Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / AFANT CEO David Ciaravolo says access has been restricted to the Rookery in the South Alligator River over concerns that bird hatchlings could be knocked from trees into the water

Transcript

AFANT CEO David Ciaravolo says access has been restricted to the Rookery in the South Alligator River over concerns that bird hatchlings could be knocked from trees into the water · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: In some good news for territory fish shows. There has
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: been those upgrades to the daily river boat ramp. They're
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  Speaker 1: now complete, so it is a four point three to
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  Speaker 1: five million dollar project and it did indeed see the
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  Speaker 1: construction of.
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  Speaker 2: A new car park.
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  Speaker 1: There's a toilet block, there's also passenger loading ramp, improving
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  Speaker 1: access for people of all abilities. And joining us on
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  Speaker 1: the line to tell us a little bit more from
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  Speaker 1: a fanti it is David Chirravolo.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: David, Good morning Katie, and good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: David, talk us through a bit more detail of this
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  Speaker 1: project and what it'll mean for fish shows.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's really good news. We've got the Girl's
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  Speaker 3: Gone Fishing competition down there on the Daily this week,
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  Speaker 3: and we've had the announcement that the boat ramp is
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  Speaker 3: now car park is now open, so a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of a soft launch actually a few weeks ago and
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  Speaker 3: any bugs, which there weren't any, and so what we
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  Speaker 3: have now is where there used to be an informal
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  Speaker 3: parking area, we now have a top of the line
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  Speaker 3: car park that can accommodate for peak demand. It's raised
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  Speaker 3: up so it's not going to be subject to flooding.
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  Speaker 3: It means that the area is a lot safer, a
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  Speaker 3: lot more formalized. It was a request of the traditional owners,
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  Speaker 3: the Malick Malick people there, who really wanted community safety
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  Speaker 3: to be improved as well, and so it is a
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  Speaker 3: real win win. What it also means is that we
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  Speaker 3: now have toilet facilities there, so it's a much more
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  Speaker 3: family friendly facility, so everybody can use those amenities. They're
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  Speaker 3: brands banking, new and very well maintained by the Malick
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  Speaker 3: Malick rangers. And also we have an all abilities access
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  Speaker 3: ramp put in, which means that there is passenger loading
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  Speaker 3: for people in wheelchairs or people who are maybe less
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  Speaker 3: able of jumping in and out of boats can actually
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  Speaker 3: use that ramp to get up to boat level when
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  Speaker 3: it's on the back of the trailer. So overall it's
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  Speaker 3: an excellent development at what is one of the territory's
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  Speaker 3: top barrel Monday fishing spot.
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  Speaker 1: How much of a difference do you reckon it's going
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  Speaker 1: to make for everybody. I mean the fact there's sometimes
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  Speaker 1: as you get a little bit older, it might be
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  Speaker 1: more difficult to head out on the water. If you're
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  Speaker 1: not able to get in and out of the boat easily,
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  Speaker 1: So how big a difference do you reckon? This is
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  Speaker 1: all going to make well.
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  Speaker 3: Look, the territory is the best place to fish in
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  Speaker 3: Australia and it's appropriate that we have really good quality infrastructure.
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  Speaker 3: This has been a long time coming and it's already
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  Speaker 3: making a lot of difference. We've had people contact us
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  Speaker 3: fishers who use wheelchairs, older people who have said one
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  Speaker 3: of the limitations for them getting in and out of
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  Speaker 3: their boat has been climbing onto the boat when it's
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  Speaker 3: on the back of the trailer. And so already to
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  Speaker 3: feedback on using the all abilities access ramp has been
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  Speaker 3: really really positive and we've had a lot of families
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  Speaker 3: also say to us, oh, it's great. Now I don't
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  Speaker 3: have to worry about if I get there and I
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  Speaker 3: never need to go to the toilet or the kids
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  Speaker 3: needs to go to the toilet. The facility is there
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  Speaker 3: and so people are really happy about that. But the
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  Speaker 3: other great news about this is for a few years
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  Speaker 3: now there's actually been some damage to the toe of
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  Speaker 3: the boat ramps at the bottom of the boat ramp.
