Drav, the ECOfishers staff were sitting around the office today mulling over your requests about involvement in ECOfishers initiatives. So we thought we might list some of the things we have done over the years, as an organized group, to enhance the quality of our fishing and the fishery resources. It's not an exhaustive list by any means but it is a couple of ideas of the easier and simpler things we have done
1) We collected, germinated and planted out mangrove seeds in suitable locations. They are as tough as teak and the survival rate is incredibly high. Some of our mangrove groves, are now 30 years old and monsters. Better still, they are literally infested with a wonderful variety of marine and terrestrial organisms..
2) We established new Zostera beds in local estuaries and coastal creeks. The seagrass beds transplant readily and grow like wildfire in the warmer months. We had a member who worked for the RTA. He was able to get copious amounts of plastic webbing they use alongside roads etc and as temporary safety barriers. We pegged that into the sediment and transplanted the pieces of Zostera in the squares. It took off like wildfire and is so easily replaced we don't know why more fishers don't involve themselves in such activities. You can't rely on the greenies to do anything positive like this. They prefer "stunts" that get them media attention.
3) We organized and ran the first "fishing clinics," in NSW Fitness Camps, when they were staffed by the Dept of Ed. I can recall us doing "fishing clinics," at Lake Keepit (Tamworth) Myuna Bay (Hunter) and Lake Ainsworth (Lennox Head) In those days we all travelled by train and the guards loved us trying to get 12' beach rods aboard. Not! Later we were able to encourage Principals to requisition fishing gear as part of their annual supplies. We continued that practice even up to the time when Sport & Rec took the Fitness Camps over.
4) We organized working bees of fishos with shovels and spades to open blocked tidal and coastal creeks. We had an ulterior motive for that initiative for the fishing was always sensational in the adjacent surf after the creek was opened.
5) We gathered and burnt old tar covered oyster stakes and racks from disused leases in creeks and estuaries. Then we would have a few cans and a barbeque afterwards.
6) We had people and businesses donate suitable trees for re-planting along river and creek banks (riparian vegetation) to stabilize the banks and prevent erosion. Then we would have another barbeque. That group became known locally as the "Lantana Club."
7) We formed a fishing / conservation group and ran raffles at local pubs to raise funds for our initiatives. Then we would have another barbeque!
We bought and released tens of thousands of Bass fingerlings and released them into suitable habitats. There was no support from Fisheries in those days. In fact they frowned on some of our activities. But they weren't fishers. They were bureaucrats! So what they didn't know didn't hurt us!
9) Organize meetings and conferencs to inform and educate. We renewed a personal friendship with Prof Bob Kearney when he was Scientific Director of NSW Fisheries. He came up to a huge fisheries conference we organized, as key note speaker. Bob grew up here on the Tweed and was a skillful Tailor fisher.
10) We bought (at great personal expense) endangered East Coast Cod fingerlings and re-introduced them to their previous habitats. We talked a private fish hatchery into trialling our project. Fisheries weren't interested. We captured the brood stock and it all took place. If it wasn't for the help of a senior Fisheries scientist AFTER our trial initiative was successfull, the project would have never taken off. Today we have a remnant population of endangered East Coast Cod, clinging on against the ravages of habitat degredation, in secret locations on the Far North Coast.
So Drav there is plenty you can do. You need to tailor your initiatives to the needs of your area. We have always found there is plenty of enthusiasm out there. All it needs is some entreprising person like yourself, like ECOfishers, to tap that enthusiasm and get the ball rolling. It pays dividends for fishers and the habitat, in the long run! ECOfishers don't just talk about issues, or make meaningless posts that everyone ignores. We actually do things and get things done. Good luck, mate.
