Summer on the Water

Today we’re diving into a special summer-safety episode that’s all about enjoying the water the smart way. As the days get hotter, many of us are itching to jump into the ocean, cast a line off the jetty, or cool down along our favourite river spot. But with the fun of summer comes a few risks we all need to understand.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Arts.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi. I'm Jackie Limb with iHeart Essay. Today we're diving
into a special summer safety episode that's all about enjoying
the water the smart way. As the days get hotter,
many of us are itching to jump into the ocean,
cast a line off the jetty, or cool down along
our favorite spot on the river. But with the fun
of summer comes a few risks we all need to understand.

(00:23):
We'll also check in on the algal bloom and what
it means for recreational fishes, chat about shark patrols and
what those aerial checks mean for you, and of course
we'll hear those safety tips for parents, whether in the
pool or up the river. The algal bloom's still lingering
and it's starting to effect more than just the color
of the water. Local authorities have announced new fishing restrictions
which came into effect this month, aimed at protecting the

(00:45):
long term health of fishery. In say our Journal in
Port Lincoln, brooks Seychell spoke to tackle World Portogaster. Port
Lincoln owner Alyssia Belitho about how the industry took the
news of the new fishing bands ahead of the usually
busy summer season.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
They announced the golf Saint Vincent would be closed one
hundred percent to commercial fishes, fifty percent bag cuts on
all recreational fishes on all species. So that was the
first announcement. Totally understand, there's no fish there anyway, so
fifty percent of nothing is really nothing. Then they went
on to announce that the Spencer Golf would be cut

(01:20):
fifty percent on the four key species, which is calamari,
king George white and garfish, and blue swimmer crabs for
all recreational fishes in the Spencer Golf one hundred percent
quota for the commercials. I sit on a board which
represents the retail industry. We were asked to go down
to announce a three hundred thousand dollar grant that we

(01:42):
were receiving to promote recreational fishing, get people through doors
of tourism, caravan parks, retailers in particular, and then on
the flip side, we were then cut with this fifty
percent cut. So in the left hand, it was great.
In the right hand, we were absolutely devastated. So how
are you feeling now since we've had that announcement. Oh look,
my phone has just constantly stopped between premiers, offices, businesses, fishes.

(02:06):
I've even had commercial fishes ring me charter boats. It's
just devastating for the whole state. The criteria of where
they've cut the limits, which for some people think the
Spencer Golf ends at the bottom of Port Lincoln and
across to Marion Bay, the cut limits have actually extended
right up Passport Drummond and down to the Continental Shelf.
So this doesn't just affect the likes of the immediate

(02:28):
Spencer Golf, it has affect this whole industry across the
Lower Air Peninsula. Temporary is a frustrating thing because we
know the Snapper band when now they've now extended that
as part of this for another year to Dune twenty
twenty seven. This has now been seven years, so they've
been doing the homework for seven years. The Reporter is
supposed to be coming out in November this year. They've
now pushed that back because of the Augie bloom. So look,

(02:50):
I don't know that we will get back to where
we got. It's going to be a tricky one seen
in history if it repeats itself. Get those numbers back.
So how has local business been affected this algo bloom
has been going for most of this year.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
What have you noticed from a local perspective.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, look, absolutely, when the algae bloom hit, it sort
of was a slow burn, and then sort of July
August is started to have a full effect across the state.
We were down quite considerably in July and August September,
we were sort of seeing some positive results. October to
last week, the numbers were looking really good. Now we've
taken that step back almost to that May June. From

(03:31):
a business perspective, we're back at square one. People haven't
been out fishing, and you know, I was very frank
with the premiere and said, sorry, premiere, I don't believe
in your numbers. You know, the three hundred percent that
I was told after the meeting totally shocked me because
my business is not booming. It's in fact gone down
on an average of nine percent over that ALGI period.
So the numbers that they're providing just don't stuck up.

