11 minute read
Fishing Report
Hello anglers, Good to see the sunshine, at last. Good catches of the bread-and-butter fish are still being landed throughout the passage. AFAQ fished the weekend at Ocean Beach. Good catches of flathead and bream were caught, but tailor was thin on the ground. Turner’s Camp, Ningi Creek, Sandstone Point, Red Beach and the Cockle banks were areas for fish catches of bream, whiting, flathead and the occasional Grassy sweetlips. Still good bream and the occasional Tailor from the Jetty. Live bait and White Pilchard working well. A reminder to anglers that it is still closed season for Pearl Perch and Snapper, a fishing inspector informed me of two very recent events, one, a recreational fisher caught Snapper and hid his catch under floorboards, and a commercial fisherman caught selling fish for cash that was not reported on his daily catch list. They are out there and like speeding, you will be caught when you least expect it. The weather, swell and rain wrecked the first week of my report timeline, hopefully, we will see an end to it for a while and get back to normal beautiful winter days. That is all for this edition, tight lines, DOC
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Fishability QLD envisions a community where all people, regardless of circumstance, are empowered to break through social isolation and diversity, and repair health and wellbeing. When people see the smiles and joy that fishing and socially inclusive outdoor recreation brings to people’s lives, they understand why it is that our dedication to breaking the impact of social isolation and loneliness is unyielding. Fishability QLD’s mission is to provide socially inclusive fishing opportunities to disadvantaged people in the community, at risk of being lonely and socially isolated. Our focus is to create healthy friendships, pathways, employment opportunities, and enrich people’s lives. Our motto is “Fish and Forget.” It’s a place to belong. It’s not really about the fishing though. The activity brings us together. During this time, we get to know our participants, and start to identify the needs of individuals living in the community who require extra assistance, such as support, advocacy, financial hardship, intervention, and community compassion. Many of these people have complex needs but do not fit the criteria for substantial government support and are constantly falling through the systemic cracks because of reasons beyond their control. Fishability QLD will often step in as a charity and take people to those appointments, help with financial hardship where we can, assist people struggling to understand their NDIS plans, and make sure that person has support, a sense of purpose and hope for a better tomorrow.
Fishability QLD is often that organisation responding to crisis’ free of charge. Without support and assistance, social isolation can impact on people’s ability to participate in the community; it can contribute to or exacerbate depression, anxiety and loneliness and further impact people’s lives leading to homelessness, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. The service demands have increased beyond our capacity to deliver as generously as we did previously when we were assisted with government funding. We have been forced to reach out to the community for support. Wallum Action Group, along with Busy Fingers have yet again overwhelmed us with
Fishability QLD their support and kindness, and we need to let the community know just how necessary and appreciated they both are by Fishability QLD Inc. Wallum Action Group funded our first aid training a session and first aid supplies. Seven volunteers achieved their CPR/ first aid certificates. We also now have 7 First Aid Compliant kits. Busy Fingers supplied materials for us to build a storage room for our equipment and supplies. This has made such a difference to our organisation. May we present you Busy Fingers and Wallum Action Group with appreciation plaques to acknowledge your ceaseless commitment to community kindness and local support.
Kind Regards Fishability QLD Inc.
TIDE TIDE TIMES TIMES
Bribie Bribie Island Island & & Moreton Moreton Bay Bay
FRI 29 Jul 4:44 am 0.48m 10:16 am 1.39m 4:00 pm 0.28m 10:43 pm 1.97m
FRI 5 Aug 2:07 am 1.64m 8:27 am 0.36m 3:06 pm 1.57m 9:06 pm 0.64m SAT 30 Jul 5:10 am 0.46m 10:45 am 1.42m 4:33 pm 0.28m 11:11 pm 1.97m
SAT 6 Aug 3:02 am 1.49m 9:20 am 0.38m 4:18 pm 1.62m 10:38 pm 0.68m SUN 31 Jul 5:38 am 0.44m 11:17 am 1.45m 5:06 pm 0.28m 11:40 pm 1.96m
SUN 7 Aug 4:12 am 1.36m 10:28 am 0.39m 5:38 pm 1.72m MON 1 Aug 6:07 am 0.4m 11:53 am 1.47m 5:42 pm 0.32m
MON 8 Aug 12:07 am 0.65m 5:35 am 1.29m 11:40 am 0.36m 6:53 pm 1.86m TUE 2 Aug 12:12 am 1.93m 6:38 am 0.37m 12:31 pm 1.5m 6:20 pm 0.37m
TUE 9 Aug 1:28 am 0.54m 6:58 am 1.3m 12:49 pm 0.28m 7:58 pm 2.01m WED 3 Aug 12:45 am 1.87m 7:11 am 0.35m 1:15 pm 1.52m 7:03 pm 0.45m
WED 10 Aug 2:32 am 0.42m 8:07 am 1.37m 1:52 pm 0.19m 8:54 pm 2.14m THU 4 Aug 1:24 am 1.77m 7:45 am 0.35m 2:06 pm 1.54m 7:56 pm 0.55m
THU 11 Aug 3:27 am 0.33m 9:05 am 1.45m 2:49 pm 0.11m 9:45 pm 2.21m
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THE IMPACT OF BEACH DRIVING ON BRIBIE PHASE 1 OF THE STUDY BY BIEPA / UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND ON THE IMPACT OF BEACH DRIVING ON BRIBIE’S ENVIRONMENT AND FIRST NATIONS HERITAGE IS NOW COMPLETE. PHASE 2 WILL LOOK AT THE IMPACT ON THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND THE IMPACT ON BRIBIE ISLANDERS AND THE BRIBIE ISLAND LIFESTYLE The article in The Bribie Islander (Jan 14, 2022) outlined some of the aims and reasons for this joint BIEPA / UQ study. That article noted that as a result of changes around 2008 to the legislation protecting Bribie’s beaches, the number of vehicles on Bribie’s beaches has grown from just a handful prior to 2008 to more than 85,000 per year now. In March 2021, and in response to many concerns raised by BIEPA members and other Bribie Islanders, BIEPA agreed to support a petition to the Minister of Environment asking for some modest restrictions that would reduce the impact of beach driving on Bribie Islanders and on Bribie’s environment. This petition obviously struck a chord. In all, around 28,000 people signed the petition and around 5000 of those signatories were from Bribie Island and surrounding areas. The petition was tabled in Parliament on October 13, 2021, by Michael
