news v District TWO WELLS POLICE ACTIVE AT LOCAL BEACHES:
Cultural ignorance as crabs, fish taken
Another grand act is set to light up the stage at the Courthouse in Auburn, as Melbourne-based, twin sister singer and songwriters, Alanna and Alicia will entertain on Sunday, February 12. The girls, who have just been awarded a Victoria Arts Touring Grant, are visiting South Australia for the first time. The sister duet will be performing original folk, jazz, and root songs in a four piece outfit featuring guitar,
Twice as nice at Auburn Courthouse
violin and piano. Before the show, they will be conducting a Harmony workshop at 1.30pm for anyone who enjoys singing. At 3pm the girls will perform with their band, featuring guitarist Damien Neil and Bridget Graham on violin. For more information or tickets got to www.hatsincsa.com.
Rural women finalists Another two rural women have been recognised for their work, with a mixed farm enterprise owner and a third generation viticulturist, selected as South Australian finalists for the 2012 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Rural Women’s Award. Both Krysteen McElroy from Padthaway and Mary Retallack from Crafters West are up for the award, which will be announced next Thursday, February 16.
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LOCAL police believe cultural differences and language barriers are resulting in large quantities of undersized seafood being taken from our local beaches. Police in Two Wells have recently begun patrolling nearby coastal areas in an effort to reduce the huge number of undersize fish and seafood being illegally taken. While police already have a busy schedule in the area, Sergeant Mick Pool said officers have been making an extra effort to get to known fishing areas and catch offenders in the act. “We’ve always been able to do it but we haven’t always had the time to police it much,” Sgt Pool explained. “Fisheries can’t get to beaches up here all the time and it’s something different for us to do. “It also gives us a new department to liaise with.” Patrols have led to the handing out of several fines, undersize blue swimmer crabs
TWO Wells police officer, Sgt Mick Pool, supplied this photograph of illegally caught crabs. the most common breach in recent months. Sgt Pool believed offenders are, more often than not, oblivious to size restrictions. “A majority of the people we have been finding are of Chinese origin,” he said.
“We have had reports from local residents of others pilfering undersized crabs, so it’s not necessarily just Asian people.” Of genuine concern is just how undersized many of these crabs are when being caught. “Some are really small, well
under the 11 centimetres,” Sgt Pool said. He said police have mainly been targeting Thompson’s Beach, Port Prime and coastal settlements in the general vicinity. There have been reports from locals suggesting crabs as small as 50-cent pieces are being taken. In one instance, police came across fishermen with a tub of 91 crabs. Of these, 85 were undersize. “And the offenders had no idea about it,” Sgt Pool said. He was happy to continue patrolling these areas to assist with preventing continuing illegal fishing practises. “We’re more aware of it now and it’s not too hard for us,” Sgt Pool said. “We’ve got all the measuring equipment with us as well.” Sgt Pool suggested signs should be erected in other common foreign languages to help guide migrants or non-English speaking residents.
Education to target Chinese
A LARGE number of people from the South Australian Chinese community are regularly being caught breaking fishing laws on local beaches, generally oblivious to Fisheries size and limit regulations. Middle Beach, Thompsons Beach and Parham, as well as other nearby coastal areas, have all been regular hotspots for illegal fishing, predominantly involving the taking of undersized blue swimmer crabs. The issue has prompted PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture to investigate ways of conveying the laws into the Chinese community. PIRSA Fisheries operations director, Peter Dietman, said work already is under way. “There are a number of initiatives currently in place to help educate fishers, including patrols by Fisheries officers – who are now working closely with local police, signage and our network of Fishcare volunteers,” Mr Dietman said. “They play a vital role in helping to promote the sustainability of South Australian fish stocks by visiting popular fishing spots to speak with recreational fishers about fishing rules and regulations. “PIRSA Fisheries will work with other authorities to develop a targeted approach where there are concerns regarding fishers from non-English speaking backgrounds. “This will involve identifying the geographic areas of concern, the languages involved and developing appropriate communications to address the issue in a targeted
11cm measure BLUE SWIMMER CRAB
manner.” It is not the first time language barriers have led to repetitive instances of Fisheries law breaches in the area. PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture regional manager, Randall Donovan, said there was a similar situation with the Vietnamese community a few years ago. “All of the beaches being targeted have signs at their access points and they are all in English,” Mr Donovan said. “We have had some signs in Vietnamese but now we may need to cover Cantonese and Mandarin as well and we are actually looking at doing that. Mr Donovan said Fisheries is looking at getting the message to the non-English speaking community through universities, given a majority of the offenders in these groups are students.
He also suggested targeting their local media, through radio and magazines, as another avenue to take. Two Wells police officer, Sergeant Mick Pool, has been patrolling the beaches in recent months, noting the strong number of Chinese offenders (see separate story). “All of Sergeant Pool’s observations are consistent with ours,” Mr Donovan said. “These people predominantly don’t understand there are any Fisheries laws in place. “Mind you, they’re no Lone Ranger when it comes crabbing offences because we still have problems with local Australians.” Mr Donovan said the current throng of people of Chinese descent allegedly unknowingly but regularly breaking fishing laws was an area Fisheries could drastically reduce with the right educational methods. Since having the same issue with Vietnamese speaking people many years ago, the number of offenders from that group has dropped. Mr Donovan believed Fisheries now had an opportunity to develop a solid strategy in promoting fishing laws and reducing the number of offences. “It would be nice if we could get in to the local Chinese community to promote these laws.” PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture urges anyone who witnesses illegal fishing activity to report it to FISHWATCH on 1800 065 522.
Police warn coastal communities after house breaks RESIDENTS of our local coastal areas are being reminded to be vigilant with securing their homes on the back of several recent break-ins. Between January 15 and 29, a front window was smashed and entry gained to a home on the Esplanade, Thompsons Beach. A television and other various items were stolen. Two houses on the Esplanade at Middle Beach were entered between January 29 and 30. One was entered through a smashed window and the other by jemmying a window. Cash, food and other assorted items were stolen. Also at Middle Beach, copper pipe
from a rainwater tank was stolen between February 2 and 3. TWO WELLS • POLICE have reported a 41-year-old man for cultivating cannabis, possessing a prohibited weapon, failing to store ammunition appropriately and tampering with an electrical meter. On February 3, police from Traffic Support Branch went to a Two Wells home and allegedly found six cannabis plants growing hydroponically in the home, along with several hundred rounds of ammunition and a an ASP baton. The man will be summoned to appear
in the Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court at a later date. • A VEHICLE was set on fire on Artesian Road, Two Wells, on February 3.
Town saddened by death
A 66-year-old Balaklava man collapsed while at McCracken Ford on Friday, February 3. It is believed Trevor Young suffered a heart attack. SA Ambulance personnel arrived at the scene but despite all attempts to revive the man, he passed away soon after. His passing has saddened the Balaklava community.
Plains Producer, Wednesday February 8, 2012