(03:53):
And how they've come up with that fifty percent cut
just infuriates me because it's not substantiated. We know the
fisher in Spencer Golds is totally sustainable. There's very little
augne blooms, So why are the likes of Coffin Bay
being penalized for something that's happening in a completely different
golf There has been some great things that came out
of the press release last week. Unfortunately, obviously the negative

(04:15):
has outweighed the positive. But we do have now free
boat ramps across the entire states, are not just the
affected areas. We have fifty percent off boat registrations and
trailer registrations. The National Park is free. So look, there
are some positives out of that. Obviously, business grants were
increased to fifty thousand dollars, so again for small business

(04:35):
there is an increase in there. So certainly there are
some positives. What changes do you want to see? What's
done is done. I don't think the government are going
to reverse what their action. Ideally, i'd like to see
that Spencer golf line cut. We know we need to
look after our fishery or recreational fishes and commercial note
it's our livelihood, we need to look after it. I
don't have an issue with the fifty percent cut. I

(04:56):
have an issue with the commercials have been able to
take one hundred percent, which potentially can turn into an
increase of one hundred percent because they can pull quota
from the previous year and they can pull quota from
the next year. So are we going to put a
lot more pressure through the commercial sector and the recks
have done the right thing, and we still then get
to dune thirty next year and persa or STARTI say, look,

(05:17):
it's still not sustainable. We need to push it out
another twelve months. Ideally, I'd love to see that mapping
change so people can still fish and joy fishing. A
husband and wife that drives from Adelaide to Port Lincoln
and only the husband fish is just going to go
out for five fish. We need to look obviously at
Tier two species, so other options, Tommy Samon Trout. So, look,
there is positives out of it, but it's just such

(05:38):
a shock when the premiere was pushing all this positivity
about getting people out fishing and moving and tourism and
supporting all the country towns. We look at how devastated
York Peninsula has. We now could have that same effect
over here. So now you affected two massive income economy.
They were saying, you know, only thirty percent of the
coastline was affected by the algae bloom. You've probably now

(05:58):
affected seventy percent in economy. Rereckfish is certainly doing an
amazing job to put their voice for recreational fishes. We
know there's three hundred and sixty six thousand fishes. We
know the industry is worth a billion dollars to this state.
It is important. It gets people moving. It's great for
your mental health. You know, you can go out and
relax on a beach with your family and cast the

(06:18):
line or head out in the boat with your mates.
You know, this mental health thing, We've seen it through
the shop already. We're getting people that are frustrated. And
that's a big thing that I think the government needs
to look at, is the effects that they've now put
on people. Yeah, it's so much more widespread than just
affecting the fishing laws. It's going to go so much
further than absolutely and we know one fishing is one's
part of the issue, but there's just so much more

(06:41):
to it. You know, you've got caravans, you've got charter boats.
You know how a charter boat is going to survive.
I had one guy ring me in said, Okay, I
can catch four tuna with eight people. Do they get
half a tuna each for three hundred and fifty bucks
for charter. You've got caravan parks that are already down
and they were hoping for a good Christmas. Now where
do you sit? You know we should be ordering massive
amounts of stop. What do I do now?

Speaker 2 (07:00):
We'll have more after the break. I welcome back. We
just heard from the owner of Tackle World on the
Air Peninsula. She broke down how the lingering algal bloom
is shaking up the local fishing scene and what those
new restrictions mean for your next trip out on the water.

(07:21):
Now we're shifting gears from rods and reels to what's
happening along our coastline and how to stay safe whether
you're taking a dip in the river, the backyard pool
or the ocean. Our reporter Lockie Winnell spoke to Lauren
Miller from Royal Life Saving Australia about the main takeaways
from their summer campaign.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
So Royal Life Saving Australia's urging parents and cares to
be prepared and always actively supervised young children around water
as the Keep Watch campaign lunches ahead of summer. So
over the past decade, there were one hundred and eighty
three children who aged between zero and four years that
lost their lives to journey in Australia. Two thirds in
swimming pools. The majority occurred in a backyard swimming pool

(07:59):
where the child and often access the pool while I'm
supervised through a gate that had been propped open or
not properly closed. So this campaign is just to you know,
be mindful, be supervising children. This is for parents and
cares and we're basically urging them to follow the keep
watch actions to prevent child drowning. And these are to supervise,

(08:21):
always keep children with an arms reach around water, restrict
so ensure pool fences and gates are secure, up to date,
and never leave them propped open. To teach, so help
children develop water safety skills through play in swimming lessons,
and finally to respond, learn CPR and know what to
do when there's an emergency.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Yeah, it looks some very clear points there, and some
would say maybe the sign points get rised every year,
but I guess there is a bit of complacency that
can creep in from tom to tom. How can we
stop this one?

