Protecting the Blue Groper

Hundreds of people are urging Waverley Council to ban spear fishing in the local beach and bay areas.

The petition aims to protect the Blue Groper fish from being hunted, but Bondi Marine Discovery Centre director Will Jones says banning won’t stop irresponsible behaviour.

Instead he attacks the current New South Wales spear fishing legislation, saying it’s ambiguous and inadequate.

“The law fails to explain its definitions of off-limit areas and to accredit young inexperienced fishermen,” Mr Jones said.

A NSW Department of Primary Industry spokesperson said in a statement that spear-fishing bans in the Waverley area helped to create a marine reserve.

“It includes the whole of Clovelly Bay, Gordons Bay, and waters on ocean beaches, excluding 20 metres at each of their extremity,” she said.

She also said Gropers were protected from both commercial and spear fishing but two per day could be caught by recreational line fishing.

“This is where ambiguity lies: why can line-fishers catch Gropers? Are the rocks of North Bondi considered beach? We don’t know,” said Mr Jones.

A spokesperson for Underwater Skindivers and Fishermen’s Association (USFA), the representative body for spear-fishers in NSW, said spearing Gropers was an illegal activity the group did not condone.

He said USFA had been lobbying the Department of Industry and Investment to allow its association to accredit all spear fishermen before they purchased a gun, which the current legislation entitles people to buy from age 14.

“Spear fishermen would need to do a test, showing an understanding of fish identification and ethical behaviour,” he said.

Waverley resident Ivor Findlay, who submitted the petition to the council, said locals were concerned about the Blue Groper and feared its disappearance.

Mr Findlay said he exercised every week in the water and had noticed a dramatic decrease in the number of “Blueys” in the last two years.

If the council had no authority to ban spear fishing the State Government should make a difference for the Blue Groper: “Council should take legal action because illegal spear-fishing still happens and even a failure in Court could bring the State Government into it.”

But UTS Professor of Marine Biology, David Booth, said that although protected, Gropers were not disappearing.

“Gropers have small home ranges, so if some were removed in the past it may be a while till new ones move in,” he says.

The Waverley Council 2009 Blue Groper report states the council does not have authority to restrict spear fishing below the low water mark.

Under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 all activities beyond that limit are subjected to Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water regulations.

The report reveals that a 2007 request for the spear fishing ban in Bondi was submitted to the Department of Primary Industries, but to date no decision has been made.

A Waverley Council spokesperson said the council would like a fishing closure zone for Bondi bay, but did not have enough evidence to support its case.

“To have an approval we need to submit sound scientific evidence about any impacts to Blue Groper populations as well as threats to public safety,” she said.

Preliminary results of a council-supported Blue Groper study will be available in June.

“In the meantime, Council is implementing a ban on the carriage of spear-fishing equipment within certain areas adjacent to Bondi Beach,” the spokesperson said.

– By Marina Freri