{"id":374067,"date":"2026-03-08T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T09:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/374067\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T09:25:09","slug":"premiers-boat-trip-passed-into-sanctuary-zone-while-towing-lures-recfish-sa-concedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/374067\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier’s boat trip passed into sanctuary zone while towing lures, RecFish SA concedes"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Australia’s peak recreational fishing body has taken responsibility for a boating blunder on Labor’s campaign trail, conceding it carried the state’s premier through a marine sanctuary zone on a vessel that was towing lures.<\/p>\n

The Saturday trip along a section of Adelaide’s southern coast, from O’Sullivan Beach to waters south of the Port Noarlunga jetty, was organised by RecFish SA as a backdrop to a Labor election announcement on recreational fishing.<\/p>\n

Part of the area falls under a sanctuary zone, where rigid restrictions on fishing apply, including bans on the use of fishing equipment.<\/p>\n

“We were headed \u2014 towing lures along the coast \u2014 from O’Sulli’s [O’Sullivan] Beach all the way down to the southern Port Noarlunga area,” RecFish SA CEO Asher Dezsery said.<\/p>\n

“Bit of an oversight, oopsie, but it is what it is.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Your Say: Tell us what matters to you this SA election<\/a><\/p>\n

We want to know what issues matter most to you and what you want us to find out ahead of the March 21, SA election.<\/p>\n

Mr Malinauskas today said he was “aware of the suggestion” that he had been fishing in a sanctuary zone.<\/p>\n

“I haven’t been able to verify it myself,” he said.<\/p>\n

“What I would say is there was a young fellow who was driving the boat doing his level best, along with some other fishos in the state who probably know our waters better than anyone.<\/p>\n

“If they’ve made a mistake, I’m not going to start slamming them, but I can certainly understand the enquiry.”<\/p>\n

According to Environment Department mapping, a section of water around Port Noarlunga jetty falls under a sanctuary zone.<\/p>\n

Boats are allowed to pass through such zones, but there are restrictions on fishing.<\/p>\n

“Sanctuary zones are ‘no take’ areas, meaning you can’t collect, fish or use fishing gear in them,” the National Parks and Wildlife Service website states.<\/p>\n

SA election promise tracker<\/a><\/p>\n

We’ve gone through the major parties’ promises ahead of the state election so you can compare what they have announced for you.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a Liberal Party spokesperson said it was “ironic that the Premier went out to promote sustainable fishing practices without checking the very rules he expects everyone else to follow”.<\/p>\n

Mr Dezsery described the trip’s entry into the sanctuary waters as regrettable, and said it was “really unfortunate it happened when it did”, with the premier on board.<\/p>\n

“RecFish obviously organised the boat and the skipper, so ultimately we’re responsible for what happened,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Lures were behind the boat, from pretty well the whole day as we were travelling along.<\/p>\n

“There was certainly no anchoring and fishing in the zone \u2014 it was just as we were traversing through we kind of made that mistake, and as I said a regrettable one and something we’ll just need to take in our stride.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mr Dezsery told the ABC he would follow up with marine and national parks authorities during the week, but did not expect any fines to be imposed.<\/p>\n

“There’s a warning system for first-time issues,” he said.<\/p>\n

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