2010-2011 ALBAA Membership

Membership to the Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) for 2010-2011 is now open. ALBAA is currently offering annual membership running until 30 June 2011 via the following fee schedule:

Family: $65

Senior: $50

Student: $20

Junior: $10

Please note: a discount applies to individuals that are already existing ANSA members.

The ALBAA membership form can be downloaded at:

At this time ALBAA would like to thank its founding members for their ongoing support. We are proud of the achievements ALBAA has made and welcome, both the continued support of our current members and any new, like minded anglers wishing to join our association.

Why Join ALBAA?

In applying for membership and paying your fee you are paying for the ability to join a group of Land Based Anglers who wish to improve the rights of common people who fish, and to enjoy these activities in light of common objectives as stated in our clubs formation. Our objectives, rules and code of conduct are formulated in such a way that all members can solidly work towards the improvement and enhancement of recreational fishing in coastal areas Australia wide.

In joining this club as a member, you will participate in activities that strive to achieve these objectives, whilst at the same time continuing the enjoyment of your own fishing lifestyle.

As a member of this club, you will also become an affiliate and member of ANSA NSW. The Australian National Sportfishing Association of Australia (ANSA) has been around for quite a while with divisions right across the country. ANSA membership alone entitles all members to make use of a huge fishing network that strives for the improvement of sportfishing in this country, as well as providing access to claim state, national and world records. ANSA also has conservation and fishing ethics with representation on peak bodies. There are insurance benefits to both the club and individual members if desired, and the ANSA affiliation is part of a huge network of clubs and associations throughout Australia and in fact the world.

In addition, our members are diverse in location and knowledge, have extremely wide ranging experience, and we have a network of professional people who can help maintain and enhance your fishing experience. We are also generously open handed with assistance and friendship where required.

More importantly, you as a member will have the ability to present like minded views with a common theme. These views can be discussed in public forum, or privately with members. You will have the opportunity to express an opinion, and present yourself as a person who cares about your fishing future and help others with the same drive.

Australian Land Based Anglers Association.

Any queries regarding your application for ALBAA membership can be directed to: president@albaa.com.au

ALBAA Ledge Care project statement for Federal Inquiry into Recreational Fishing

ALBAA has made comment to the review committee under the ANSA submission focusing on Goal 2: Strategy 5

Goal 2 is concerned with, 'Recreational fishers are respected partners with government, Indigenous Australians and the broader community in the stewardship of Australia's aquatic environment'.

Strategy 5: Be involved in and develop fisheries-specific environmental clean up programs. Actions to address this strategy include, 'Increase the involvement of recreational fishers in Clean Up Australia campaigns'.

The following statement was vetted by members and issued to ANSA for incorporation into their document:

'The Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) has built its 'Ledge Care' model alongside Clean Up Australia to encourage stewardship and environmental awareness among land based fishers. To date ALBAA has been involved in the 2008-2010 events totalling 14 individual sites with members and volunteers attending these locations a total of 24 times, removing an approximated 3.96 tonnes of refuse AND flotsam from Rocky foreshore environments in NSW and the Northern Territory.'

'ALBAA's 'Ledge Care' initiative extends beyond CUAD and regular clean ups are held through the year in various locations up and down the Eastern Seaboard. This imitative also includes consultation with other stake holders and management bodies, promoting cross management strategies and increased involvement of fishers in decision making processes. Given its solid foundation, 'Ledge Care' could be extended to create a mentoring program and also incorporate Rock fishing Safety, building on ALBAA's growing involvement with the 'Angel Ring' program.'

'ALBAA welcomes the opportunity to further discuss environmental initiatives pertinent to land based anglers in open forum and build on the ground work laid by its members over the past 3 years involvement with clean up and educational campaigns targeted at recreational fishers.'

At this point it is hoped that the review committee will recommend that federal support be lent to an environmental/education project of this nature.

Australian Land Based Anglers Association.

Safety Statement

30 May 2010

In recent times we’ve seen an alarming number of rock fishermen lose their lives to the sea. Our members pride themselves on their ability to keep out of harm’s way by way of researching the weather and sea conditions, reading the water and developing a keen sense of environment and local knowledge of how the water behaves at various rock ledges.

In most cases this knowledge and experience handed down from ‘father to son’ or from ‘mate to mate’. ALBAA promotes education above all else as an effective management tool and calls for community awareness and peer pressure to address these safety issues.

Many of the rules that allow us to enjoy our sport in safety are very simple to learn and put into practice:

• Always check the weather reports before leaving home. Any sea approaching 2m is not worth fishing
• Don’t ever turn your back on the sea, watch it constantly
• Always wear appropriate foot ware keeping in mind the rocks may be wet and slimy
• Tell someone where you’re going and when you will return
• Carry a mobile, have it unlocked and know the emergency numbers (112 for GSM mobile, 000 for others)
• Have an exit strategy to get off the rocks if the weather changes
• Have a plan to deal with a situation where someone falls in the water
• Do not fish alone
• If the rocks are wet and water isn’t falling from the sky it is potentially not safe to stand on that wet rock
• Keep yourself out of harms way by helping others – many people have lost their lives in the past attempting to rescue other anglers that have fallen in the sea
• If you cannot swim or are not a strong swimmer then consider your decision to fish carefully, there will be no second chance if you end up in the water

An ALBAA member survey told us recently that we, as a stakeholder within the rock fishing community, believe education is the key to addressing issues of rock fishing safety and we ‘strongly encourage’ the use of PFD devices whilst rock fishing.

Whilst there has been government support for ANSA's 'Rock Fishing Safety' we are seeing that a lot of this work is sadly not reaching the people whom would benefit from it the most. In order to gain a better understanding of the methodology which could be implemented to better assist these educational campaigns ALBAA encourages everyone who rock fishes to participate in the survey currently being run by Royal Life Saving NSW.

We would also ask any rock anglers encountering other fishers, whom appear not to be aware of the dangers to please approach these people and help them by steering them clear of harms way.

Access the Royal Life Saving NSW fishing survey with the following link:

http://www.royallifesaving.com.au

Other useful information regrading rock fishing safety can be found at the following links:

http://www.safewaters.nsw.gov.au/fishing.htm

http://www.angelrings.com.au

http://www.safefishing.com.au

ALBAA Committee.

The Story of Jaw's Fin

by Bob Russo

Friday night and it is pouring down the rain that is, my partner in crime Jock has the flu so I am left to take on the rock we called 'Oasis' but you guys know as 'Neverfail' on my own.  Loading the Hilux with out Jock just didn't seem right but a blokes gotta do what a blokes gotta do.

I got to Kiama and I was getting edgy, not about fishing the ledge but I had done some careful homework and was confident that a good fish was on the cards.  How in God's name would I be able to hold a rod and gaff a fish of any size on the ledge where I would need to fish owing to the seas being up...

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