October 27th 2024.
Rock fishing, despite its warnings, remains one of the most dangerous sports with a staggering number of eight lives lost every year. However, a newly expanded program is now in place to specifically target communities that are most at risk. This program aims to distribute free life jackets to fishermen, providing them with an essential tool that could potentially save their lives and bring them back home safely.
Hadi Thahar, a seasoned rock fisherman, understands the importance of wearing a life jacket. He shares, "It could potentially be the one thing that determines whether I make it back home." It's for this reason that he now runs safety workshops to educate other fishermen about the risks involved in their sport. "Rock fishing can be incredibly dangerous if you're not aware of what you're doing," he cautions.
Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, highlights that a large portion of rock fishermen come from non-English speaking backgrounds. To effectively reach and help these communities, the program will be delivered directly to them. "We're going to take these programs to the communities that need it the most," Pearce explains. With a recent funding boost of $300,000 from the state government, the program plans to distribute 1200 life jackets to those in need.
Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty believes that education and awareness are vital in reducing the number of fatalities in rock fishing. She states, "Once people have completed the necessary training, they will have access to free life jackets." Moriarty also hopes to see this program expand across the state of New South Wales.
Despite efforts to raise awareness, the message about the importance of wearing life jackets hasn't quite reached everyone. Pearce believes that it's not just complacency, but also a lack of education that contributes to the high number of fatalities. Since 2004, a total of 128 people have lost their lives while rock fishing, with a staggering 79% of them not wearing life jackets.
Two notorious black spots for rock fishing in Sydney are Kurnell and Little Bay in the south. Despite efforts by Randwick Council to enforce the use of life jackets, the council still has one of the worst track records in the state, with eight deaths in the past ten years. It's one of nine councils where fishermen can face fines if they are caught without a life jacket. The hope is that with the expanded program and distribution of life jackets, more lives can be saved and tragedies can be prevented.
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