Pelican rescuer calls for fish cleaning station barriers

Pelican Rescue and Research activist Ms Wendy Gillespie has called for NSW Fisheries and Central Coast Council to consider building barriers around fish cleaning stations to prevent knife injuries to the birds.

Ms Gillespie said pelicans are naturally attracted to the stations when fishermen are cleaning their catch so the installation of barriers would be a "win-win" for the fishermen and the birds.

"It deters people from lashing out at the birds when they have a knife in their hand," she said.

"When I started rescuing pelicans in Noosa in 1998, a very early intervention that I initiated with the help of council was the erection of barriers around fish cleaning tables so that pelicans were at least three metres from the cleaning activity," Ms Gillespie said.

"It was a highly successful injury prevention initiative with facial damage literally non-existent following the installment," she said.

"As stainless fish cleaning tables have been provided for the convenience of fishers throughout the Peninsula, all that's needed is a barrier with a gate for fishers so that the interface with pelicans and prized fish is a thing of the past.

"These installations are possible due to funds raised by recreational fishing licences.

"I have approached NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries and raised this issue as a local possibility with a promising 'win-win' statement from a fisheries officer."

Ms Gillespie said she had found six pelicans near the Blackwall boat ramp suffering knife wounds in recent weeks.

She said she believed they could be a result of the birds getting in the way of fishermen who were cleaning their catch.

She also said she believed fishermen had retrieved tackle from at least one bird by cutting it.

"Six female victims have been observed in four weeks, three of which have only recently left their parental care at seven to eight months of age," Ms Gillespie said.

"The first victim reported had previously succumbed to a dog attack as this location is notorious for dog owners using pelicans for free exercise so that they don't have to leash and walk them.

"The barbaric treatment on July 9 required around 20 stitches in her chest, and the perpetrator also left her with a 4cm stainless hook protruding from her chest, likely to be used for catching jew fish.

"Her small mate was the next to be found with a 10cm knife laceration left at the base of her neck where tackle had been cut out.

"In the week leading up to August 3, she has been hit in the face severely with a knife mark above her eye and severe bill and facial bruising.

"This lass was already disadvantaged as she has a slight congenital deformity.

"Three other victims have been sighted with large knife wounds to a wing, and a leg, and another young female is still sporting a large red hook in her shoulder and very heavy line from the body and around a leg.

The sixth victim found was the most seriously wounded of the pelicans found to date.

"She was starving as her pouch had been fully cut open.

"As a parent, her young are unlikely to have survived the ordeal.

"An hour of very intricate surgery was required as both layers of the pouch had to be stitched separately.

"These are the birds I have found to date and I'm still tracking three of them for rescue and treatment," Ms Gillespie said.

"I am thankful to the animal referral hospital at West Gosford which has generously operated on the birds and used dissolvable stitches so they can be returned to their environment," Ms Gillespie said.

"The barriers I am suggesting are just like a fence around the fish cleaning stations that allow the fishermen to go in and do their cleaning without the pelicans trying to grab the fish," she said.

"In my 20th year of rescuing pelicans and other birds, blatant cruelty is still as shocking as when I first started," she said.

"The spate of knife attacks on pelicans began early in July, and I was hoping that it was a heartless visitor who had left at the end of the holidays.

"However the damage to our pelicans is still occurring in the vicinity of the Blackwall boat ramp.

"If the anyone spots any of these birds, or others, with significant wounds or any entanglements, please call me on 0458 975 498 as two are parents and need antibiotics due to the size and nature of their wounds.

"Knife damage, bruising and more serious facial injuries increases during holiday periods as do all other entanglements and injuries.

"If you witness cruelty please take a photo of the event and person, a car rego or boat if possible as long as it's safe for you to do so and contact the police as RSPCA is unlikely to be able to arrive at the scene.

"Early reporting is the most important role you can play in helping our most vulnerable wildlife," she said.

SOURCE:

Interview, 2 Aug 2017

Media statement, 3 Aug 2017

Wendy Gillespie, Pelican Rescue and Research

Reporter: Jackie Pearson