A Western Australian fisherman took to the roof of a government building to protest against the demersal fishing ban that came into force at the beginning of this year.
John Higham runs a small-scale fishing operation, and the shark component of his catch has been hit by the demersal commercial fishing ban put in place by Western Australia’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Jackie Jarvis.
There has been bitter opposition to the highly controversial demersal fishing closure.
John Higham scaled the roof of the Midwest Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) building and snapped the lock of a chain around his leg, stating that he had swallowed the key and he wasn’t coming down until his shark fishing rights had been reinstated by the Minister.
Western Australia police brought in a negotiator in an attempt to defuse the situation, while firefighters and a strong police presence attended the scene.
John Higham said that his business had been badly affected by the ban, and that he was about to go broke now that the family’s savings were running out. His rooftop protest follows a previous protest of more than a hundred fishermen outside the same building, when John Higham chained his boat the the gates of the DPIRD offices.
The rooftop protest ended when he was given a pair of bolt cutters to release the chain around his ankle, and John Higham agreed to leave the DPIRD office roof – but not before the incident had attracted widespread media attention. He hasn’t ruled out staging another protest.