Berkman MP, the Member for Maiwar. The petition was deemed a “nonconforming” petition meaning that the Minister was not obliged to respond to the requests contained in the petition. So, she didn’t. “We were most encouraged by the wide public support for the petition and glad to get it tabled in State Parliament,” says Richard Ogden, President of BIEPA and one of the petitioners. “Partnerships and collaboration are essential to achieve better outcomes for the community and the environment. So, we are delighted that the School of Earth and Environmental Science has agreed to join us in this study of the impacts of ORV driving on Bribie’s beaches. The studies that have been completed so far show that this important bit of coast is rich in so many ways. We have a responsibility to ensure it is respected, as we only hold it in trust for future generations”. Three students were involved in Phase 1 of this study in early 2022. One student (Rebekah) looked at the impact of beach driving on First Nations Heritage, one (Gordon) looked at the impact on the environment above high tide, and one (Sam) looked at the environmental impact below high tide. Rebekah looked at previous research undertaken on Bribie, she by David Horrocks communicated with some of those researchers and spoke to people with current knowledge and experience. She shows that a number of researchers have outlined a number of sites that First Nations people had inhabited. Professor Smith in her PhD research showed that where there was abundant bungwall fern and fresh water, sites were established along the eastern side behind the dune areas. These were probably seasonal sites during special events such as the annual mullet run. Once access has been established to special sites, it has been shown
in many studies around the world that downgrading of those sites often follows. With the opening of Ocean Beach to unrestricted ORV access, and in the absence of any toilet and garbage facilities in that area, the areas behind the dunes are now regularly being accessed and any First Nations sites will most likely be compromised. Sea levels in Moreton Bay rose by around 50 metres as the last Ice Age came to an end. By around 10,000 BC, First Nations residents of Stradbroke and other offshore islands could no longer walk across Moreton Bay and had to cross by canoe arriving around Red Beach and then had to walk along Ocean Beach and crossing to the mainland around Caloundra. It is not surprising, therefore, to find First Nations artifacts along that beach after erosion events. Gordon showed that there is an annual build/erosion cycle in beach dune systems. During the winter months, sea levels are lower, and winds will carry sand up the beach where it is deposited in the foredune area. Dune grasses will grow out and stabilise that sand forming a protective barrier in front of the main dune areas. During the summer erosion cycle, that foredune area can be eroded away but the main dunes will remain intact. However, the 2008 changes now allow ORVs to travel along Ocean Beach right to the toe of the main dune all year. As a result, the winter building cycle cannot occur leaving the main dunes compromised and at greater risk of erosion during the summer cycle. Following the breakthrough at the northern end of Bribie, erosion in some areas south of the breakthrough has been quite alarming. As Professor Javier Nolan at USC comments, we should not be doing anything that increases the susceptibility of those coastal areas to erosion such as allowing unrestricted ORV beach driving The foredune area is also the habitat of special fauna including endangered loggerhead turtles. Volunteer turtle carers monitor Ocean Beach to the north and south of those ORV-permitted areas. Except for a small section north to Second Lagoon, the volunteers do not monitor any of the ORV-permitted areas because it is far too unsafe for pedestrians or cyclists. It is left to QPWS to monitor that area, but QPWS advises that it has not reported any turtles there since the 2008 changes were made. This has led to widespread speculation that the ORV-permitted area has been destroyed as a turtle nesting habitat. Sam’s research showed that beach compaction resulting from beach driving has a most detrimental effect on beach fauna which are a vital source of fish food. Beach driving was banned in South Africa in 2002 and there is much anecdotal evidence that fish numbers have increased since that ban was introduced. The next area to be examined will be the impact on the local economy. When beach driving was banned in South Africa it enabled businesses that are far more environmentally responsible and sustainable to be established. These businesses have made a far greater impact on the SA local economy. Could that happen on Bribie? Further research will also examine the impact of beach driving on Bribie Islanders and on the Bribie Island lifestyle. It is hoped that a completion report for these impact studies will be complete by yearend for release to the public and for publication in the refereed literature.
Those wanting further information on this project can contact cosupervisors Professor Paul Dargusch or John Oxenford through BIEPA at biepa.mail@gmail.com
John Oxenford
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