Fishing World – September 2019

http://www.fishingworld.com.au

Editor

Scott Thomas

Ph: (02) 9213 8278

[email protected]

Field Editors

David Green, Greg Finney,

Sami Omari, Dave Rae,

Chris Cleaver

Technical Editor

Marine Biology Editor

Environment Editor

Foreign Editor

SA Correspondent

NT Correspondent

VIC Correspondent

Staff Photographer

Illustrator

Mark Williams

Dr Ben Diggles

John Newbery

Martin Salter

Jamie Crawford

Peter Zeroni

Martin Auldist

Shane Chalker

Chris Palatsides

Contributing Writers

Kevin Savvas, Alex

Ciccozzi, Jamie Chester,

Mark Ward

Publisher Chris [email protected]

ADVERTISING

Account Executive

Patrick Linehan

Ph: (02) 9213 8259

[email protected]

Advertising

Production

Luke Buckley

Ph: (02) 9213 8216

[email protected]

Marketing Manager

Marketing Specialist

Lucy Yaffa

Simon Ancone

SUBSCRIPTIONS

WWW.GREATMAGAZINES.COM.AU

CALL 1800 807 760

[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

1 Year/12 issues

1 year PLUS (print + digital)

Overseas 1 year

A$107.00 incl GST

A$118.00 incl GST

NZ A$129.

ASIA A$129.

ROW A$160.

Customer Service

Manager

Production Director

Art Director

Studio Manager

Designer

Martin Phillpott

1800 807 760

Matthew Gunn

Ana Maria Heraud

Lauren Esdaile

Bree Edgar

FISHING WORLD is published by

Yaffa Media Pty Ltd ABN 54 002 699 354

17-21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

Ph: (02) 9281 2333 Fax: (02) 9281 2750

All mail to: GPO Box 606 Sydney NSW 2001

Fishing World’s editorial policy is to include indicative retail prices

with boat tests and product releases. These prices are sourced

from the manufacturer, dealer or supplier. Fishing World does not

accept responsibility if prices change before or after publication.

ISSN 1320-

THE images of dead fish strewn

across the water makes any fisho’s

blood boil. Sadly 2019 has had

more than its share of fish kills, the worse

taking place in the Murray Darling. Many

other less notable occurrences around Australia.

Worse still, more often than not, it’s a man

made occurrence. Fish kills are usually the

result of bad choices, greed or ignorance at a

higher level. Environmentally the results are

catastrophic and of course you and I are worse

off with less fish to catch and a bleak future in

these waterways.

The much publicised Murray Darling fish

kill created shock waves at the highest level of

government and business. State and Federal

Ministers’ jobs were threatened, while cotton

farm directors were implicated in fraud charges

which could result in jail terms.

While a million dead fish in the Murray

Darling is shocking, it's also becoming a regular

occurrence in coastal lagoons and some smaller

inland waterways.

A local waterway of mine experienced a fish

kill several years ago. The council and a

well-meaning land care group were hell bent on

removing introduced weeds from this local

lake, which held a thriving population of

stocked bass. The herbicides and decaying

weed, as expected, killed every bass. To this day

the waterway remains a lifeless polluted pond.

Scott Thomas

Editor – Fishing World

FISH KILL BLAME GAME

By Scott Thomas

EDITORIAL

9 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019

The council commissioned a report, which, as

expected, found the council made errors

resulting in the fish kill. What was done about

it? Nothing!

The same story happens regularly around

Australia. Fisho recently reported the findings

of a report from Dr Ben Diggles related to a

fish kill in Beachmere, QLD. Diggles put forth

the idea of a long term solution which would

involve a working partnership between the

council and Queensland Fisheries with advice

from the experts at OzFish Unlimited and

Catchment Solutions. Unfortunately the

council's response reportedly included fish culls

and even filling in the lake. Byron Bay was

another recent example with a coastal lagoon

losing thousands of fish after an apparent poor

council decision. It goes on and on...

Rec and commercial fishos take fisheries laws

seriously. We know the penalties are tough and

we know the laws are there to create a

sustainable future. So why do local councils

constantly bend the rules and get away with it?

Why aren't they working closer with state

authorities and experts in developing solutions

for local environmental issues? If they can’t

manage that, perhaps it’s time for heavy

penalties for the offending council and

councillors? What do you think? ●