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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
On Thursday 11 February 2010, Kayak Fishing columnist Dan Bode was angling within the permitted Habitat Protection Zone inside Cape Byron Marine Park (CBMP) when Marine Parks Authority (MPA) Rangers marshalled his vessel and falsely accused him of fishing inside a Sanctuary Zone.
While physically demonstrating lines of sight as zoning references from the MPA dinghy, Mr Bode says the MPA Ranger made it known that in the opinion of those onboard, he was breaking the law. "The two officers presumed my guilt by evidencing invisible lines of sight that could easily have stretched from a backpacker at Wategos to a cannabis plant in Coorabell". Mr Bode believes the accusation forced him to prove his innocence or risk the $500 fine.
"By predetermining my guilt based on a series of arbitrary visual waypoints to back a verbal accusation of zone encroachment, the officers could not feasibly encourage my enjoyment, appreciation and understanding of the marine park... What transpired was a circus of fear and harassment that continued for up to twenty minutes".
As events took an unfathomable turn, Mr Bode was directed by the Fisheries Officer onboard to make his kayak immediately available for inspection. Mr Bode stated, "The Fisheries Officer couldn't tell me how he proposed to inspect my kayak but insisted on an inspection. To make my kayak immediately available, I voluntarily dismounted in the middle of the ocean, pushed my craft towards the Officers on the MPA dinghy and risked my own life in the name of Fisheries compliance. After a couple of seconds in the water, fear set in. I was on my own in lumpy seas with no immediate offer of direction or support coming from either of the Officers". With his kayak now in the custody of the NSW MPA and the liability for his personal safety now in the Authority's jurisdiction, Mr Bode was literally left treading water, more than one kilometre from the closest land mass for a period of up to a minute. "Surely there's enough questions on Duty of Care, OH&S procedures and ethics contained in this incident alone to fully investigate the heavy handed enforcement practices dished out within our NSW Marine Parks", Mr Bode concluded.
After being instructed to reboard his fishing vessel, the kayaker's innocence regarding marine park boundaries continued to be questioned by the MPA Ranger. Mr Bode was so certain about his exact proximity within CBMP that he referenced his fully functioning GPS unit. "When I viewed the onscreen display, I had proof positive that I was fishing legally at all times. My GPS proved that the Rangers visual markers were up to 30 metres wayward of a $500 fine and a certain public prosecution". Mr Bode stated. "At one time, the Advisory Committee approved the placement of marker buoys to be installed every 100 meters along the borders of this Habitat Protection Zone to help park users. I don't know why the MPA placed only one isolated marker buoy but it's currently assisting the MPA to arrive at inaccurate zoning determinations. From my experience I can only suspect they use this marker buoy as an excuse to initiate a compliance check that leads to the harassment of legitimate park users", He said.
Expressing the opinion of many NSW anglers, Mr Bode suggests the co-ordinated and often hard line stance adopted by officers representing NSW Fisheries, MPA and Maritime severely erodes the MPA's reputation as responsible, fair and ethical enforcers of regulation.
With almost twenty MPA directed vessel interactions under his belt in two years and his second MPA encounter in six weeks, Mr Bode questions the regularity of overzealous and inappropriate compliance checking. He then cites the story of two holidaying kayak anglers that reported six separate compliance based interactions with MPA appointed rangers inside CBMP over six consecutive days during the Christmas break. "If these anglers weren't getting fined, what were they getting each day? Harassed! That's what!".
The physical landscape that surrounds many popular fishing spots like those seen in CBMP, provide perfect vantage points for rangers to conduct and coordinate shore and water based surveillance and implement evidence based enforcement functions. Ranger vessels are also equipped with the latest communications equipment and scientific tools to detect accurate zone breaches and professionally enact fisheries offenses. With so much intelligence at their immediate disposal, local anglers are seriously questioning the massive disparity between the small number of infringement notices issued versus the massive number of ranger encounters they experience each year with MPA officials in Marine Parks across the state.
Since the inception of CBMP, the well known fishing columnist has made various attempts to lobby Cape Byron MPA to seek a more balanced marine park for park users. "If our MPA is committed to the continuation of trust among stakeholders, they'd consider the events of 11 February as the benchmark of all wrongdoing." He said.
Mr Bode will lodge formal complaints with all relevant Ministers, the NSW MPA, NSW Fisheries and the NSW Premier.
