Premier overrules in fishing anchor row

Colin Barnett said yesterday the Department of Environment and Conservation was wrong to advise last year against installing anchor points for people fishing off rocks around Albany.

It emerged this week that Environment Minister Bill Marmion wrote to Albany MP Peter Watson in May saying DEC considered that rock anchors would create a "potentially fatal situation" and provide fishers with a false sense of security.

"By placing rock anchors . . . the DEC is exposing people to an inadvertent hazard of 'harness syndrome'," he said in the letter.

But on Wednesday, the Premier announced a range of measures to help keep rock fishers safe, including the use of anchor points.