Pro Fisho's Kill 5 Year Old Boy !!!

[Bream Master]

In news just released, A pro fishing boat has struck a recreational fishing boat at 11am this morning off Quindalup (Dunsborough), killing a five year old boy who was on board. The occupants were apparently enjoying some Salmon fishing.

Details are sketchy at present but keep an eye on the media for more information...

Let's see the WAFIC press release on this one...

Warren.

I wanna know why they couldn't see a "5 METER" boat from afar in front of them?!?!?

[FisherMatt]

I wanna know why they couldn't see a "5 METER" boat from afar in front of them?!?!?

Answer:

Coz more than likely they wern't looking

My money says that the boat was on autopilot and the watchkeeper fell asleep at (or wasnt at), the wheel!!!!!


Rule 5 of the COLREGS states:

Lookout

"Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and or the risk of collision."


That sucks...........an innocent child loses his life due to someones f##kup.

Welcome Back.

I must say upon watching the news tonight I felt the same as you.

That said, I don't think it will end up panning out the way we might all expect at the moment.

To save me retyping it I'll post a copy of my thoughts on the subject from another website.

GWN News reports a boating fatality today at Bunkers bay just out of Busselton.

A ~60ft Alloy Cray Boat "Angela" hit a 15 ft fibreglass recreational boat at anchor fishing off Bunkers bay containing two men and a 5 year old boy.

The Glass recreational boat was cut in half - it's occupants jumped into the water before the collision but the 5 year old failed to resurface.
Best I know his body hadn't been recovered by newstime tonight - but there is speculation the lad was either hit while in the water bye the bow of the cray boat or one or both of it's props.

Apparently the 2 surviving occupants and the deckhand from crayboat were ALL taken to Busselton Hospital for treatment of injuries...(punchup on board after they were pulled from the water???..who knows!.).

Either way it's a bloody tragedy that could hapen to ANY recreational boater.

News reporrt said the police had seized the cray boat as "evidence".

I could be wrong, but if memory serves this could (possibly?) be the same cray boat that lost a deckhand overboard off cape Naturalist 2 years back with his leg tangled in a pot rope.... whether it is the same boat or not I'm not 100% sure, but the name rings a bell in my dim dark memory cells somewhere.....and even if it is - whether it's the same skipper at the helm again I have no idea.

I guess if theres possibly "anything to be learnt" from the episode it might be....that while you would expect at anchor that any other vessel should give you a wide berth, there ARE times on crayboats when the skippers possibly not actually at the helm - like while doing tasks on deck to assist his deckie - like basketting up & guaging the catch on the way back in to shore while the boats on autopilot... (thats what it sounded like to me).

If the crayboat was on autopilot maybe he was expecting his radar to warn him of any radar return signals (from boats in the cray boats path) and maybe the fibreglass recreational vessel has a very low radar signature which doesn't reflect well on radar etc etc.
(Do any fibreglass boat owners here have metallic radar reflectors affixed the superstructure of their boats?.. mightn't be such a bad idea - they are cheap small and easily installed!).

Either way - the Cray boat skipper will be found PARTLY to blame (not 100% more likely 60%...maritime laws a coonazzed thing when it comes to collisions at sea, both skippers have equal responsibility to avoid a collision, and maintain an adequate watch...even when at anchor) so - we may just see the Father of the deceased boy held partly culpable for the tragic loss of his sons life.

I guess the thing is probably when the skipper of the recreational vessel saw a cray boat headed in his direction he could perhaps have done more to avoid a potential collision, like starting his engine - if he had even the ability to motor in a circle on the length of anchor rope might be enough to avoid the collision at the last minute...of course he should also have tried hailing theboat on his two way etc etc etc - but who thinks of these things?, we all just assume the cray boat skippers a professional and will change course - until the time comes when he doesn't one day - which could be your last.

No doubt we will hear more about this in the press in ensuing days / weeks / years etc once the coroners inquiry is over.

Either way - recreational boat owners shouldn't wait that long to try and learn some perhaps valuable lessons from the tragedy in the meantime.

What does this say for compulsory boat driving licenses?? The cray boat skipper at minimum should have held a Masters V qualification for that vessel, and given it's size and worth, possibly one would expect a more advanced Masters IV Qualification.

Didn't do the kid much good, did it !- and one is I guess entitled to rightfully question what good compulsory boat licenses for rec anglers will achieve if even experienced pro's can stuff up so badly.

Then again if the Rec Boat skipper was licensed - might he have done something different earlier to help avoid the collision with a bit more advanced knowledge?

Lots to possibly be learnt from this for pro and recreational boat operator alike I'd wager - after all we all have to share the same waters and fish when it comes down to it.

Tragic is the only description that springs to my mind.

