WHERE CAN WE FISH IN BYNOE???

A concern has been expressed that areas of Bynoe that we have fished for years is now closed off to us because of the Kenbi Land Claim,  in particular around Knife and Crocodile Islands....I think everyone has known that both of those Islands were off limits and to my knowledge that has always been respected by the recreational anglers.  However the map released recently has what appears to be a more restrictive limit on the fishing around those Islands....declaring that the intertidal zone around those Islands is also out of bounds as can be seen below....

All the definitions of  'Íntertidal Zone' are similar and say, ........."Of or being the region between the high tide mark and the low tide mark." 

Now according to all the charts that we can find, the area marked in green on the map below is the intertidal zone for Knife Island, it is much larger for Crocodile Island...

The green area is where the land can dry during tides ie the area between high and low tide.

A comment from the local fishing authority was " if you fish below the mean low tide mark you will be fine " ...I cannot find out what the mean low tide is, but there is no mention of 'mean' low tide in the act that I can find, so I will stick to the definition above.

So where can we fish if we are not aboriginal or have a permit which are the only two exceptions in the act.  Who knows????  We have emailed both the Minister and the Northern Lands Council in relation to this, also to see how we can get a permit if it is necessary but at this stage we have had no replies.

It is worrying because none of us wish to do the wrong thing by anybody, but the whole issue is quiet confusing to people like me.  

When we get something concrete we will put it out to you.