Richard Mason
12-11-2011, 00:21
This maybe of interest to anyone planning a visit to Australia who would like to experience something a bit different to the Cairns sausage factory dive scene but isn't really sure as to whether it's worth paying a visit to that funny little island tacked on to the far south-east of the continent.
http://issuu.com/onetonnegraphic/docs/op_briefingpaper_marine_natural_values_report_v6
It's not that warm but it's very different; sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have the opportunity of diving here more or less whenever I want to. It's not as small as you'd think either; don't make the mistake on of my UK visitors made when he came here, expecting it to be about the size of the Isle of Wight, it actually has about the same land area as the Rep. of Ireland.
This paper was produced to support proposals for more comprehensive Marine Reserves in this unique environment; we had a very comprehensive proposal for a system of reserves in the Bruny Bioregion (SE Tas) but the guts were torn out of it by our then (idiot) Fisheries Minister; the reserves were declared but recreational line, net and pot fishing were exempted, in a sop to a bunch of loud fishermen proclaiming "traditional activities" who threatened his narrow constituency majority. Somehow, I don't equate the use of big sea-going boats with 150HP motors with morris dancing etc. The irony of all this is that I can get a recreational divers licence and remove 3 crayfish a day (they are described as a keystone species), I can set nets, I can drop in a line and in some species, catch up to 30 fish a day. However, if I remove a frond of seaweed, a fragment of sponge or the shell of a dead mollusc, I can be prosecuted.
Biggest problem is that they equate Marine Resource Management using Fisheries Management legislation with Marine Conservation; a bit like using the Forest Practices Act to manage a pristine wilderness national park.
http://issuu.com/onetonnegraphic/docs/op_briefingpaper_marine_natural_values_report_v6
It's not that warm but it's very different; sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have the opportunity of diving here more or less whenever I want to. It's not as small as you'd think either; don't make the mistake on of my UK visitors made when he came here, expecting it to be about the size of the Isle of Wight, it actually has about the same land area as the Rep. of Ireland.
This paper was produced to support proposals for more comprehensive Marine Reserves in this unique environment; we had a very comprehensive proposal for a system of reserves in the Bruny Bioregion (SE Tas) but the guts were torn out of it by our then (idiot) Fisheries Minister; the reserves were declared but recreational line, net and pot fishing were exempted, in a sop to a bunch of loud fishermen proclaiming "traditional activities" who threatened his narrow constituency majority. Somehow, I don't equate the use of big sea-going boats with 150HP motors with morris dancing etc. The irony of all this is that I can get a recreational divers licence and remove 3 crayfish a day (they are described as a keystone species), I can set nets, I can drop in a line and in some species, catch up to 30 fish a day. However, if I remove a frond of seaweed, a fragment of sponge or the shell of a dead mollusc, I can be prosecuted.
Biggest problem is that they equate Marine Resource Management using Fisheries Management legislation with Marine Conservation; a bit like using the Forest Practices Act to manage a pristine wilderness national park.