I say this (about who will be held responsible) after watching very closely a similar situation in the US only last year where a 35ft Charter Boat with 4 qualified skippers aboard ran down a 25ft Cat at anchor fishing and what the eventual outcome was.

In that instance no one died but the virtually new boat was virtually a write off - yet the insurance co chose to have it repaired.

Basically the guy who got hit was screwed over big time, and the other boat skipper got away scott free, and I'm willing to wager (based on martime law / rules of the road at sea etc), that the same will happen here - as disgusting to us all as that might be.

Time will tell fo course.

If anyones interested I could probably find a link or two to the ten pages thread about the US incident.

Either way none of this will bring the kid back, sadly!

Cheers

Boy dies in boat collision
By JESSICA STRUTT
02may04
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy died yesterday when a crayboat and a smaller boat collided off Dunsborough, 250km south of Perth.

The tragedy occurred about 1km northeast of Bunker Bay at 10.50am when the 17m commercial crayfishing boat and the 5m recreational vessel hit. The smaller craft sank in 20m of water.

A deckhand on the crayboat is believed to have jumped into the water to try to save the boy but he was already dead.

South-West District Superintendent John McRoberts said the boy's body had been recovered but the cause of death was still unclear.

The boy was on a family fishing trip.

Three adults, including the boy's father and uncle, were taken to Busselton Hospital and treated for shock and other injuries.

A deckhand on the crayboat, which was manned by two crew and a skipper, was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone.

After the accident the crayboat motored to the Quindalup professional boat ramp, a few kilometres southeast of the Dunsborough townsite, where police interviewed those on board.

The crayboat later moored off Quindalup Beach and was under police guard.

Dunsborough police were on the scene soon after the accident and water police and divers from Fremantle Water Police were travelling to Dunsborough to try to recover the sunken launch yesterday afternoon.

"They will not attempt the salvage operation until Sunday morning . . . we will guard it overnight," Supt McRoberts said.

It was unclear what water conditions were like at the time of the accident.

"It's fine at the moment but I don't know if there were any weather conditions that contributed," he said.

The families aboard the recreational craft were believed to be from Australind and Collie.

Not much excuse for not being at the helm within a kilometer of shore and with 2 deckhands aboard.

Clear blue skys near midday with sun overhead...visibility should have been near 100% or better.....

Within 1 kn of shore - no excuse for being on autopilot at all....not good practice to be on auto that close to land at any time...

What about his radar?...(if he had same).

Something clearly wrong in a big way here, very hard to comprehend how this could happen - doesn't say anything about the recreational boat being at anchor....as the GWN news did - this report makes it out to be a give way collision rather than a boat being run down while at anchor which I think is a little misleading perhaps.

My guess is we will hear not much more until the coroners inquiry which could be 18 months or more away.

Like to be a fly on the wall at the Police station inquiry into this one.

[Bream Master]

For those of you with young children, It would rip my ******* heart out if I lost one of my kids. Especially when it could have been avoided by watching where they were going instead of counting how much money they had made on the back deck.

I'll tell you now trouty, if it was me, it wouldn't have been a punchup onboard, it would have been a ******* bloodbath.

And for those of you who know me, It needs to be something pretty low to get me posting with this amount of passion.

By the way, those asterix's don't refer to a nearly defunct online tackle competitor... the word starts with f and ends with g and it's not "fishing"

Warren...

ps. watch the main page for a "click on this link and send an email" type of kick em in the balls barrage tomorrow...

That an email campaign to WAFIC accusing all pro's of being somehow culpable by association for this accident will help our cause much Warren - whilst I do admit to understanding and to a large extent sharing your sentiments on this occasion.

I also realise the affected family probably come from your neck of the woods so - after last easters rock fishing tragedy in my own home town, added to with the later river crossing drowing of another two kids - I can only say fella - that I feel your pain - and yes I've got 3 precious kids of my own.

Interestingly, the sumbmissions to the Hardy Inlet Public Discussion paper close tomorrow - I can only suggest a BETTER way to get at WAFIC and the pro's would be to make sure that as many Breamers as posssible made a submission - yet - I'm prepared to bet most likely - there won't be much more than one or two submissions - most likely from myself and one or two others and that will be it.

No doubt WAFIC will have paid a pro $20K or more to make a submission or 300 on behalf of the pro netter.

Yes - this accident sucks big time - but it was, at the end of the day, just that - 'an accident' - just like those on our roads that claim women, kids and even fathers every day - hell a mining accident claimed a father today and terrorism claimed another - death is becomming a way of life for us westerners.

Live every day as tho it were your last, and above all - learn whats really important to you in life Warren - and take it from someone whos walked the ricepaper trail of life in front of you - it aint ya online tackle business, or your competiors or the wackers who come here to cause trouble - whats important in life fella - is your family, friends, (and of course fishin) and not much else.

