ALBAA Central Coast Environmental Action Avoca Beach

31 May 2008

As part of the Australian Land Based Anglers Association (ALBAA) commitment to the ‘Ledge Care’ initiative our Central Coast Team have been taking on the rubbish issue at South Avoca head on. Numerous Clean up events have been staged at this location over the past months and have been held with the support of Gosford City Council.

Due to ease of access and being a short drive from Sydney this Ledge sees a huge amount of fishing pressure and, unfortunately, a huge amount of litter. The Central Coast team have taken on a big task in trying to keep this ledge clean and have set the standard for local commitment within the ‘Ledge Care’ initiative.

Being a bunch of die hard LBG fishermen these guys wouldn’t dream of starting an event any later than four am, with the actual clean up scheduled for midday. The fishing results have been varied and have involved some hilarious fish juggling episodes and good spin sessions.

The Central Coast team, have found merit in expanding the ‘Ledge Care’ model to include an early morning fish. Getting down on the ledge and being seen, by others, as fishermen first has had a real impact to those who have been witness to these events.  The team got a pat on the back too, with one prominent local citizen stating ‘You guys have restored my faith in humanity a little today’.

After the initial event the ledge was wiped clean of human footprint, unfortunately a site inspection one week later saw the crew scheduling another event as soon as possible.

While the area certainly needed a little TLC it was evident that the headland was in much better condition. On this occasion it seemed a new fashion had emerged, the use and blatant discarding of medical gloves. Once the gloves were removed, along with a generous amount of general litter only the rock pools required attention.

It may often be overlooked by those fishing that cleaning their fish in rock pools may result, a week later, in a stagnant festering mess. Being more than aware of this fact the guys took the time to send any ‘natural matter’ seaward where it could be of benefit to more than the resident population of crabs.

Clean up number two, once again left the ledge in a pristine state that it has seldom seen in recent years. All of the refuse collected during these events was deposited in bins provided by Gosford City Council for proper disposal. ALBAA would also like to thank James Lawson and the team at Gosford City Council for their effort and continued support.

We would also like to make special mention of Samantha Lambs contribution and thank those at Clean Up Australia for providing all of the equipment necessary to carry out these events.

ALBAA would also like to thank its members for volunteering their time and resources to attend these events, ensuring a brilliant outcome was achieved for the iconic platform at South Avoca.