Oil rig exclusion areas

Heading up to Exmouth in June and have struggled to find decent bottom fish the last 2 trips with the boat, still trying to get the " local knowledge ". Was thinking of trying out near the rigs and was wondering what if any exclusion areas there are around the rigs. Have been to the Murions, Helby bank, Exmouth reef and targeted contour lines ect for not alot and have come to the conclusion I need to change my game plan. Any other general pointers would be great.


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5 mile exclusion around most

Thu, 2013-03-07 09:23

5 mile exclusion around most rigs

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5 mile? In their dreams.

Thu, 2013-03-07 09:30

5 mile? In their dreams. Pretty sure it's only 500m

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I thought it was 500 metres 

Thu, 2013-03-07 09:33

I thought it was 500 metres

 

Brucesta's picture

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yep 500 meters but it's very

Thu, 2013-03-07 09:35

yep 500 meters but it's very deep out at the rigs, 600 odd meters out that way so i'd be looking at little closer to home :)

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Zones

Thu, 2013-03-07 10:01

Exclusion Zone is 500 meters, Cautionary Zones are mostly 5, sometimes 7.5 miles.

Basically what it means is you can enter the 5 mile but you should call them on VHF16 and identify yourself before entering.

You are allowed in the Cautionary Zone as long as they have no reason to believe you are a danger to them such as trawling, fishing on wellheads etc or heading straight at them.

Non responsive or suspicious vessels will usually have the Standby vessel come over and/or reported to AMSA. Those rigs around there have a fair bit of trouble with foreign shipping heading into the zones without acknowledgement or radio response.

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sea-kem's picture

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 Most of the drill rigs I've

Thu, 2013-03-07 10:14

 Most of the drill rigs I've been they have been sitting in 800 metres+. As Rob said the standby vessels will intercept any boats approaching well before the 500m limit. Saying that the last one I was one there were Dolly's jumping out of the water everywhere. Would love to see some sort of conglomerate buy an old one and convert it into a fishing platform. dreaming I know but those things attract big fish.

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too true, seen whale sharks

Thu, 2013-03-07 10:24

too true, seen whale sharks on more than a few occasions under Rankin as well.

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terboz123's picture

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try fishing the service boat

Fri, 2013-03-08 10:13

try fishing the service boat mooring bouys off the rigs......

 

 

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Gav475's picture

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hmm

Thu, 2013-03-07 11:19

Thanks for the input lads. I will give it a miss. Looks like Im back to hours of steaming staring at the sounder while the Mrs spears daggers at me!!

 

Cheers

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buy her some knitting needles

Thu, 2013-03-07 11:56

buy her some knitting needles

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or leave her

Thu, 2013-03-07 12:01

 on the beach!!!

Buz's picture

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Shame we cant fish around

Thu, 2013-03-07 15:06

Shame we cant fish around them like giant FADS like they do with the rigs all through the Gulf of Mexico in the USA Some of the decommissioned rigs there have evn been left in place.specifically to benefit fisherman.

Stupid Aussie maratime security laws disrupting what could otherwise be mega fishing opportunities :( Straya hey.

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the big danger with fishing

Thu, 2013-03-07 16:22

the big danger with fishing on them (besides uncontrolled people/boats) is fishing gear busted off. A dive campaign costs millions and for a saturation diver to get hurt/hooked is a major drama as the support crew is a 70-100 meter vessel with maybe 50 plus crew, deco chambers, dive bells etc

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Buz's picture

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So why are you allowed to

Thu, 2013-03-07 23:32

So why are you allowed to fish on all the rigs(dont know if it is actually all, but know its alot of them) in the Gulf of Mexico USA if the danger is so high? Surely they use divers on their rigs the same way we do on ours? Is it just they dont care about their divers as much as we do in Australia?

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I dont know the answer to

Fri, 2013-03-08 00:54

I dont know the answer to that Buz, I saw the footage of the guys fishing right under the Deepwater Horizon when it went up.

But it may have something to do with the fact there is 4000 odd rigs in the Gulf of Mexico alone when we have maybe (guess) 50 or 100 in the whole of Australia?

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sea-kem's picture

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 As part of the NOPSEMA

Fri, 2013-03-08 06:05

 As part of the NOPSEMA safety case on most rigs here nothing is allowed over the side that is not to do with rig operations. Basically an enviromental issue. The only thing that does go over is the food scraps from the kitchen and when it does you should see the frenzy. There are umbilicals and hoses worth $thouands a metre going down so a hook and sinker stuck in or wrapped around one of these hmmm I wouldn't want to be paying for it.

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I’m originally from Texas and

Tue, 2013-03-12 15:20

I’m originally from Texas and fished the Gulf of Mexico my entire life and can tell you that the fishing and spear fishing around the production platforms is world class. Americans are kinda funny in that we don’t just roll over when the government tries to take away our rights. They tried to put some of the larger platforms off limits after 9-11 but we (the fishermen and women) sued the shit out of them. There is no way that the US government is going to tell me that I don’t have access to publicly owned water or resources.

