The Maatsuyker Canoe Club has recently (May 1999) had two approaches from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

One was concerning the new Tasman National Park (in the SE of Tasmania), and whether we would like to involved in the development of a management plan for this area. See TasNP.

The other was a much more controversial draft plan to manage 11 island reserves in Bass Strait. This is a very incomplete misleading document, and its main aim seems to be to stop sea kayakers from landing on Albatross Island - this is despite the fact that the Shy Albatross are in no way endangered. This colony of Albatross is increasing in leaps and bounds since it was decimated by sealers in the distant past. This is partly due to the islands' remoteness, and the fact that it is very difficult to land on (particularly from a sea kayak). But the author of this document has some friends over 45 years old who have bought sea kayaks, so that it is obvious that sea kayaking is increasing in leaps and bounds, and very shortly Albatross Island is going to be inundated by hundreds of sea kayakers. The author has never been to Albatross Island, and has no desire to go there whatsoever, and feels that doing so has absolutely no bearing on the matter. The author has absolutely no knowledge of sea kayaking whatsoever.

There is an inference that Albatrosses are sensitive birds that will be disturbed by humans photographing them. This despite the fact that there is a video out (not the excellent one by Jeff Jennings), but one made by the ABC, showing a National Parks Officer rugby tackling albatross so as to be able to jab needles in them, spraying them with paint, reaching in under them to lift their chicks out of the nest, wandering through their rookery no more than 30cms from the nests - AND HALF THE TIME THE ALBATROSS DON'T EVEN LOOK AT HIM! These birds are the absolutely least phased birds I have ever seen - they are totally unconcerned by humans. [This video is called "A Tale of Three Islands", and is available from the ABC Program Sales Dept for $90 - the phone number in Hobart is (03) 62353694].

In over 22 years of sea kayaking in this area, I personally have landed on Albatross Island three times for the purpose of photographing (see trip reports, or better yet, email Jeff and get his video of Albatross Island). To my knowledge no more than 12 sea kayakers have landed on this island - this is an average of 1/2 a sea kayaker every year.

However there is a good loophole in the draft document, for sea kayakers - you can land if human safety is at risk. My advice is that next time you are paddling past this area, and you suspect that a member of your party is about to start suffering from hypothermia, or possibly sea sickness, or stomach cramps, or migraine headache - then you land to save their life.

I don't mind the National Parks maybe issuing guidlines for our behaviour when we visit Albatross Island, but to suggest that 1/2 a sea kayaker a year is in any way endangering the birds is just rubbish. Half the time we set off to paddle out to the island we never get there because of the weather.
Laurie Ford

See Bass Strait Reserves.(this is a large document), or a very brief summary table.

Also see LIES.(written Nov, 2000)

This may be an excellent place to quote from Edward Abbey, who was a conservationist in the USA some years ago:-
One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast ... a part-time crusader, a half- hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotised by desk calculators. I promise you this; you will outlive the bastards.
Edward Abbey.

So enjoy Tasmania's Wilderness while you can - before the omnipotent National Parks lock it all up.