South Oz surfers: Paddle out to protest against Victor Harbor tuna pen
With Oceanic Victor receiving approval from the DAC to build a tuna-pen tourist attraction near Granite Island, the local community has organised a paddle out protest this Sunday 10th January. Meet at the Victor Harbor Yacht Club at 10am - please come and show your support.
You can also follow this event on Facebook.
Local surfer and surf school owner Chris Kingston has also uploaded a video expressing his views, which has attracted more than ninety thousand views.
Comments
Doesn't sound promising I'm afraid.
Never let common sense get in the way of a few politicians and businessmen making a few extra bundles to throw on the pile at the expense of the rest.
Good luck Chris, I hope sanity prevails.
Wouldn't a "refuse to paddle out" protest be more appropriate, where everyone stands at the water's edge scanning nervously for dorsal fins?
haha! Good point
Onya Kingo, what happened to the Vermen?
This is my first post and I have only joined this forum because I feel this is very important,lets band together and try to stop this burley pen as for the 2 months it's in operation over summer the rest of the year we get to swim in a burley trail.
What will it take to stop it someone gets chewed, a leg lost or a life, so we need to get on board.
Come on south oz surfers,lets band together to stop this feeding pen.
I do not want to see my life lost,my kids or any one else's.
As the way it looks if this goes ahead every fisho that's got a boat and not a very big one at that will be anchored around the pin fishing up a storm as there's going be no need for burley victor boat ramp about to get very busy or any wear you can launch it from,might have to put a rod in my wetsuit and do the very short paddle from the dump.
Jesus.. Please don't let your ignorance get in the way of facts there.. What burley you idiots?? it's got a handful of fish and you might actually learn something along the way... Kingo is getting exactly what he wants.. His 5 seconds of fame because that is all he will ever achieve in his life.. And all of you sheep listening!!?? Can you all get any dumber.. The platform was there 15 years ago and not one recorded interaction.. And then in Port Lincoln for the last 4 years ago without one shark or mammal interaction..don't go in the water if youre scared.. There's sharks there now.. Go make yourself a cup of tea and a lie down
I can't beleive this is going ahead, even from an economic perspective, how many people really want to swim with fucking tuna? yeh it may bring a few extra bucks, but if that's the best they can come up with for a tourist attraction well....
maybe it suits victor well, a totally lame attraction fitting with....
seriously given SAs past with the tourist bureau and oceanic pursuits the whole department should be sacked
Went and took the family down for a paddle to show support this morning and was blown away by the amount of crew.Check the local commercial new's station's and ABC's new's tonight to get a grasp on how the local surf and ocean using community feel's about this.Good on you Nisa,Kingo,Simon and all else who has put the hand up to get this going.
Such a good show of support today to can the victor burley pen ,
thanks to everyone that showed there support.
Scoop masters when ur sitting out the back on a mid week winter session,cloudy day and large solid surf at the dump u can take my lure,and paddle to the horizon.
Especially when the burley trails active.
Ben you you can haha .
Did it get on the news? anyone get any footage, wish i could of been there.
Massive turnout! Well done everyone (photo from Diana Hurford).
More here: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/hundreds-gather-at-vi...
Cheers Ben
too crowded
Hope I'm wrong but.....
Town Crier 'Hear ye hear ye, 5 metre great white tears through surf school, hear ye hear ye'.
And anyhow, is it really that important that a tourist swims with the Tuna at Victor? Firstly, they're in a friggin cage which is hardly their natural environment and secondly, there's about a million other things to do on a holiday. What ever happened to just going and sitting on a beach, having a go at surfing, relaxing and shagging your missus while the kids are in the hotel pool? Disappointing that people seem to need so much stimulation these days - especially when it could potentially come at the cost of the other water users safety
Even better, shaggin' your missus in the hotel pool.
Edit: Over to you Gary G.
I get a feeling this isnt the main prize for the proponents. Possibly a distraction or step one in realising their ultimate goal of bringing shark cage diving to The Fleurieu Peninsula either Seal Rocks or Pages Islands.
I find it hard to believe there hasnt been extensive community consultation on the tourism opportunities in that area. There's heaps starting with opening up beach/coast access (roads) along the southern Fleurieu. Currently something like beach access every 8.3kms on average along that stretch (thats my own crude estimate). Even then the couple that do exist are trek in/out. A lot less access than most other regions 1 hour away from a CBD. Do your own maths...
Swellnet you guys are good with stats and research why dont you run a piece on beach accessibility looking at the stretch Cape Jervis to the Bluff at VH. Comparing with other like geographical areas would be interesting? From Waitpinga heading west theres very limited ease of access.
Well worth looking into, but I suspect that private land ownership will be the main problem here.
I remember when Balquhidder Station went up for sale in the mid-2000's, of which Kerry Stokes (owner of Seven West Media, one of the richest blokes in Australia) then picked it up in 2007. Balquhidder has 9km of coastline between Parsons and Tunkalilla, of which I've hiked through there many times looking for waves (as have plenty of others).
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/kerry-stokes-invests-in-11km-of-fleur...
