People who can speak Chinese or Korean are being sought by police to help with a beach campaign to educate crab fishers at a popular Northland beach.
Senior Constable Martin Geddes, who is heading the police campaign to reduce the number of fatalities on Uretiti and Ruakaka beaches, said thelatest drowning made the need for community beach patrols a priority. The volunteers would be trained but would not be expected to get in the water or carry out rescues.
Their main role would be to hand out safety pamphlets specifically designed to warn about the dangers of crab fishing and educate people about the beach dangers.
Nine days ago, a father of two from Auckland, of Asian descent, disappeared in the water off Uretiti while setting crab pots. His family and friends have since hired a commercial dive crew to scour the shoreline but as of late yesterday there was no sign of the 35-year-old glazier. He had been wearing a wetsuit but his lifejacket was on the beach and of no use when he fell from a small inflatable boat about 400m from shore in blustery conditions.
"We've had about nine people put their hands up to be part of our beach patrols. Most of them are locals who live near the beach or spend a lot of time there," Mr Geddes said.
"What we really need is people who can speak Chinese or Korean so we can really get the education message through with out translation issues."
Mr Geddes is also promoting a safety seminar about crab fishing in Auckland, aimed at Asian communities, this month. Anyone who would like to volunteer can contact police on Martin.Geddes@police.govt.nz or Simon.Craig@police.govt.nz.