I live in Australia now and love it here. I don’t ever plan on leaving and I am learning to accept some of the more frustrating things here.

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Oil rig exclusion zones

Tue, 2013-03-12 20:01

Well said mate

sea-kem's picture

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 Production platforms are a

Tue, 2013-03-12 20:17

 Production platforms are a high security risk for terrorism and the like. I'm surprised your ex government hadn't addressed that considering what's happened in the past. I'm sure the rig and platform owners would'nt be too happy with people fishing into their operational platforms. It's a major safety risk mate for the people who work on those rigs. Divers, snagged umbillicals etc.

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Buz's picture

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Out of interest is there any

Tue, 2013-03-12 21:39

Out of interest is there any data showing how many Oil Rig Divers have died/been injured as a result of being caught up in snagged fishing line on any rigs(USA or other)?

 

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 I believe on my next swing

Tue, 2013-03-12 21:54

 I believe on my next swing we have a dive campaign scheduled, I will ask if I remember. But from the point of view of the oil companies, there is nothing at all to gain from allowing fishing around the rig legs. It's not hard to imagine how hard it is to see a piece of mono with a hook, and is an easily predictable hazard during a Prestart JHA.

having done several years of rig standby you'd be amazed at the number of bullies that steam straight at the platforms and veer, or don't respond to VHF16.

I have also seen seismic survey boats fire white rocket flares to get the attention of non responsive ships

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The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

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Buz's picture

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Yeah it would be good to hear

Tue, 2013-03-12 22:05

Yeah it would be good to hear some first hand accounts from Rig Divers personnal experiences, as from what i gather alot of them dive in various locations around the world so would probably encounter alot of different rules and regs on the matter.

"But from the point of view of the oil companies, there is nothing at all to gain from allowing fishing around the rig legs."

A slight gain could be making local marine users from where they are extracting a bit happier and maybe helping to support the case/benefits of having them. I wonder if there would have been any(or more?) support for Rigs when the rumors they wanted to Drill off Margaret River or off Perth were around, if they said Rec fishers would be allowed to fish them?. Dont know if they would even use Rigs or just use the Boats, but could have maybe attracted a bit of support from Rec Fisherman if they knew they would be able to fish it as a FAD??

I mean all these BIG oil companies already spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year trying to paint themself in a good light to the public.

Personnally i am not against there being Rigs off Perth or Margs, as long as we could fish them!  :D

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In the old days the personnel

Tue, 2013-03-12 22:37

In the old days the personnel would fish off the rigs.

 

"I wonder if there would have been any(or more?) support for Rigs when the rumors they wanted to Drill off Margaret River or off Perth were around, if they said Rec fishers would be allowed to fish them?"

Haha, Buz I had you pegged for sharper than that-NIMBY central down there! If they dont want micro breweries, Maccas and cheap pizza places there then they sure wouldnt have oil rigs

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The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

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Buz's picture

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Hahaha! Fair go Rob. Margs

Tue, 2013-03-12 23:01

Hahaha! Fair go Rob. Margs people have feelings too....... mainly when they are coming down*

*Dont mean to personnally offend any Margs townie locals, but you are weird.  :P

 

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LOL as a beer and cheap pizza

Wed, 2013-03-13 06:58

LOL as a beer and cheap pizza kind of guy, I find this ilarious.

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Calmday's picture

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Our ex government did try to

Wed, 2013-03-13 07:50

Our ex government did try to restrict access. We have a few fishing rights groups (Coastal Conservation Association, Recreational Fishing Alliance etc) who sued the government to retain access. In the US the government can’t put public land or water off limits because it belongs to the people not the government. There are obvious exceptions like military basses etc.

I have been in the offshore oil and gas business for 30 years and have been around a LOT of diving operations and have never seen a problem due to fishing gear. I have been an avid spear fisherman (almost all around production platforms) for 20+ years and have never had a problem with fishing gear. When diving or ROV operations are going on the facilities are obviously off limits to recreational divers or fishermen.

Here is a taste. The second link is a platform that I helped design, build, install, start up and operated it for three years. Boats were there every day that it was calm enough and never had a problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0gND-6xO8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgiqw-xE-ws

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Notorious's picture

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Does the same apply to

Fri, 2013-03-08 18:16

Does the same apply to disused rigs?

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sea-kem's picture

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 The only disused one I know

Fri, 2013-03-08 19:55

 The only disused one I know of Notorious is the Key Biscayne ;)

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correctShorter term

Fri, 2013-03-08 20:18

correct

Shorter term installations here have so far used FPSO's which are just moved elsewhere when the field is depleted.

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.