Fishy business at Fingal by Stinker

Unless you live at Fingal Bay or are a regular reader of this magazine, you probably haven't heard of some of my favourite hot spots for snapper, jewfish, kingies, groper, drummer, tailor and bream - not forgetting the lobsters and squid.

Wrong Way Reef, the Apple Tree, Little Washy and Big Washy, Fifty-Fifty, the Valley and the Fence are names that you will not find on any map because they are local names, made up by a salty bunch so that we can easily identify where we are going or where we have been. When we sit around a table at the end of a great day's fishing discussing our efforts over a cold beer, no one else who joins the circle has a clue what we are talking about.

We are referring to the shallow reefs and rocky outcrops boiling with fish less than 2km from our beach launching site. There is only one problem - it's a big one - all of these magnificent spots are now within the boundaries of the Marine Park Sanctuary Zone. That's right, you and I can't go fishing there any more.

One of the requirements of the marine park zoning process was that an area of marine rock platform and shallow reef be set aside as a sanctuary. If you take a close look at the Port Stephens Great Lakes Marine Park, which stretches from Birubi Point north to Forster, you will notice that there is very little of this particular habitat. It pretty much is confined to the southern corner of the park, from Fingal to Birubi. Right in my backyard.

As much as it hurt, somewhere had to be given up. The decision for me, as a member of the Marine Park Advisory Committee representing recreational fishers, was clear. The area which would cause the least inconvenience, after much consultation, would be the southern half of Fingal Island.

The alternative areas under the spotlight, the northern half of the island and the rugged, rocky expanse from Fingal to Birubi, are fishing and diving wonderlands which now remain open, free of restrictions to locals and visitors alike.