't fish or collect bait in the park if they were in a competition as per their management plan. They have even applied this ban to people fishing in competitions in the park while catching fish in NSW waters outside the park.

Fishing competitions are legal and socially acceptable activities. They are recognised by federal and state governments (see their various codes of conduct). What right has National Park management got to discriminate in this way?

Remember fishing competitions take many forms. Catch and eat, catch and release, species only, fish of the month, annual biggest of species and even records. The ban on competitions virtually excludes club members from fishing in the park at any time.

Finally, the park management plan was developed in 2002 and has been in force for five years. As far as I'm aware, there was no consultation with the NSWFCA, SCFCA, or with any of our 200 member clubs.

I don't think ANSA were consulted either. One of their number was aprehended recently for leaving a prescribed track to fish on the rocks.

Worse still, it appears none of these organisations were informed of the changes untill very recently. Our members have been fishing illegally in the area for five years.

Cheers

Bayrunner

Here's the text of the email:

Re: State Fishing Title

Dear (South Coast FCA Secretary),

Scott Suridge, Park Manager, has instructed that I reply to your email dated Wednesday 20th February 2008 notifying us that your association is hosting the NSW State Fishing Titles in April this year at Jervis Bay. We welcome your offer to copy and display Booderee National Park information to all competitors in relation to fishing within Park boundaries.

As you may be aware Booderee National Park is a Commonwealth Reserve and activities within the Park and it's waters are regulated under the EPBC Act and Regulation's. The Park also has a Management Plan, 2002 to 2009, in which Recreational Fishing and other collecting activities are discussed.

Prescription number 7.6.13 of the Booderee National Park Management Plan (page 89) does not allow for Fishing Competitions to be conducted in the Park or it's waters - and does not allow participants in fishing competitions to collect bait or fish in the Park waters (refer to attachment: booderee-mp-1.pdf (2 MB).

We would appreciate it if you could inform competitors that even though they cannot fish in Booderee National Park waters - if they do use Murray's Boat ramp to access the Jervis Bay Marine Park or waters seaward of the Jervis Bay Marine Park - each car will still have to pay the normal Park Use fee for Booderee National Park.

For general information I have included a copy of our Park Use Fees (refer to attachment: Park Use Fees.doc(35KB) and our Marine Activities Park Notes (refer to attachment: zoning.pdf).

Thanks again for contacting us

Regards

Leon Brown

A/g Legal and Education Officer

Booderee national Park

[huntman]

Firstly, the fee for using the park that you are so outraged about is $60 for two years, $40 a year, or $10 for a 48 hour pass. That's not really a big hit, and it allows the maintenance and upkeep of a very beautiful area. You would spend less than that in petrol for the day and you are helping contribute to the upkeep of the park and the great facilities there. I consider the fee a bargain compared to some of the other parks such as the snowy mountains park.

Secondly, the commonwealth waters are a very small slice of the bay, and while it does seem a little over the top that you cannot have your fishing comp within them, most of the fishing done at JB is outside these waters anyway.

I would advise you to enquire further about the nature of the ban on comps within commonwealth waters. There is a difference between fishing specifically for a competition, and entering a fish you caught that was quite big into a competition. From the sounds of the email it seems that the ban is only on the former.

I think it is easy to get angry at national parks just because of the crap that has been pulled elsewhere, but I don't think it is very smart, because if fishermen get fired up just at the mention of certain key words like "national parks" "marine parks" etc. then it will be very difficult to get support from the general community when injustice really does occur (eg. batemens bay marine park). The reaction from the general community will be "yeah the fishermen are angry again ho hum". The only gripe I have with JB, the marine park, and the booderee national park, is that it is sometimes difficult to tell where the boundaries are because there are more zone types than a normal marine park. If I had a GPS I suppose that would be a non-issue.

You guys are lucky to be able to fish such a beautiful, clean waterway regularly.

[Davemmm]

Nice reply Huntman. Couldn't have said it better.

Dave

[soft-on]

I agree with that too. Thats why i removed my whining post...

Soft-on

[Sir Reel]

Ok, so what I want to know is where does this money go? How much is it for parking, $12 - 14 per day with no hourlly or half day rates? It's a bit steep I think?

Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens

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Booderee National Park

IUCN Category II (National Park)

Nearest town/city: Sussex Inlet

Coordinates: 35°09′03″S, 150°38′43″E

Area: 63.12 km²

Managing authorities: Department of the Environment and Heritage

Wreck Bay Aboriginal community

Jervis Bay Territory Government

Official site: Booderee National Park

Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens are located in the Jervis Bay Territory of Australia. The reserve is composed of two sections:

the Bherwerre Peninsula, on the southern foreshore of Jervis Bay, Bowen Island and the waters of the south of the bay

lands bordered by Wreck Bay to the south, St Georges Basin to the north and Sussex Inlet to the west

What is now the national park was declared as a nature reserve in 1971. In 1992, Jervis Bay National Park was declared. Although the local Aboriginal community was offered two seats on the park's Board of Management, the offer was declined as part of a protest over land rights issues.

In 1995, the park was transferred to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community, which leases the area back to the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage. At this time, the name of the park was changed to "Booderee". The name, meaning 'bay of plenty' or 'plenty of fish' in the Dhurga language, was chosen by the local Aboriginal community.

[pjbink]

Regarding Jervis Bay, being a bay it is popular with small boats. Not many such craft will have a GPS. Even then you would need a GPS chart plotter with map inlay of the latest green zones to be sure your not fishing in one. Recently a retired police officer and his fishing partner were fined, made to pay court costs and given criminal convictions for fishing just inside a green zone - even though they hadn't caught anything and didn't have a GPS and there being only one marker bouy present.

A leading monthly fishing magazine describes what happened to the ANSA angler mentioned in this thread. A LBG angler had climbed down a cliff to a rock platform in the Booderee National Park. There was a bit of swell around but not dangerous so he set about fishing.

After a while he spots a boat which he recognises as belonging to the Park rangers approaches and comes right up to the rocks. The rangers and police officers on board tell him to jump onto the boat as the rocks are to dangerous! He says no way, I'll climb back out - looking at the jagged rocks and the boat lurching up and down. No, your not allowed to do that! Other rangers on the cliff instruct him to tie his rods and gear to the rope and they proceed to smash his rods against the cliffs on the way up. They tell him if he doesn't board the boat they will pick him up by helicopter at his own expense! So he makes the leap into the boat and gets castigated for swearing at the rangers for damaging his gear and gets told he will be fined as well.

The park manager stands by the action saying "it was consistent with our safety concerns" and "these risks are not acceptable in a national park".

[Kingyfisher]

Firstly, the fee for using the park that you are so outraged about is $60 for two years, $40 a year, or $10 for a 48 hour pass. That's not really a big hit, and it allows the maintenance and upkeep of a very beautiful area. You would spend less than that in petrol for the day and you are helping contribute to the upkeep of the park and the great facilities there. I consider the fee a bargain compared to some of the other parks such as the snowy mountains park.

Secondly, the commonwealth waters are a very small slice of the bay, and while it does seem a little over the top that you cannot have your fishing comp within them, most of the fishing done at JB is outside these waters anyway.

I would advise you to enquire further about the nature of the ban on comps within commonwealth waters. There is a difference between fishing specifically for a competition, and entering a fish you caught that was quite big into a competition. From the sounds of the email it seems that the ban is only on the former.

I think it is easy to get angry at national parks just because of the crap that has been pulled elsewhere, but I don't think it is very smart, because if fishermen get fired up just at the mention of certain key words like "national parks" "marine parks" etc. then it will be very difficult to get support from the general community when injustice really does occur (eg. batemens bay marine park). The reaction from the general community will be "yeah the fishermen are angry again ho hum". The only gripe I have with JB, the marine park, and the booderee national park, is that it is sometimes difficult to tell where the boundaries are because there are more zone types than a normal marine park. If I had a GPS I suppose that would be a non-issue.

You guys are lucky to be able to fish such a beautiful, clean waterway regularly.

Very well said mate

May I also point out this has nothing to do with NSW NPWS

As you may be aware Booderee National Park is a Commonwealth Reserve and activities within the Park and it's waters are regulated under the EPBC Act and Regulation's. The Park also has a Management Plan, 2002 to 2009, in which Recreational Fishing and other collecting activities are discussed.

Kingyfisher

[Jewhunter]

Sorry all but I have just deleted a post in here that started with "I'm not a racist but". We all know where that leads.

This topic is getting out of hand.

I am not impressed.

CLOSED!