Fishing remains open but fishos warned stricter rules could come in if they divert essential workers

NT fishos can enjoy their time in the sun and escape from a world of chaos at the moment. But they risk losing it all if they don’t follow the rules

Shady Camp ramp remains open but fisho have been warned not to visit if it is busy. Picture: Justin Kennedy

FISHOS can enjoy their time in the sun — rod and reel in hand — and escape from a world of chaos at the moment, if only for a while.

However, they can only do so alone or with family and housemates, ensuring they practise safe social distancing and reduce the risk of coronavirus spread.

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Amateur Fisherman’s Association of the NT, David Ciaravolo, said if rules weren’t followed and essential services were forced into monitoring fishos, the pastime may be banned indefinitely, as it had been in other states such as Victoria.

“We have a privileged situation to be able to do any fishing at a time when a lot of other acts have been cancelled but it’s something that must be done safely,” he said.

“We simply cannot afford to have the need for police to be diverted to do traffic control and boat ramps. If that happens we will have stricter rules brought in, possibly a complete ban.”

Mr Ciaravolo said fishos needed to be aware of others when they were fishing, and if they found their favourite spot was already full, then they needed to go elsewhere or return home.

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“(For example) Shady Camp ramp is open, the camp ground is closed. But the thing that's really important is we’d encourage people to fish locally if they can,” he said.

“This is a time to follow all of the rules and certainly not to try and find a way around them.”

Originally published as Fishing remains open but fishos warned stricter rules could come in if they divert essential workers