There's a paddle out this Sunday the 10th at 10a.m at the Victor yacht club. For anyone concerned about having a tuna pen close to where we surf and windsurf please come and support the cause.
tough one Mark
as we discussed we ve lived swam and windsurfed around/near tuna pens for years in port lincoln......
only net affect on our lives is they are a lot of fun to swim in and to take friends to......
definately BIG tourism winner.
no more shark sightings, no more attacks nearby etc
Overall increase in shark attacks IMO due a few factors including protection of whites- wariness of boats/humans has been bread out. Also less by catch of whites in other fisheries.... some estimates are this is 300 whites a year less by catch
A well maintained tourist pen with good predator protection- ie keep fish mortalities and excess feeding to minimum,
no probs for me.
i dont know the operators/financiers of this proposed outfit, i dont have anything in the game other than i dont want to get eaten by a shark and dont want my kids who surf to either. I do have a deep dislike of australia and SA particularly knocking anyone having a go and think ultimately we will pay a price for that... we already are, sa has highest unemployment in australia doesnt it? (Mark this is certainly not a personal attack on you- i respect your concerns which i am sure are genuine- as above i have the same concerns)
in sa you are crazy if you dont assume you are sharing any part of the sea with a shark at any time IMO
i wouldnt really be too worried about it anyway.......
sadly i would give the operators about a 5% chance of getting approval at victor anyway.
It's already approved but a large contingent of locals are against it, me included.
Peer reviewed research indicates fish farms do aggregate shark behavior. The authors of this research have studied the VH proposal and have stated it's unwise to have it so close to the local swimming beaches.
What are the proponents long term plans for VH? I don't think it's just tourism. This is a soft into to aquaculture.
Research also indicates that seals aggregate shark behaviour - maybe we should have a paddle out to cull the NZ fur seals at Goolwa as well
Or put the pen near the seals and solve both issues 
An awesome spot for the pen is the Tuna city. . If it's such a great draw card leave it there!!
Hopefully we can find out all the objective facts about the pen and then make an informed decision that provides the best overall result for the south coast.
From what I can see there are three main issues here?
1. the real, or just perceived, danger of more sharks being attracted by the pen
2. the overall tourism benefit and boost to the Victor economy from the pen
3. the overall environmental impact
Just passing on some of my observations and local concerns...and it would be good to get the alternative arguments to them:
- The local surf school operators seem very concerned about the PERCEIVED increase danger of attacks that will affect their business.
- If the swim with tuna experience is such a good long term business plan for Victor then why is the operator merely just shifting the existing pen from Pt Lincoln and not building a new one here? (as reported by the media yesterday)
- has the council got some verifiable information of what the tuna pen could realistically bring into the economy vs the negative effects it could possibly have through the reduction in beach goers, surf schools and the multiplying effects on all the business' that support them from food through to accommodation?
- Was there a proper independent study into the total environmental impact of the pen in the proposed area... realistically, it seems to take longer for a council to approve a residential building extension than it does to approve a tune pen operation.
Any business (or community) needs to maximise its competitive advantage. It would be hard to argue that the south coast's competitive tourism advantage isn't it's safe surfing beaches (and swimming) / and water sport activities being so close to Adelaide.
Oh Russ, if you want to have a paddle out at the mouth among all the seals the I'll be right behind you....well quite a long way really.
I think twice about sailing kent reserve, and olivers reef in victor, if any more sharks are sighted in this area, I recall a 5m was spotted in this area, lets hope its not attracted back.
Could pen 'in' the Windsurfers at Day Street? I wonder if we would attract sharks.
Seriously, the perceived shark effect is a difficult one to challenge. I have not looked at the research but I would agree that forming an opinion should be based on research, assuming it is reliable and relevant is an appropriate approach...
Very emotive issue from both sides.
Statistically there's more chance of being injured or killed driving to the protest rally
^ Agree with your comment Russ!!
Not biased either way but to clarify a few comments
The viewing cage constructed is relatively new and a quality tourism attraction that is no longer being used in Port Lincoln and therefore the developer has decided to re use this facility hence no need to rebuild a new viewing cage.