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  Speaker 3: Now that's not an issue right now because the water
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  Speaker 3: level is still a bit higher in the river. But
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  Speaker 3: as part of a add on to this project, they're
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  Speaker 3: currently pre cast concrete and when the water levels get low,
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  Speaker 3: they're actually going to fix the toll of the ramp
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  Speaker 3: as well, which means that now we've got a much
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  Speaker 3: better and much clearer and safer approach to the ramp,
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  Speaker 3: better turnaround and better lines of slight down and eventually
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  Speaker 3: in the very near future we're going to have a
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  Speaker 3: better ramp overall. So it's going to be a real
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  Speaker 3: big change in the amenity of this facility, and I
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  Speaker 3: think the fishing community have been very, very appreciative of
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  Speaker 3: this investment.
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  Speaker 1: That is great stuff, really good to hear, and obviously
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  Speaker 1: coinciding with the Girls Gone Fishing competition, they must be
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  Speaker 1: excited as well.
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  Speaker 2: No doubt they'll go off.
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  Speaker 3: It's a fantastic competition locally run and organized by Sammy
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  Speaker 3: Wig and very well patronized by the Female Fish Fraternity
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  Speaker 3: in Darwin. I've got a secret hope for one of
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  Speaker 3: the teams with an Asan entrant. There were more than
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  Speaker 3: one Afan entrant impact in the teams, but one of
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  Speaker 3: our staff members is competing again and so you know,
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  Speaker 3: certainly I'll be watching the leaderboard updates and I think
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  Speaker 3: it's going to be a great week for everybody.
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  Speaker 2: Wonderful stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Hey David, last time you and I caught up, we're
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  Speaker 1: obviously talking about access to some waterways.
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  Speaker 2: How are things going on that front?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, look, Katie, there hasn't really been any major changes
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  Speaker 3: in recent In recent times, I guess to the access negotiations.
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  Speaker 3: We have been having ongoing conversations with the Territory government
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  Speaker 3: about that. We understand and we've had feedback from the
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  Speaker 3: Territory Government that they're still hoping to have negotiations with
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Land Council on some of those access issues.
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  Speaker 3: But look, it is the case at the moment that
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  Speaker 3: there are a number of places that people want to
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  Speaker 3: fish that they can no longer access, and we certainly
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  Speaker 3: hope that that can change in the near future, but
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  Speaker 3: it will be a matter of the government engaging with
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  Speaker 3: the traditional owners and coming up with arrangements and offers
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  Speaker 3: hopefully that break the mold of the past and have
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  Speaker 3: led the stagnation in this Spacey a.
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  Speaker 2: Really quick one.
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  Speaker 1: A call has just called through and they're asking apparently
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  Speaker 1: there was a handwritten sign up at rookery in the
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  Speaker 1: South Alligator River from local ranges, saying that the spot
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  Speaker 1: had been closed to protect the nesting of some of
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  Speaker 1: the birds there, and he was wondering what consultation was
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  Speaker 1: done about this.
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  Speaker 2: Apparently the birds.
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  Speaker 1: Have been there for years and he's wondering what's really
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  Speaker 1: sort of changed. I don't know if you know anything
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  Speaker 1: about that, David.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So it's been a long running concern of traditional
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  Speaker 3: owners and the ranges in Kakadu National Park around the rookery.
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  Speaker 3: This is an area where there are literally thousands of
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  Speaker 3: nesting in the trees that are pretty well in standing water.
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  Speaker 3: It also happens to be an excellent runoff fishing spot,
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  Speaker 3: especially at this time of year, and it has been
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  Speaker 3: a place where people have been able to access in
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  Speaker 3: the past and can access most of the time. We
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  Speaker 3: got some feedback a few weeks ago and there was
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  Speaker 3: an announcement on the Park's Australia website that the ranges,
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  Speaker 3: in consultation with the traditional owners, had made a decision
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  Speaker 3: to close that area while there were so many birds
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  Speaker 3: and hatchlings in the trees, because they were worried about
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  Speaker 3: the birds being knocked into the water. It certainly has
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  Speaker 3: been disappointing for recreational fishes, and many of whom would
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  Speaker 3: say they would operate as carefully as they possibly can
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  Speaker 3: and not knock into the trees. However, this is a
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  Speaker 3: decision that's been taken by Parks Australia at the request
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  Speaker 3: of the traditional owners, and whilst we are trying to
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  Speaker 3: understand and learn more about it, we understand that they
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  Speaker 3: do actually have the power to close parts of the
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  Speaker 3: past call any parts of the park whenever they want.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, I think people would be quite familiar
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  Speaker 3: that there have been other areas of the park that
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  Speaker 3: have been closed for quite some time now, and so
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  Speaker 3: whilst we certainly are always engaging about our ability to
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  Speaker 3: communicate responsible behavior, there are some limitations as to I
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  Speaker 3: guess the power that can be had when there are
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  Speaker 3: other people making those decisions and they believe that made
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  Speaker 3: those decisions for the right reasons and they think that
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  Speaker 3: they're necessary.
