ABC Rural Report
Rural Report for North Coast NSW, Thursday 27th May, 2010
by Joanne Dodgson, Lismore
Rat numbers boom on North Coast
Pest controllers are warning it's going to be a bad winter on the North Coast for rats... their numbers could be as much as 30% higher.
As with so many pests - fruit fly, wild dogs, you name it.. breeding conditions have been perfect for rats
Pest controller Tom Busby says after a wet, mild summer there's more food around for rats.
"A lot of time fruit is left on the ground which supplies the rodents with food."
"We see them more in winter because they move out of the cold and congregate around buildings. They're actually there all year around."
Mr Busby says tamper-proof stations around buildings attract rats but prevent birds and other non-target species eating baits.
"They gnaw coffee trees and even wiring in cars and they can do a great deal of damage."
"Their teeth grow all the time whcih is why they need to constantly gnaw."
Fishing grounds could go under RAFF expansion plan
Fishermen at Evans Head say the industry will there be shut down if the Defence Department closes prime fishing grounds near the aerial bombing range.
Leaked information suggests that the RAAF plans to expand the no-go zone south of the town from Snapper Rocks to Woody Head near Iluka and extend it seven nautical miles offshore.
Fishermen's Co-op deputy chair Kevin Aleckson says the reefs south of Evans Head are fertile grounds for prawns, lobster, mullet and shark.
Kevin Aleckson is the Deputy Chair of the Evans Head Fisherman's Co-op. He says the closures would devastate the professional fishing industry.
"It would make it unviable to operate out of Evans Head. all the reef that we've got here is down to the south."
He says the community in Evans Head don't understand why the exanded area would be necessary.
"These new super hornets, they're all laser-guided so why do they need an extension?
"If they need extensions it's saying that 'eh it's not that safe' as the crow flies it's not even six kilometres from the town."
Rod Blake is a vet at Evans Head and the chairman of the Marine Management Committee. He says if closures go ahead, the economy of Evans Head will suffer.
"Evans Head's heritage is a fishing village, it was the first prawning port."
"Every second vehicle that comes into town is towing a boat and it's happening 52 weeks of the year now we're getting fishing tourism all of the time."
"If these closures go ahead, people just won't come, they'll go somewhere else."
Member for Page Janelle Saffin says she's alarmed at the prospect and she's asked the Defence Department for a full briefing.