Jet ski rego eyed after complaints
Registration for Tasman jet skis and all small vessels could be on the cards as the Tasman District Council looks to review its navigation safety bylaw.
Tasman harbourmaster Pete Renshaw confirmed to the Nelson Mail that speed and registration schemes were areas that could be looked at under the review, which was on the council plan to work on over the winter.
Renshaw said registration of small boats, and in particular jet skis, would be helpful in determining how many there were in the region, and how they could be held to account.
In other parts of the country, such as Auckland, jet skiers were required to clearly display registration stickers on their jet skis or personal watercraft. There, registration was a one-off and valid for the lifetime of the vessel.
The harbourmaster said over the Christmas and New Year period, he spoke to 19 jet skiers in two days in Kaiteriteri, and that he received complaints about jet skis weekly.
Over the summer, he received a report of a man out at the Abel Tasman National Park with a group of clients on kayaks who were passed “incredibly close” by jet skiers.
When they stopped at the beach for lunch, the man asked them if they could give the kayaks a bit of room, and told them they should be doing five knots within 200m of shore, or 50m of another vessel.
“They just laughed at him, and basically said, ‘no one can prove it was us’.”
Forest and Bird Golden Bay branch chairperson Cynthia McConville said compulsory registration of jet skis would go a long way towards solving problems in Golden Bay, and Forest and Bird would be supporting this proposal in the bylaw.
“Being able to identify a jet ski that is acting illegally on our coastline will aid in ensuring the rider can be held responsible for their actions.”
The environmental group would be looking for a substantial penalty or fine for breaking the 5kph speed limit and for operating a jet ski too close to shore, she said.
Golden Bay Community Board members at a recent meeting also raised concerns about jet skis speeding around Ligar Bay.
McConville told the Nelson Mail that two weekends in a row there had been a group of three hooning up the Tākaka River from the Waitapu Bridge.
The jet skiers came on the high tide, when thousands of birds were foraging and roosting in an internationally significant area, where the birds needed clear water to see their prey, she said.
At that time there were 100 spoonbills less than 100m from the Tākaka River mouth, which were disturbed and “put all up in the air”.
“Quite frankly, we don’t want jet skis here,” she said.
“To me it’s disturbance to residents, and it’s disturbance to the natural environment, the habitat, and the birds, and we would like to see them prohibited.”
McConville said putting speed limit signs on the bridge would make it vandal-proof, as council signs in Golden Bay were frequently damaged or pulled down.
The group had no problem with recreational fishers, kayakers, or paddleboarders, she said.
Under the bylaw up for review, Renshaw said he could look at speed and registration, but issues around wildlife would be covered by DOC.
Nelson Jet Ski Hire owner operator Anthoney Lewis said most days out on the water there would be many jet skis and no issues whatsoever.
But sometimes there would be one “getting a bit close to everybody else”.
“And you’ll be like, ‘well, yeah, this is the one spoiling it for the many’.”
His company’s jet skis for hire were used off Rabbit Island in a calm, sheltered and flat designated jet ski area, and they were most commonly rented by those from out of town.
When it came to operating the jetskis on a river, Lewis said that wasn’t something he would personally do, because of the way they operated, sucking up sand, gravel and rocks. “You have to basically be a metre-plus in depth,” he explained.