Swimming with tuna has always been a numbers game, unfortunately (and fortunately as I see it) Port Lincoln is a remote destination and does not receive the amount of tourists needed to support it, I think Victor has the chance to provide the numbers thru Adelaide tourism for this to work.
I personally don't care whether this development goes ahead or not, but an amazing experience that I have experienced 3-4 times and would do again if I had the chance. Spent a fair bit of time around the region where the cages were based and it did not in my opinion increase any more sightings or risks!!
My two cents, I'm sure everyone has a different opinion on this one!!
hi guys been
off air for a while
great debate, respectful informed discussion and not a single red thumb anywhere
(or lurking 'bagger)
thats why windsurfing is such a great sport- great people do it
love y'all as fenech would say!!and look forward to catching up with all for a beer!!
great to see Zak monitoring seabreeze from his new career as a ski bunny in japan
Yes always good to get a proper discussion going and hopefully a couple of laughs along the way.
I was surprised to read about the level of excitement from swimming with tuna. I’ve only ever thought of tuna as something I used to put in my sandwiches….so it looks like I have missed out on a whole other dimension with them.
Yes we are all a pretty mellow bunch which makes life easier.
The viewing cage was built in 1996. It is actually the old "below deck aquarium" that operated at VH from 1997 until 2004. The structure has been tarted up a bit while it was operating in Pt Lincoln, the main addition being the aquaculture ring being placed around the outside and the tuna placed within this ring. Quality tourist attraction? It has gone out of business due lack of patronage. If success is used to gauge quality, then I am not sure if it could be classed as quality.
The builder of the original structure (also the father of one of the persons who is heavily involved in moving it to VH), was on 891 this morning. He was claiming it never attracted sharks when originally in VH. He knows full well that the structures design was completely different to what's being proposed now. This kind of intentional misinformation makes us locals very weary of the operators of this proposal.Why can't they just be honest?
Just a query Zach. How far from the main town swimming beaches were the pens in Lincoln?
We have also asked for a letter from the operators and their associated companies that they have no future plans for more traditional aquaculture activities in the future. This has not been provided.
Sharks..
PIRSA has acknowledged it will attract sharks. They "expect" they should move on after an initial period of curiosity.
Barry Bruce (CSIRO shark expert) and engaged by the proponents say it will attract sharks but they "should" move on.
Globally there has only been one study on fish farms and shark behavior. The guys who did this study predict the VH proposal will attract sharks but they will stay. His view is actually based on peer reviewed research, plus he is totally independent.
The Fleurieu is the water sports holiday playground for SA. Thousands of water users are here over the summer holidays. Clean green and heathy tourism, whales, and aquatic fun is our draw card. Any form of aquaculture is inconsistent with this branding. Plus it will look like **** sitting out in the bay, painted grey so it stands out less.
VH locals are not anti development. A great compromise that has been suggested is the in sea aquarium, but without the tuna pen. It takes away the shark threat, it takes away the risk polluting the sea grass meadows in the immediate vicinity, it takes away the animal cruelty issues, but it also takes away the opportunity to set a precedent for aquaculture operations in encounter bay.
Anyway that's my two cents worth for now. I have no bones against anyone who supports it, but is it at the end of my street. I don't want that in my backyard.
If tourists are keen to see a tuna or two come down our way get a charter and catch them
After an hour or two reeling the big bastards in they will be done with them. Photo then sushi, job done
You cant be serious about a lack of tourist dollars in victor.
As a tourist attraction. It's a stupid idea. Went for a surf at day st on Sunday. There were that many tourists on the beach and in the water I struggled to find a car park. Wait for a few big shark sightings or even an attack and that'll slow the numbers down. For most of us who surf and sail as much as possible that won't stop us but the average tourist or swimmer is terrified of sharks
Don't know how comfortable I'll feel paddling across to the left at shark alley anymore though
checkout the 7m white pointer at marino rocks pic on sa shark alert facebook, this is for real I wonder what it eats?
