NT Fishing Report
With Alex Julius 19 August 2010
I had to laugh at the text message in this paper last Saturday from Snags gun fisho, hdoo.
He was having a go at my column last week, and I’m surprised there wasn’t more feedback about my blatant attack on the Greens policy to lock up a further 30% of Australian coastal waters should they get the balance of power.
That tells me that I was spot on with my coverage of the totally-ill-informed ambitions of the Greens to create no-go, no-take zones in our pristine, scientifically-well-managed waters on a breathtaking scale. Usually, when people agree with your views, they don’t respond.
Old Snags the gun fisho reckoned I should stop talking politics and “leave that 2 Andrew Bolt”.
He/she reckoned I should “stick to talking tackle, tactics, tides n trips cos lately ur talking trash”.
Well, Snags, you old gun fisho, right now I’m on the Gold Coast where I’ve just spent three days at the Australian Fishing Tackle Show, which is the annual trade show for the peak recreational fishing body in Australia.
And Snags, you gun, if that’s the advice you give to me, then maybe you should give the same advice to the likes of Shimano Australia, Jarvis Walker Australia, Basser Millyard (which makes Classic Lures and much more), JM Gillies (which does Plano and much more), Pure Fishing (ABU, Gulp and much more), Alvey, Daiwa Australia, Rapala Australia and many other major Australian tackle companies which all joined forces to “talk politics” on a grand scale at the AGM of the Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA).
Maybe, you gun snag, you should also impart the wisdom of your advice to the more than 200 tackle shops from around the country which attended this now historic industry trade show, and to the likes of BRP Evinrude and Haines Signature which subsequently also pledged serious bucks to the cause.
The reason, snaggy, is that, for three days, the people representing every single entity I listed above spent most of their time exchanging their views about the perilous threat facing recreational fishermen in this country.
You see, snaggles, if the Greens get the balance of power, and the current Government is re-elected after the two have agreed to swap preferences based solely on self-preservation, then within a couple of years the whole Australian fishing tackle industry may well be devastated, and soon thereafter fishing columns like mine will have far less “fishing” to write about.
The first thing that will happen if the above scenario becomes reality is that 90% of the Coral Sea will be closed, and a huge amount of the NSW north coast will be closed with no access to beaches and rocky headlands.
In the Territory, the boundaries have been drawn to close vast areas of the Timor and Arafura Seas.
Who knows what else is in the pipeline that we haven’t been told about?
Gunno baby, get real.
I don’t believe for a moment that you’re a serious fisho, let alone a snag-based angler and a gun…give me a break.
This whole issue is real and it’s the first time a major recreational fishing issue has been on the table for a national election.
The Coalition policy is not perfect, but at least it has pledged to place all proposals for marine protected areas on hold and will only entertain them if the science backs it up. Really, that’s all we need to hear right now because the science will not back up these spurious, anti-people closures.
And good on our own NT Labor Government which has stated publicly that it will oppose any fishing closures in NT waters proposed by a federal government.
Would you believe snaggy gunno old mate that, at the AFTA General Meeting on Sunday night last, $185,000 was pledged from the floor to place television advertisements and full-page advertisements in every metro major newspaper this week making anglers aware of the threat and telling them how they should vote to save their lifestyle and fishing for future generations?
This was complemented by a further $200,000 from AFTA funds, so this week’s national campaign from the fishing industry itself will be funded to the tune of nearly $400,000, and you’ll see it up here because Solomon is one of the 17 marginal seats being targeted.
So rest assured you nameless snaglepuss, this gun here will continue to do his bit to inform our vast army of Territory anglers that, if they want their great and scientifically-sustainable fishing to continue unabated, and if they want our lifestyle and fishing rights protected for our kids and their kids after that, then don’t vote for The Greens or their Labor mates.
Marty Krantz with his first great mackerel…a smile like this could be a thing of the past.
A young boy fishes waters which may one day be closed under the threat from current proposed Green policies.