South Australia’s peak recreational fishing body has taken responsibility for a boating blunder on Labor’s campaign trail, conceding it carried the state’s premier through a marine sanctuary zone on a vessel that was towing lures.
The Saturday trip along a section of Adelaide’s southern coast, from O’Sullivan Beach to waters south of the Port Noarlunga jetty, was organised by RecFish SA as a backdrop to a Labor election announcement on recreational fishing.
Part of the area falls under a sanctuary zone, where rigid restrictions on fishing apply, including bans on the use of fishing equipment.
“We were headed — towing lures along the coast — from O’Sulli’s [O’Sullivan] Beach all the way down to the southern Port Noarlunga area,” RecFish SA CEO Asher Dezsery said.
“Bit of an oversight, oopsie, but it is what it is.”Your Say: Tell us what matters to you this SA election
Mr Malinauskas today said he was “aware of the suggestion” that he had been fishing in a sanctuary zone.
“I haven’t been able to verify it myself,” he said.
“What I would say is there was a young fellow who was driving the boat doing his level best, along with some other fishos in the state who probably know our waters better than anyone.
“If they’ve made a mistake, I’m not going to start slamming them, but I can certainly understand the enquiry.”
According to Environment Department mapping, a section of water around Port Noarlunga jetty falls under a sanctuary zone.
Boats are allowed to pass through such zones, but there are restrictions on fishing.
“Sanctuary zones are ‘no take’ areas, meaning you can’t collect, fish or use fishing gear in them,” the National Parks and Wildlife Service website states.
In a statement, a Liberal Party spokesperson said it was “ironic that the Premier went out to promote sustainable fishing practices without checking the very rules he expects everyone else to follow”.
Mr Dezsery described the trip’s entry into the sanctuary waters as regrettable, and said it was “really unfortunate it happened when it did”, with the premier on board.
“RecFish obviously organised the boat and the skipper, so ultimately we’re responsible for what happened,” he said.
“Lures were behind the boat, from pretty well the whole day as we were travelling along.
“There was certainly no anchoring and fishing in the zone — it was just as we were traversing through we kind of made that mistake, and as I said a regrettable one and something we’ll just need to take in our stride.”
Mr Dezsery told the ABC he would follow up with marine and national parks authorities during the week, but did not expect any fines to be imposed.
“There’s a warning system for first-time issues,” he said.
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