Why Cronulla won’t get a marine park to save Gus the Groper’s mates

The mayor of the Sutherland Shire has withdrawn his advocacy for a marine sanctuary along the Cronulla peninsula, but wants the state government to review spearfishing boundaries after a much-loved blue groper was illegally killed.

Shire locals were outraged over the new-year period when a 26-year-old man posed in a photo with the speared fish, believed to be a long-term resident of the area known as Gus the Groper. The man was subsequently issued a penalty notice for taking a groper and not using a rod, line or handline.

NSW authorities issued a penalty notice after a man spearfished the blue groper in Sydney’s south on December 30.

“It’s a real shame,” resident Tenille Piek said at the time. “Gus is important to the whole community. Everyone knows who he is.” The blue groper, which is endemic to Australia and can live for 40 years, is also the official state fish of NSW.

In his initial mayoral minute ahead of Monday night’s council meeting, Liberal mayor of the Shire Carmelo Pesce proposed lobbying for an aquatic reserve in Bate Bay, running from Shelly Beach in the north to Bass and Flinders Point in the south.

The reserve “would not only permit a range of marine activities, including boating, scuba diving, snorkelling, and swimming, but would also provide a more robust framework to protect the vital marine environment in this area,” Pesce said in the original minute.

The idea had been pushed by local swimmers and conservationists, including realtor Peter Green, who organised a memorial swim shortly after Gus’ death to gather support for an aquatic reserve.

A swimmer at Clovelly dives to meet a blue groper in September 2023.Credit: Brook Mitchell

But fishing groups near and far were alarmed by the proposal, including Alex Bellissimo, a fishing guide from the northern beaches. “I’m never going to fish in the area myself, but I’m there to stand up for the anglers and the spear fishers,” he said in a Facebook video.

“It’s a kneejerk reaction because of that blue groper that was speared by that moron. They’re using this as a tool to be able to shut off a huge area. We can’t have this happen. This is not going to stop in the Sutherland Shire area, it’s going to continue up and down the coast.”

On Monday, a revised mayoral minute published online revealed Pesce had abandoned his call for a marine sanctuary, and will instead seek support for the state government to review the boundaries where spearfishing is banned, in collaboration with stakeholders.

“The intent wasn’t to stop people fishing with a line,” said Pesce, who is considered the leading Liberal candidate to replace Scott Morrison in the federal seat of Cook. “If we do a marine park or a sanctuary, it would have stopped parents taking their kids there to go fishing.”

Sutherland Shire mayor Carmelo Pesce withdrew his support for the aquatic reserve.Credit: Chris Lane

The motion was due to be debated at Monday night’s council meeting. However, neither Green nor Bellissimo were enthused about the compromise position.

“I’m disappointed they’d change the substance of it, but I’m glad they are at least discussing it,” Green said. “It’s an area everyone loves. It’s a little bit like the Bondi to Bronte walk, it’s teeming with people and what they don’t want is to see people spearfishing, or even fishing in that area.”

Bellissimo said he would still attend the meeting to protest further encroachment upon the freedom to fish. “It’s the Australian way of life,” he said. “We don’t want to live in a police state.”

The motion also called on Fisheries NSW to review the penalty imposed for Gus’ spearing and to apply the maximum fine.

Fishing regulations are controlled by the NSW Department of Primary Industries. Two marine parks have already been established nearby; Boat Harbour Aquatic Reserve at the northern end of Bate Bay, and Shiprock Aquatic Reserve in Port Hacking.