Brian Brainwave wrote:possibly what Shearer is trying to say, is Surfing Australia, should be doing more for rec surfers. currently they seem to fly the flag for comp surfing and the pros doing it.
by all means bring other people to surfing. but ffs look after them in the water.
ie sending their own ski out in among paddlers at the alley, is actually adding to the problem, (which is also illegal?) and someone will get run over by a ski at some point.
it's not what you'd expect from a governing body.
Thats exactly what I'm saying.
of course I'm not suggesting they try and dissuade people from surfing. But, by christ, if they are hell bent on growing the number of surfers with absolutely zero ideas or plan to manage the fallout from that then thats pretty brain dead, to be kind.\\
Again, I draw a parallel with fishing because they are both lifestyle activities that rely on a limited natural resource. Peak fishing bodies, and the govt on their behalf are very active in assessing and dealing with the impact of fishing. They advocate for artificial reefs, size and bag limits etc etc.
I can't see any propositions coming from Surfing Aus about how to manage increasing surfing crowds numbers (which they directly advocating as part of their charter) on a static resource i.e. fixed number of surf spots.
Have they got a plan for that?
If not, why not?
Every week I drive to goldy airport and body bash the Tugun stretch, pretty much an artificial beach, certainly a man modified environment due to the sand bypass. Every week I look up and down the beach at 5 miles of close-outs and think, imagine if they could put 15-20 tidy little artificial reefs here. How much more surfing amenity would there be and how much pressure would it take off the Superbank.