Marine conservationists urge better behaviour, education for fishers on Busselton Jetty

A marine conservationist is calling on the Busselton community to do better when fishing at the town’s jetty after she and her partner found a cormorant tangled in fishing wire at the beach while on holiday in the town. Gia Tyrrell is a British marine conservationist who was travelling through the South West with partner Christian Caruso last month, and stopped in Busselton to enjoy the beach and jetty. While there, they spotted a cormorant in distress on one of the old jetty pillars in the water, tangled in fishing wire, caught in hooks, and trying to eat a plastic lure. Ms Tyrrell said attempts to contact authorities to rescue the bird were unsuccessful because of resource constraints so the couple had no choice but to leave the bird there as poor water conditions made it unsafe to rescue the bird themselves. But when they returned the next day they saw the bird again, this time in a position where Mr Caruso — also a trained conservationist — could swim to retrieve it in a towel to take to a vet, where it ultimately had to be put down. Ms Tyrrell said the experience was distressing. “I was really upset because it’s a really avoidable happenstance with a bit of regulation,” she said. “He was just suffering, he was choking, and he was losing his balance and he was falling in the water because he couldn’t really move because he had this thing in his chest. “It was devastating, really. It was just so upsetting. It was so innocent, he was just a baby.” Ms Tyrrell said better education was needed among fishers. “The No.1 thing is just education and knowledge because the main reason this happens and people do these things is just because they truly don’t know,” she said. “It’s not out of spite or anything like that, it’s just pure lack of knowledge.” Busselton mayor Phill Cronin said there were signs on the jetty to remind fishers of what was expected of them. Fishing is permitted on most parts of the jetty, but not in areas around the underwater observatory. The State Government also announced in September wire trace fishing — often used to fish for sharks — would be banned in the area. Mr Cronin said current fishing behaviour at the jetty was disappointing “Look, overall, unfortunately, it is disappointing,” he said. “I did a walk on the jetty last Monday and saw at least three lots of fishing line that we picked up that gets, generally, caught up on the decking. “People should be cleaning up their lines. “They need to be making sure that they’re making the right knots so that things aren’t coming apart.” Mr Cronin said signs could only do so much, and fishers at the jetty needed to do better. “You could put up more signs, (but) people need to take responsibility and people need to not be selfish,” he said. “I think it comes down to the community and people doing the right thing. “It’s like anything — you can ask people to pick up their dog poop and they don’t do it. There’s signs, there’s fines, but that’s it. “What makes this city great is the community, and it just needs the community’s involvement and respect for our own environment that we have.”