FISHOS are “shocked” after the weekend crocodile attack that killed a 62-year-old man — but that won’t stop them going into the man-eater’s territory to wet a line.
Corroboree Park Tavern manager Mitch Bathis said the grave topic had been on the tip of most fishos’ tongues.
“They can’t believe it’s happened. They’re very shocked,” Mr Bathis said.
Police say the man was on a fishing trip with his wife, son and daughter-in-law at a remote waterhole on the South Alligator River system when he was taken on Saturday afternoon around 5pm.
Police have told media the man was in a boat and washing or emptying a bucket at the time of the attack.
The man’s family heard splashing sounds and turned around but were not able to save him.
The victim’s wife and daughter-in-law drove for two hours to Cooinda to raise the alarm. There is no mobile phone coverage in large areas of Kakadu National Park.
Mr Bathis said its made people more aware of the risks of fishing in crocodile infested waters.
“People go out and don’t think about it. It hasn’t scared anyone off fishing. They know what the water is like.
“People that come out here, they’ve come here for years. They’ve learnt to fish with the crocodile.
“They have got to become one with the crocodile.”
In 2011 Kevin Eccles was admitted to hospital after being savaged by a crocodile.
A 2.5m croc jumped out of the water and latched on to his shoulder while he was sitting in his 4.5m boat.
Mr Eccles had to poke the creature in the eye to force it to let go.
Police and Kakadu National Park rangers conducted spotlight searching through the night for the man, continuing the search with a helicopter and vessels throughout the day.
A 4.63m crocodile was located and shot by park rangers shortly after noon and the body of the man recovered.
The human remains have been sent for forensic examination.
Commander Bruce Porter of the Northern Command said, “This is a tragic event and our thoughts are with the family during this very difficult time”.
Veteran crocodile catcher and NT Parks and Wildlife ranger Tom Nichols has warned previously of the risks taken by some fishos.
“It happens every year with the run-off and the desire to catch barra.
‘There are signs there and the fishos have been warned by fisheries and by rangers. All we can do is say people have got to be aware,” he said.
Amateur Fishermen’s Association executive Craig Ingram urged fishos to take more care.
“I think people should be very careful about crocodile safety across the NT,” he said. “There’s a lot of evidence that people need to take more care on land and on boats.
“It’s a real risk. People need to make sure they’re safe in what they do. We encourage people to make sure they’re aware of crocs and be aware there are some real risks and people need to be responsible for their behaviour.
“We don’t condone anything which is high-risk activity — standing in knee-deep water is not something you can say is safe.
“The likelihood of something happening is high.”
Sergeant Andrew Hocking said the area where the man went missing had recently been reopened to coincide with the start of the dry season.
“The difficulty in this location is getting in large boats. We’re only able to bring in small boats, but using the expertise of the Territory Parks and Wildlife staff, they managed to help us bring it to a conclusion,” he said.
“Thankfully this was carried out and recovered very, very quickly.
“They can be quite difficult and take a number of days sometimes before any resolution.”
Sgt Hocking urged visitors to exercise caution when visiting areas known to inhabit crocodiles.
“(There is) always a potential for crocodile attack,” he said.
“I encourage people to think carefully about their safety at all times.
“The water is deep in this billabong … a number of large crocodiles obviously frequent this area.”
Sgt Hocking praised the efforts of rangers and police, who worked against difficult terrains and conditions to find the remains in less than 24 hours.
Crocodiles jumping for their food is one of the territory’s most popular tourist attractions, with several operators running cruises where tourists can see the animals in the wild.
Crocodiles in excess of five metres long are capable of propelling themselves out of the water by the force of their tail.
Leading crocodile expert Grahame Webb dismissed calls for a ban on jumping croc tours after a crocodile jumped at shocked sightseers during a territory cruise in January this year.
“They have been going for almost 40 years without any serious accident that I know of,” Mr Webb said after the incident.
“That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be an accident but it means people can manage it because they’ve been doing it for years.
“It’s hard to say the tours are high risk when the operators’ safety is well and truly demonstrated over time.
“I don’t know what could go wrong, it’s the same as standing out on a footpath and waiting to see what happens.
“More people get hurt playing football.” Mr Webb said.
