Boaters from Sydney’s COVID-19 hotspots caught 40km offshore
Locked-down Sydneysiders swap coronavirus hotspot for fishing hotspot and land a big fineFive men from one of Sydney’s biggest COVID-19 hotspots have received heavy fines after they were found fishing more than 40 kilometres offshore.
A NSW Police launch was sent to Browns Mountain, a popular offshore fishing hotspot more than 20 nautical miles east of Sydney Heads, on Monday after police received reports of people believed to be in breach of strict stay-at-home orders.
Large parts of greater Sydney are currently locked down in an attempt to control a fast-spreading outbreak of the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, with residents in declared hotspots confined to within 5km of their home.
NSW Police told boatsales.com.au that the patrol boat stopped a runabout out at Browns Mountain on Monday afternoon and spoke to its 37-year-old skipper. Also on board were a 30-year-old man and a 14-year-old teenager.
All onboard were from Greenacre, a declared COVID-19 hotspot.
According to police, the men were each handed penalty notices for $1000, with the teenager receiving a warning, after they could not provide a reasonable excuse for being in the area.
Second boat stopped
About half an hour later, police stopped a second runabout and spoke with another three men.
Checks revealed two of the men, aged 28 and 23, were from Revesby Heights and the third, aged 20, was from Lakemba, police said. Both these suburbs are also inside declared COVID-19 hotspots.
All three men were issued with separate $1000 penalty notices for being outside their lockdown area without a reasonable excuse.
Under NSW’s COVID-19 restrictions, boaters in Greater Sydney are able to leave their homes if they have a “reasonable excuse”, with limited recreational boat use allowed as long as it is within 10km of the home for most parts of Sydney, or within 5km of the home in declared COVID-19 hotspots.
Boaters are also required to maintain a physical distance on the boat from other people who are not from the same household.
“Providing the above conditions are met, recreational powerboating or cruising on the water is generally considered to be a reasonable excuse to leave your home,” NSW Maritime said.
Unlike in Victoria during earlier waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, Transport for NSW has elected to keep Greater Sydney’s boat ramps open and accessible throughout the lockdown.
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