Non compliance rife in Port Stephens

[row]

Port Stephens Examiner 080109

[row]

It comes as no surprise to me this level of non compliance, I have fished these waterways for 40 years and even I have trouble defining exactly where I am in relation to the sanctuary zones, a visitor who is unfamiliar with the area would have no chance, couple this with poor signage and the fact that there are so many signs around telling you what you can and cannot do in this over regulated environment that to stop and read them all would mean you spent your entire holiday reading the rules and never actually got time to do anything, If you sit in the front bar of the Country Club hotel at Shoal Bay overlooking the wharf you can see 25 signs on the foreshore.
Some of the boundaries are not on the correct GPS mark, so the MPA are fudging the boundaries, and a lot of boundaries are just not marked.
It's totally wrong to be running around spoiling peoples hard earned holidays simply because they strayed into a sanctuary zone, and on top of that giving them a criminal record, I can't wait to get rid of this arrogant, selfish political party and roll back these useless sanctuary zones.
By the way did you know that in their effort to decide what to do about the Myall river fish kill which was the result of insufficient tidal flushing, the MPA in all their wisdom decided to do nothing, leave nature to her ways is their panacea.
Yeah that's real smart, let the river silt up and turn to a rotting, putrefying mess, used to be pristine waterways. damn fools.

[CEO]

  The MPA's problems are not confined to Port Stephens,  Row. They are the same all up and down the coast. We were promised at marine park advisory committee meetings that zone boundaries would be clearly marked by large yellow MPA buoys. Another marine park lie. I can't recall anything they told communities that was truthful! Anyway, you can't blame the average punter. Government marine parks don't belong to the community. Therefore they don't respect them. It is a circus every day in their Cape Byron Political Park, blokes in speedos, sunnys and a hat catching a few worms or pipis in one of their sanctuary zones. Amd the "fun police" demand to see a licence? Locals laugh every day at the gestapo like tactics of the MPA and the "get out of my face," response of the budgie smuggler wearers. The speedos are aptly named because the wearers are able to beat a "speedy" retreat, leaving a red faced MPA fun policeperson to the jeers of the crowd. It happens every day at low tide.

[CEO]

  Perhaps a more appropriate caption alongside the photo should have been "Anglers frustrated at marine park zonings."

[CEO]

 250 infringement notices issued over the Xmas period up to 7th January. Certainly is a high level of non-compliance as Row rightly points out. But it is much worse than that. For every family fisher the "fun police" catch at least a dozen others go undetected. So it is a huge level of non-compliance and the "fun police" can't be everywhere all the time. 250 x 12 - you calculate it.

[CEO]

NON COMPLIANCE RIFE !
                                 ECOfishers - the voice of NSW recreational fishers, has been able to ascertain the following alarming figures, concerning NON COMPLIANCE, in the government's Port Stephens marine park.
   2008 - 2009 904 enforcement actions
   2009 - 2010 701 enforcement actions.
Those detected were recreational fishing males, aged between 20 to 50 years old. And that is omly what the "fun police," detected. Imagine the real picture! It is a reflection of the common problem in all government marine parks, that of NON COMPLIANCE. Clearly there is currently, low public support. Simply, they are not working. Time for a "real change," ECOfishers thinks!
                          HEALTY HABITATS = HEALTHY FISHERIES.

[CEO]

   Fly Point - Comie Island  and Cabbage Tree Island, were both hot-spots for non-compiance, 2009 to 2010.
                             HEALTHY HABITATS = HEALTHY FISHERIES.