Speaker 1 (08:52):
So complacency definitely is something that contributes to drowning. Were
trying to urge people, you know, just to always watch
children around water, no matter the water bodies. So we're
not just talking about swimming pools either. We're also talking
about rivers, systems, beaches, swimming between the flags. But if
you are going to go swimming with a child, make

(09:15):
sure you are arms reach apart from them, just so
you can grab them in case anything happens. Again, we're
talking about also between the ages of zero and four,
so this is also the time when children are just
starting to learn to swim, so there's a lot of
curiosity around water. So we want parents and cares to

(09:36):
not rely on lifeguards to take care of your children,
to you know, don't be on your phones, be present
with the child, especially in water and when around water.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
Absolutely, and if people want to find out more information
about this campaign or further up water safety tips, roll
off sivings online resources is a good port of Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Just go to our website Royal Life Saving dot com
dot eu slash keep Watch and you can't find all
our resources around drowning prevention for children.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
I also spoke to Emergency Services Minister Rhiann and Pierce
about the commencement of the summer shark patrols.

Speaker 5 (10:14):
We know they're in the warmer months, sharks can present
threat to local communities. So what these patrols do is
they are able to keep a watchful i over communities
and when they do spot shark that could pose a
risk to those at the beaches and in the waters,
they alert are siren so those who are in the

(10:35):
water can get out and they monitor that as well
for when say Paula also able to come out. So
it's a really important measure of helping people to keep
safe coming into these warmer months.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
So it's nothing to be alarmed by. If you do
see the chopper above you or anything, it's just they're
looking out. It doesn't mean necessarily that there is one around.

Speaker 5 (10:53):
If anything, feel reassured. If you can see the plane
and you can't hear anything, it means that there is
an active eye out and nothing to be alerted to.
Last season, we saw over four hundred and fifty flights
across the coastline going over more than twelve hundred hours,
and that signmen was activated more than ninety times. So
they're very efficient.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
At what they do.

Speaker 5 (11:15):
They play a really important role. But if you do
see the plane. No need to worry. They're doing their
job of helping to keep everybody at the beaches safe.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
How has the program evolved since it was first introduced.

Speaker 5 (11:26):
So it continues to evolve based on what we're seeing
and the patterns and the trends that we're seeing at
the beach, so the timeline can change. We've opened up
a little bit earlier this year based on what we've
been seeing, and we're going a little bit longer into
the April Long weekend as well to make sure that
those who wish to go to the beach feel safe
watching those patterns. We've also done a lot of work

(11:47):
in terms of mitigation packages as well, working with Surf
Life Saving South Australia, and that includes improved signage and
also ensuring that we have key trauma kids because we
know how passionate people about their beaches and we want
to do what we can to ensure that they are
feeling safe and equipped when they do go to visit.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
So at the moment, this is just the flurio mostly Ryan.
It goes down South Leaves between Rapid Bay and North
Haven if I'm correct, Is there talk of it going
anywhere else? I know the Air Peninsula, for example, Shark
attacks have been fairly brutal there the last few years,
a few fatalities. So can this be expanded? Is there
discussion about that?

Speaker 5 (12:26):
It's certainly led by the assessments that I made, and
that is on a myriad of things, who's going there,
what the incidents are, where we are seeing how far
out the sharks are and the like. But we are
doing a lot of work in the Air Peninsula regardless
to help keep them safe. The patrols are just one
of the ways that we put in place. So I
know in the Air Peninsula we're doing a lot in

(12:47):
terms of signage where residents and beach goers are able
to keep an eye and warn each other if they've
seen a shark. That all gets them recorded so and
added back into we can look at that in terms
of the approaches that we're making, and as well as
those key trauma kits that we've mentioned as well. So
I know Streaky Bay and Ellison have both really embraced

(13:09):
those measures to help keep those commune safe, and that's
something I'll certainly be interested in hearing more from those
communities and what we can do to keep people as
safe as possible in these situations.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Absolutely so, have there been any incidents where the Shark
Patrol directly prevented a shark attack or a shark encounter?

Speaker 5 (13:27):
Well, as I've mentioned a little bit earlier, we know
that they have been activated more than ninety times just
last year alone, So one would assume that that's played
a really important role in helping those beach goers to
feel safe, to get out of big water and prevent
that risk of a shark attack happening at those point
in time.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
What should beach goers do if they do hear the siren,
just quickly and calmly proceed out of the water.

Speaker 5 (13:52):
I P you do hear the siren, it is best
in a calm manner to get out of the water.
It's always better safe than sorry. And then obviously saphole
are alerted and they then put into action their plan
as well to ensure that the beach remains safe during
that period of time.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
That's it for this week. Don't forget you can hear
iHeart Essay and the iHeart app or wherever you get
your podcasts. I'm Jackie Limb. Join us again next week
for more of the stories you want to hear. I
Heart Essay, The Voice of South Australia. I Heart Essay,