It was with absolute dismay that I read on page 12 of the CT this morning that the “National Parks Association” patrol Valerie Tylor is calling for 30 percent of the NSW Coast to be made into marine sanctuaries. This is coming from a woman who with her husband Ron were responsible for a major proportion of the Grey Nurse shark population on the NSW coast being slaughtered for their own financial gain via the sale of videos of their heroic spear fishing exploits. It is great that she now wants to protect the marine environment however she is like the old saying about ex-smokers – There’s no one more anti-smoking than an ex-smoker.
We have already had a very questionable regime of Marine Parks forced upon us many with the reason of protecting Grey Nurse Sharks which have never suffered from population decline at the hands of line recreational fishermen who are usually fishing for luderick, drummer (weed eaters), bream (caught on 8lb line or less) tailor, salmon etc. These sharks could no more be caught by recerational line fishermen than fly to the moon. The practices employed by saint Valerie and her husband Ron, using explosive powerheads on spears left no room for escape.
The loony left green factions want the whole coast locked away, it is coming watch this space.
I am not against commercial fishing being banned from certain fragile ecosystems and recerational fishing being banned from fish spawning areas but to suggest that recreational line fishing is the cause of our current marine ecosystem woes is a lie. The real reason occurred back in the 60’s and 70’s when Valerie was valiantly out killing the ‘Man Eating’ Grey Nurse Sharks in their hundreds. Get a life Valerie, you’d probably find a trip to the confessional more soul saving than trying to save your soul by locking away public recreational areas with your guilt ridden zeal.