This sorta helps put it in perspective maybe.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cans of cold beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions--things that if everything else were lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set Your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cold beers with a fellow bream fisher."

WAFIC already KNOW that they represent the interests of the fellow at the helm of the cray boat - rest assured they won't need any reminding - least of all from us.

Let it go past to the keeper is my advice - there will be a time and place to set a match to our WAFIC powder keg - just keep it dry and ready to fire is my best advice.

Cheers!

Tomorrows West carries this article.

Cray pledge after boy's death

ELOISE DORTCH



The State Government and the crayfishing industry pledged yesterday to prevent a repeat of an accident in which a five-year-old boy died in a collision between a crayboat and a runabout on Saturday.

Peter Jacob Mitchell, of Busselton, known to his family as Jack, was killed when the 17m Andrea, skippered by a 63-year-old experienced fisherman, hit the 5m fibreglass runabout 1km north-east of Bunker Bay, near Dunsborough.

The accident occurred at 10.50am in sunny, calm conditions.

The skipper, from Perth but based at Quindalup, is to be interviewed by South-West detectives today.

Supt John McRoberts said the drivers of both boats had not been drinking.

In the runabout with Peter were his father, an uncle from Collie and the boat's owner, a family friend from Australind.

The crayboat crew picked up the three men and the boy from the sea and headed for the shore. But the Andrea's engine seized and another boat was used to take them to shore.

Last night, Peter's mother said: "Little Jack has touched so many people in the community.

"We'd like to thank the family and friends that have assisted us at this time.

"He died catching salmon with his dad. He was having such a good time - it was a joy to him."

The three men, all treated for injuries on Saturday, are believed to have jumped out of the runabout moments before the collision.

The runabout owner was readmitted to hospital yesterday for treatment of a punctured lung.

Western Rock Lobster Council executive director Steven Gill said he had spoken to the family of the crayboat skipper. "It's a terrible tragedy," he said.

"The industry will work with the authorities to assist in any way we can."

Fisheries Minister Kim Chance said the accident was devastating for the industry and the Government. They would do anything they could to prevent a similar accident.

Mr Chance met representatives from Augusta-Margaret River Shire and the Conservation Council on April 23 to discuss safety concerns about cray fishermen operating in the capes region.

Of 590 licensed cray fishermen in WA, 290 are licensed to operate between Cape Leeuwin at Augusta and Jurien Bay. Up to 50 have been reported fishing between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin.

Tonights GWN news showed Marine and Harbours Transpoort inspectors, climbing all over the cray boat - with the engine hatches up.

I'm willing to bet that most likely the vessel was having engine trouble on the way back to port - and most likely thats what contributed - the skipper trying to figure out whats wrong - probably with his head upside down in the bilge....instead of looking out in front for other boats.

Lets face it accidents do happen - cars and boats do play up - break down and people do dumb things sometimes when something outta the ordinary happens (like engine trouble).

When do we usually have an accident?...when we are out of our usual routine...due to a malfunction of something..

In this case - the fact his engine seized between the collision at Bunkers bay and his mooring back at Quindalup less than a mile or two away says something major has happened - blocked water intake maybe...who knows - but likely before the accident he's heard some alarm for overheat or whatever, had the deck hatch / hatches open trying to figure out whats up - and his attentions been taken away from his usual drive back to port...and what was possibly in front of him.

Who knows - the Police still trying to figure what charges if any to lay according to tonights GWM news and wont interview the skipper until tomorrow in the presence of his lawyer.

At best I figure they might make a case for man slaughter, at least probably, failing to keep an adequate watch & failing to take all possible steps to avoid a collision...

No doubt we will here in due course.

Cheers!

Hey guys.
This all sounds like a terrible accident. Before we go shooting off about this, lets not forget how devastated the skipper must be. He now has to live his life with that on his shoulders.

Before anyone says that I'm not thinking off the family of the young boy and that justice is needed, I should tell you that I've been through the same thing myself. I witnessed my own sister being hit by a car when I was 7. The driver was grossly negligent and was driving without a license. I saw my sister dieing in a pool of her own blood with my even younger brother by my side. Her heart stopped 9 times and was resucitated each time, and was then in a Coma for close to two weeks. Luckily she lived through her accident (not without brain damage and permanent injuries, plus the psychlological damage).

Basically my point is, accidents happen, and this certainly seems like a tragedy that was avoidable, but IMO we should not be making this any worse for the poor person/people who were responcible, or for the industry that this person belonged to.

JMO guys.

Dave

[Bream Master]

Well done big fella...

Normally you would have been the first one over the wall. Good to see you've calmed your MOJO and found some inner balalnce. Look, I'm not about to publish this guys home phone number (ABC I hope you're reading this), but an innocent life has been lost which could have been avoided.

