ALBAA 'Ledge Care' Initiative

The ALBAA ‘Ledge Care’ initiative has been established to allow fishermen to actively share in the stewardship of their local areas. The ‘Ledge Care’ philosophy also allows groups of anglers to initiate discussion and form relationships with their relevant coastal management bodies thus promoting a shared responsibility and ensuring anglers access rights are maintained.

ALBAA has established a set of protocols and packaged documentation to make this as easy as possible for those wanting to join ALBAA in spreading the ‘Ledge Care’ ideal Australia wide.

For more information contact Christian Gough on 04 11 987 987 or email ledgecare@albaa.com.au.

Recent Ledge Care events:

Jervis Bay [26 July 2008]

After a quiet weekend fishing at the iconic 'Outer Tubes' platform in Jervis bay an ALBAA member brought to the attention of all the members the issue of rubbish on the ALBAA Ledge Care internet forum and an event was scheduled post haste.

The 'Tubes' is steeped in LBG history and the maintenance of this area is always very high on the local JB team’s mind! In an effort to react as fast as possible the team made the necessary arrangements with Clean Up Australia and local management body, in this case the Navy.

Lower Hunter [28 June 2008]

The focus of this action was the prominent rock ledge at the southern point of Catherine Hill Bay.

With seven bodies and plenty of bags we set about the arduous task of picking up the pieces one at a time. A safety briefing prior to clean up proved helpful to ensure that all members were equipped with gloves and asked to take care when handling their bags.

Jervis Bay [14 June 2008]

This Clean up event was staged with the support of Shoalhaven City Council City Council and Clean Up Australia.

Sunrise saw many that had pledged to fish that morning rise wearily from their slumbers and after a hearty camp breakfast a rejuvenated team assembled at Abrahams Bosom beach car park ready for business. Local Environmental Ranger, Rob Oake made a timely appearance to unlock the headland trail gates just before the motorcade assembled.

Central Coast [31 May 2008]

As part of the Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) commitment to the ‘Ledge Care’ initiative our Central Coast Team have been taking on the rubbish issue at South Avoca head on. Numerous Clean up events have been staged at this location over the past months and have been held with the support of Gosford City Council.

Due to ease of access and being a short drive from Sydney this Ledge sees a huge amount of fishing pressure and, unfortunately, a huge amount of litter. The Central Coast team have taken on a big task in trying to keep this ledge clean and have set the standard for local commitment within the ‘Ledge Care’ initiative.

Combined Lower Hunter, Central Coast [24 May 2008]

This Clean up event was staged with the support of National Parks NSW, Lake Macquarie City Council and Clean Up Australia.

At CHB, it seems, the custom involves leaving your waste on the ledge before heading back to the top of the headland to drink ones self silly. Once sufficiently lubricated, 'bottle throwing competitions' begin with maximum spread of broken glass seeming to be the desirable outcome. The Lower Hunter team took on a big ask cleaning out all the caves on the headland and attempting to make an impact on the broken glass littering the headland.

Central Coast [3 May 2008]

On the 3rd of May 2008 the Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) held it’s third environmental action in conjunction with both Gosford City Council and Clean Up Australia.

Although ALBAA is a national association, area action groups are established to maintain local habitats. The stewardship and encouragement received from our Central Coast group has led to further reinforcing this model.

Combined Jervis Bay, Darwin [2 March 2008]

On March 2nd 2008 the Australian Land Based Anglers Association Inc. (ALBAA) carried out its first environmental actions in conjunction with Clean Up Australia Day in Darwin, NT and Currarong, NSW.

The Darwin clean up was focussed at East Pt Flora and Fauna Reserve in Darwin, a very popular local fishing spot. The reserve is vast and the site was also cleaned on the day by the Rotary Club of Darwin, allowing us to concentrate primarily on the fishing ledges.

The NSW clean up was held at Beecroft peninsula focusing on 'Mermaids Inlet' and the 'Outer Tubes' as well as the access tracks leading to these places...

ALBAA Projects

Accreditation

Graveyard

Ledge Care

Safety

Stewardship

ALBAA members are currently undertaking several projects covering a varried range of topics.

The aim of these projects is to correlateing the collective wealth of knowledge ALBAA members posses in our specific area of angling and presenting this knowledge in a manner that all land-based anglers can benefit.