REFLECTING on the last few seasons’ rock fishing in and just outside Sydney Harbour, I can honestly say it’s the most consistent it’s been since the 1970s. My targets are mainly luderick and rock blackfish these days but the boat boys and girls I talk to reckon the kingies, mulloway, bonito, whiting and trevally are similarly plentiful and seasonally reliable.
We can thank cleaning up the Harbour for some of this, and it’s no coincidence that during the initial big advances of the 1990s the NSW Environment Protection Agency was led by an avid angler (and qualified vet). Having said that, lots of species (admittedly not the pelagics) really didn’t mind a bit of dirty water, and in fact were easier to catch when the water was discoloured and not too clear.
What I think helped turn the corner was really the result of chance. A few years back, the remaining endorsed professional fishermen working the Harbour and their families were tested for a range of chemical residues. They all ate an awful lot of Harbour-caught fish, particularly from west of the Bridge and not too far from the old Union Carbide site. Their residue levels were assessed as being unreasonably high.
So we anglers received an unplanned windfall: the Harbour was closed to commercial fishing, at least for the foreseeable future. Another major estuary was thus added to the “official” list of recreational fishing havens (RFHs) established under the now much-vilified Eddie Obeid … who happened to be an excellent fisheries minister.
As with the formal RFHs along the coast, including Botany Bay, once the nets and traps were out the rec fishing improved dramatically. There are action groups trying to get other estuaries added in, such as Sydney’s Pittwater, and it will be interesting to see if the local member Rob Stokes’ initial support continues now that he’s in a key Cabinet role. From the Fisheries side, there are worrying signs of tinkering with the existing RFH commercial prohibitions.
Seems to me the big advances only occur when you’ve got an angler or someone very sympathetic to angling in a key Cabinet role, whether that’s federally or in the states and territories. That means they’re in the Labor, Liberal or National parties. Minor parties, whatever they’re called, just block and do deals. The big advances in angling’s political prominence in the UK occurred when our colleague and then Labour MP Martin Salter was Parliamentary Spokesman on Angling. We’ve got nothing like that sort of role here.
Despite the best efforts of KAF and ANSA and other representative bodies before them, we still don’t have a true champion on the inside right now. Malcolm Fraser loved trout fishing but he’s too old to make a comeback. So national fisheries policy is dominated by commercial fishing concerns, like estimating about how many small pelagics can be harvested by trawlers to make a quid, not really about looking a long way into the future and considering the value of angling as a pursuit in itself (healthy lifestyle, companionship etc) and its economic value to the communities and businesses that depend on it.
Amongst the millions of Australian anglers and thousands of those who read Fisho, there must be some who are members of our major political parties. You might even be on state or federal electoral councils or other party support bodies. OK, how about stepping up and agitating for a role like Martin had in the UK, or a very least getting rec fishing issues onto your local member’s radar?
John Newbery is Fishing World’s environment editor.