Matty summed it up perfectly. Yet again the pro's have overlooked what is seen as the minimum duty of care to the enviroment and general public in search of a dollar:

"Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and or the risk of collision."

And isn't it funny that WAFIC's little inhouse journalist, Eloise Dortch has popped up yet again to defend the pro's. Lets see her interview the family of the boy and turn it around into something positive for pro fishing. She seems skilled in forgetting 95% of an interview and remembering the 5% that can satisfy her pro fishing masters.

Bottom line is guys, if it was a pro fisho driving along a beach and paying attention to his mobile phone, and runs over an amateur beach fisherman, would we be thinking any different ????

These guys expect us to overlook raping our jointly owned fish stocks, but if running down innocent victims because they were too lazy to adhere to marine law is washed off as accidents happen then we all need to take a good long look at ourselves...

Warren.

[Bear]

I think the point of all of this is that is wasn't an accident. This is the reason the police have dropped the term from their press releases.

It was an avoidable crash. Lets hope the right thing is done.

Eloise isn't on your Christmas card list either Warren!

Interesting summation you give of her abilities - I'm inclined to say, I agree!!. I can't recall being interviewed by her once when she hasn't dismissed 90% of what I said in order to use the 10% that suited her pro fisher bias.

If she ever rang me for an interview again she'd be given the short shrift.

I don't for a second believe that this wasn't a tragic accident and to suggest anything otherwise publicly doesn't do us or our cause any good at all - in fact it probably (definitely) leaves us open to criticism - it certainly wouldn't help the family of the boy if it became newsworthy (which it's not) IMHO and it wouldn't help the guy at the helm either.

No one runs down a boat deliberately (well, I can think of one not so long ago case at the Abrolhos of a pro doing just that, where "The West" let it die an early natural death and never followed up properly but lets not open that can of worms), let alone deliberately set out to take an innocent life of a great little lad who was a felow recreational angler, like the one lost last weekend!.

Yes we have an issue with pro netting, but lets keep it in perspective here, The incident WAS a tragic accident, it couldn't be anything but an accident - maybe it was outrageous in that there possibly is NO valid excuse for it given the conditions - but, there will end up being a series of events that lead to the tragedy that mabe everyone here can learn something from.

Learning from this, so it doesn't occurr again should be our focus.

There will be plenty of time to fight the pros.

Who put in their submission to Fisheries Dept today to comment on the Blackwood River / Hardy Inlet netting issue? Public comments paper 169?

That was our opportunity to have a say and take the pro's on at their own game.

Did anyone besides me bother?

Why would we want to hang this 63 year old skipper out to dry for a tragic accident, when we COULD have been fighting the REAL battle over netting estuaries in the 3rd millenium, against WAFIC & the pro's with the power of our keyboards?.

I'm willing to bet we can count the number of submissions on paper 169 from our side, on one hand!

I hope 'm wrong but not betting on it.

What is propose here - re the pro's and trying to make mileage for our cause from this tragic accident will only backfire on us, possibly in the worst possible way and at the worst possible time further down the track.

Why give the likes of the Eloise's of this world that opportunity?

Wy not all write letters to the editor sayingh what a crap job we thought Eloise did of reporting the story and that we aren't overly impressed with her previous reporting efforts either....

When I see the byline Eloise D. these days, I turn the page and don't even bother reading since I hold her in such low regard generally as a journalist.

The netting issue, the Yarragadee pumping, etc each time Eloise messed it up bigtime...

Make a fool of me once - shame on you, do it twice, shame on me!

Cheers!

I'm with trouty on this.
I really dont think its fair to take advantaged of this tragedy and use it against the pro's. In reality I cant really see it helping our cause anyway.


Dave

[willo]

I agree kingpin and trouty, this tragedy should not be related to other pro-netting issues, and the relevant authorities left to investigate the incident without pre-judgement. This is not to say that I disagree with any of the previous views but I think that not much good can be gained from it.

Just my measly 2 cents worth.

Willo

[dan_WA]

Well said Dave, especially after hearing what you and your family have endured.

I think some of the accusations and comments on this thread should be toned down a bit.

A tragic accident has occurred and a boy has lost his life; but to use this as ammo to wager a war against "the pros" seems a bit rash ??

Whether they be cray fishos, ferry drivers, truck drivers, taxi drivers etc. All these professionals spend a hell of a lot more time on the water/roads than any of us, I'm sure then that they are exposed to more situations of potential accidents than us as well.

I'm not condoning/supporting either side - It was an ACCIDENT - one that the skipper will have to live with for the rest of his life, one split second decision - be it to attend to an engine alarm or whatever has caused this to happen, I'm sure all of us have carried out actions that could've gone very bad in an instant.
Let's just take it easy on both parties and let the families have their own grieving time