Sunday 4 March 2012: Indian Ocean
Down to the Indian Ocean early this morning for a dip and a walk on the beach. A perfect morning and harvesting the fruits of the sea were this bunch of likely lads returning from the reef and fishing for abalone, an edible sea snail.
WA has one of the few remaining sustainable abalone fisheries in the world. As well as a commercial fishery, recreational licences are issued every year with strictly regulated fishing days, bag and size limits and this year a 40 tonne limit for the Perth metro area. That still seems like a helluva lot of abalone mind you.
By chance, today was the last of five Sunday fishing days for the season packed into an hour between 7 and 8 am.
Fisheries officers patrolled the beach measuring shell sizes..the fines for illegal fishing and ignoring the regulations can be enormous...and by 8.05 am the ocean was empty of wet suit clad hunters and gatherers.
The water was beautiful...yes I did swim!!.. and amazing to think next port of call over that horizon is Africa.
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