The VH Times then reported in 2013 that Kerry was looking to purchase another 31ha of coastal land at Tunkalilla off the state government (is this at the eastern end? I'm not sure).
http://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/story/1966332/kerry-stokes-looks-to-...
I'd love for there to be easier access to those beaches, but the flip side is that it keeps the numbers down for those willing to do the legwork.
genuine well done organisers and swellnet for arranging/publicizing event. despite complete lack of any organisation/instruction at the yacht club the spontaneous paddleout at 10.15 (having heard nothing from any "organiser") worked well.
to achieve anything in the future more planning/thought is required, it was a waste of a huge opportunity to have 1000 people gathered yet noone spoke, noone gathered names/petitions/money! to further the cause.
the tv spokespeople are wellintentioned but lack gravitas, "attracting things we dont really want", "predators"... they are fucking sharks and the more times you say the word the more impact it will have. the one things politicians respond to is the threat of being voted out, the organisers need to link up with a local councillor who is against the pen (is there one or 2? i am in alexandra ward not victor) and if there isn't said councillor they need to arrange a ticket on an anti tuna pen for the next council election. 1000 potential voters will attract the interest of councillors more than just paddling out into the ocean.
establish a formal group, bank account, ?crowd- funding etc. whoever this current group is they need some help from someone with a bit of organisational expertise.
Yeah Ben, obvious point about opening up access and crowds but this stretch of coast can deal with it and would take the heat off some of the existing accessible spots.. Not only for surfers but other users too.
Anyway we digress I suppose but part of the bigger picture, which needs to be considered and clearly not being by the state government.
It's a fair point - the whole coast should be accessible to anyone - but the problem is probably in how the government defines 'accessible'. What we would all prefer is (as a minimum) a dirt road to within a couple of hundred metres of each beach, but at the moment it is technically accessible - just via a much longer walk (and in some cases, avoiding cattle!) on the Heysen Trail.
Agree we need tourist dollars but this is a dumb idea. Not a suitable location at all. Hope the rich behind this come to their sensors. Thanks for your video Chris
Good work fellas - But while wait so long this was brought up Aug 2015
sorry I think its to late it will go ahead
Surprising how much power Tony Santic has ?
This "tuna pen idea" is Brutal, SA is sharky enough.......No thought for any ocean users(not just surfers).
Funnily enough have only the surfers protested?
The real agenda is will tuna live in the bay of victor the run to town is only an hour why transport the 7 hours from the eyre peninsula,cutting cost and boosting profits.
The council will be onto that,free hand out can dress a pig in make up and lipstick, but stills a pig at the end of the day.
You're gonna have to change your name to 'Gazagain', Zen; particularly after publicly offering to shag noshow's missus in the hotel pool.
What are your moves? Hang out in the pool bar and keep the abs crunched: "hey honey, the batman just poured me an extra banana daquiri, wanna share?"
Pretty hot bird from channel 7 if you were there gazza g would have more air play from a man of your stature presence,must have been to busy dropping them off Sunday morning.
I missed the paddle out as i was on my way back to Norway...
I picked up a leaflet from the surf shop at middleton with email addresses etc of various politicians.. I guess thats the only thing that can be done from here?
Damn, there's no way I'm going to be able to compete with banana daiquiris poured by batman & ripped abs. Gonna have to make sure she spends the entirety of our holiday swimming in the tuna cage to keep her out of trouble
Brad Halstead has done a great video of the paddle out.
Good to see,wonder if the powers that be are paying attention......
Up and running eh...
Any increase in shark sightings now the Berley pot is in place ?
Paddle Out is old school...#Me Too....(Out'n'Out) is wot we got here & evermore.
(Out 'n'Out): Definition- Whole town confronts Out'n'Out lies head on...No place to hide!
Whole town is stretchered out...One eyed Pirate patches for those chained to beachflags.
Basherz/Doggie & People Paddlerz/Sail4Sale/Tinnie Rats/Proper News Chopper all United.
Protest makes Swellnet news... Gold Coast supports Victor Harbor.
So they have set up a tuna cage?
oceanicvictor instagram
Ah that's quite a twist on the tuna cage I was expecting. Quite touristy - imagine swimming in the pen and getting to see the tuna's reaction to a submarine rolling by outside.
Was it more than two years ago this article was written and unfortunately peoples protesting didn't work to stop this ?
Fraser G... ?
hopefully the Tuna get rabies and bite a few touros. Carnts
Thanx guys! My apologies to Victor Harbor crew I read this as being recent.
Apparently the whole show was operating from Port Lincoln for 5 years previous.
Shocking to see they cage predator species 24/7 off Granite Island Nat Park.
Predator poo will rid Island fish also home of near extinct little Penguins & Seadragons.
Swim with Whales/Dolphin/Seals even Horse drawn Tram plenty creatures there as it is.
Why play terminator with battery tuna fish...World gone mad?
Perhaps a bigger shame is in trashing traditional attributes of Kaiki Trail.
Sign me up if you guys want it gone! Yesterday already!
Was zooming through GE this morning and noticed that Oceanic Victor was picked up on the most recent satellite pass. It's been operational for a little while now, I wonder how it's going?
And.. are there any reports of increased shark activity in and around the Victor region? OV is very close to the Port Elliot stretch.
storm in a teacup