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  Speaker 2: Is it Is it quite a popular sort of area.
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's certainly not a popular area in terms of
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  Speaker 3: like Shady Camp or the Daily River as a large area,
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  Speaker 3: but it is a very popular area with people who
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  Speaker 3: fish the south and particularly at this time of the year,
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  Speaker 3: and it's also a really good fishing spot. So the
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  Speaker 3: channel or that leads into the creek that leads into
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  Speaker 3: there is accessible to a point, but it has been
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  Speaker 3: closed off and roped off with that notice from Parks
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  Speaker 3: Australia at the where really to be honest, a lot
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  Speaker 3: of people do like to fish. For those people who
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  Speaker 3: this is their favorite spot, it has impacted on them.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I sit on the consultative Committee for Tourism
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  Speaker 3: or having a conversation next week about that. I'm going
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  Speaker 3: to be meeting again with the range just down there
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  Speaker 3: to understand a little bit more about the process and
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  Speaker 3: going forward. But I think it is you know, it
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  Speaker 3: is within the rights of the traditional owners and the
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  Speaker 3: parks to close it. What we hope we can do
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  Speaker 3: is to say, well, you know, when does it need
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  Speaker 3: if it does need to be closed from time to time,
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  Speaker 3: when does it need to be closed. Can we minimize
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  Speaker 3: those closure periods around when the critical time is for
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  Speaker 3: the birds, and can we have improved communication with fishes
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  Speaker 3: around it. But you know the other element of it
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  Speaker 3: is that the management of Takadu and times have changed
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  Speaker 3: and in the past, while it was able to be
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  Speaker 3: kept open, the decision this time has gone against us.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of fishes or some fishes are disappointed about that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So no word on how long it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be closed for either.
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  Speaker 3: We've engaged with the rangers on it, and they've told
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  Speaker 3: us that when the birds fledge, they will reopen it.
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  Speaker 3: So at the moment they've not at the moment, but
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  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks ago when I last spoke with them,
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  Speaker 3: there were a lot of baby birds in the trees
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  Speaker 3: and the concern was that if they got knocked into
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  Speaker 3: the water, well, that's effectively the end of them. They
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  Speaker 3: haven't had a lot of big, good wet seasons, which
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  Speaker 3: is one of the reasons why fishes were so excited
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  Speaker 3: about getting in there, but it's also one of the
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  Speaker 3: reasons why the birds have bread so spectacularly this year.
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  Speaker 3: And the thoughts and I guess ideas there from the
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  Speaker 3: ranges and from the traditional owners are to bank a
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  Speaker 3: really great year of breeding of the birds and to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that those birds are protected at this time.
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  Speaker 3: And I think most people would support that. Whether we
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  Speaker 3: can support that in a way that allows for some
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  Speaker 3: or a modified form of access, these conversations we'd still
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  Speaker 3: like to have for years going forward. But I think
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  Speaker 3: overall people do understand and do know that we need
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  Speaker 3: to balance the health of the overall environment. But certainly
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  Speaker 3: most fishes who go up there would be experienced, and
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure they're not knocking burds into the water all
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  Speaker 3: the time either.
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  Speaker 1: Well, David Girovolo, I'm sure that there'll be plenty of
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  Speaker 1: people listening to that this morning who are thinking, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: you know, at least we've got a bit of a
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  Speaker 1: better understanding now, But no doubt there'll be some who
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  Speaker 1: will be pretty disappointed that they can't go to their
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  Speaker 1: favorite fishing spot. Mate. I always appreciate your time though,
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  Speaker 1: always good to catch up, and thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for having a chat to us this morning about various
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  Speaker 1: different topics there today.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, And I think just finally to say, you know,
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  Speaker 3: this is why access is so important. That when certain
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  Speaker 3: areas need to be closed for certain reasons, if we
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: have reduced access overall, it really complicates factors. So what
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  Speaker 3: do you need to focus on having the best access
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  Speaker 3: regimes we possibly can?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you exactly well, David, thank you, we'll talk to
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  Speaker 1: you again soon.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for your time.