THE fifteenth rock-fishing death in 15 years at Catherine Hill Bay has lifesavers calling for life jacket laws and locals fuming over another tragedy they saw coming.
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Residents of the coastal town were dismayed on Sunday as people without life jackets continued to fish from rocks at Shark Hole, where a fisherman from Sydney had died the day before.
Hunter Surf Life Saving president Henry Scruton said the man’s death was the latest tragic reminder of why life jackets should be made compulsory for rock fishing.
“We should be making life jackets mandatory,” Mr Scruton said.
“It’s a great sport, but it needs to be done safely. There’s too many people dying from rock fishing.”
Someone dies virtually every year in rock-fishing accidents on the dazzling, treacherous coast between Frazer Park and Shark Hole, in a sad occurrence that’s now as predictable to locals as shark attacks.
Glenn, a Caves Beach surfer, said many more fishermen narrowly avoid being swept away from rocks at Catherine Hill Bay. Some of the worst injuries happen to fishermen in the act of trying to scramble back onto rocks.
Locals tried to warn fishermen heading to Shark Hole on Saturday morning that the swell was too dangerous, he said.
“It didn’t need to happen. They underestimate the power of the ocean and the waves that come through.”
Catherine Hill Bay Boardriders Club president Mick McCall said a large proportion of rock fishers are from out of town and from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds.
A family tried to fish from the rocks at Shark Hole on Saturday shortly after life savers tried in vain to resuscitate the Sydney man, who had been fishing with his adult nephew. They were warned off by concerned locals.
“Fortunately the people who live here know the dangers,” Mr McCall said.
“But a lot of other people don’t. [Mandatory life jackets] is a great idea, for rock fishing especially.”
Surf Life Saving’s Hunter branch has long lobbied for the introduction of laws requiring everyone who walks on rock shelves at Frazer Park to wear life jackets.
The call gained urgency last January following the death of rock fisherman and father Jesse Howes, who fell down a metre-wide crevice at Snapper Point.
The NSW government has previously committed to “assessing” making life jackets compulsory for rock fishers, and commissioned a report in 2012 on best practice for rock fishing safety.
But the report and subsequent review have not resulted in changes to laws.
In 2011, deputy state coroner Mark Buscombe recommended the government make lifesaving devices compulsory for rock fishing.
