by Kate Dwyer
The stench and sight of rotting salmon covering a 13km stretch of pristine beach between Diamond Head and Crowdy Bay during the October school holidays sparked an investigation into commercial fishing industry’s practice of beach haul netting.
Member for Port Macquarie, Peter Besseling, received a letter from the owner of a bait and tackle shop in Harrington following witness reports of hundreds of dead Australian salmon littering the beach.
Craig McCartney, of Ritchie’s Bait and Tackle, said on October 16 and into the following day a number of customers reported the incident.
Mr McCartney said he drove to the beach and was greeted with a sight he described as both shocking and disgusting.
“There were a large number of Australian Salmon laying on the sand at the high tide mark and a similar number floating belly up in the surf,” Mr McCartney’s letter read.
“The entire stretch of beach was affected and we were advised by customers that the beach from Crowdy surf club all the way to Diamond Head was similarly affected, a distance of some 13kms.”
Mr McCartney contacted the NSW Department of Primary Industry’s Fisheries office at Wallis Lake where officers promised to investigate.
He said the officers returned to his store to report their findings.
“They informed us that they did not do an investigation of the beach, however they did interview a beach hauling crew at the Crowdy Head Fisherman’s Co-op, who admitted they had had a gear failure earlier in the week whilst netting a school of Australian Salmon,” Mr McCartney said.
“The Fisheries officers said they told the hauling crew that they were not happy with their actions but that was the end of the matter.”
Mr McCartney said the lacklustre response from the department prompted him to contact Mr Besseling.
“Our concern is that this crew was responsible for the death and waste of many hundreds if not thousands of Australian Salmon, a fantastic sport fish,” he said.
“It has been reported to us by people who witnessed this crew making the ill-fated shot, that the reason for the gear failure was simply the huge size of the school of fish they were attempting to net. The net was never going to hold a school of fish that big.
“The fact that the commercial fishermen netted the entire school, took what fish they wanted and simply left the rest to rot away on the beach tells is that they have a total disregard for the fish stocks. Furthermore they chose to litter the area’s most popular surf beach with dead fish in the school holidays. One can safely assume the tourists who had to endure the stench of decaying fish won’t be rushing back to the Manning Valley any time soon.
“If a recreational fisherman was detected with just six of the same fish in his/her bag they would be subject to a financial penalty and possible criminal conviction.”
Mr McCartney said he would also like to see a comparison done between the value of Australian salmon as a commercial fish versus as a recreational fish.
“The salmon don’t fetch a good price at market but recreationally these are at the top of the tree. They grow large, put up a good fight, take most bait, and are in decent numbers, for now.”
Mr Besseling read Mr McCartney’s letter as part of his speech in the NSW Parliament last Tuesday. He said the issue was of concern not only to the Crowdy Head-Harrington area but to the Mid North Coast and entire NSW coastline.
“A number of beach haul netters, particularly from interstate, travel along and operate from out coastline. Wherever they go, disappointed fishermen follow,” Mr Besseling said.
Mr Besseling urged the minister to investigate the practices of beach haul netting across the state.
Less than 24 hours later Premier Nathan Rees announced an investigation would be launched. Mr Rees assured Mr Besseling that the government would work with the fishing industry to ensure environmental and economic sustainability of the state’s fishing resources.
A commercial fisherman spoke to the Camden Haven Courier about beach haul netting, saying the practices was widely frowned upon by local fishermen.
“[Beach haul netting] kills travelling and breeding fish which means no one else can catch them,” the fisherman said.
“In the old days they used to beach haul for the mullet roe, catch the mullet, take the roe and bury the carcasses but it was wasteful and it was stopped.
“The part about ‘gear failure’ is crap because if their gear failed the fish would have got away. I thought these days were over with.”
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