East Coast Inshore Fishery
To understand the extent and complexity of problems and issues impacting our East Coast Inshore Fishery, we recommend you read the document
'The Bones of Contention' which is a collaborative work lead by Paul Aubin from Cairns and David Cook from Cooktown, with input from many QRFN members.
Fish stocks in Queensland's east coast inshore fishery are generally believed to be in dire straits by knowledgeable and long term recreational fishers. This belief is based on significantly declining catches across almost all species in most locations along the coast. However this appears to fly in the face of claims by Fisheries Queensland that inshore fish stocks in the main, are in pretty good shape. Someone has got it very wrong, and we're pretty sure it isn't us, the recreational fishers, who are actually out there every day witnessing the decline first hand.
Rec fishers are reporting they are seeing more commercial nets in the water than ever in history, despite Fisheries Qld telling us they are progressively reducing the number of commercial net symbols out there. So what's going on?
Yes, there are less netting symbols theoretically available than in the past, but what is happening is that a very high percentage of those symbols still in the fishery are being used, whereas in the past, a large proportion of the symbols were not "active" or being utilized on a regular basis. On top of that, net technology and techniques have improved markedly, resulting in greatly increased efficiency and catches for individual operators.
In the past, where say 100 commercial netters might account for 100 tonnes of fish annually amongst themselves, these days, that same 100 tonnes can be caught by just a couple of well equipped operators (figures used here are by way of example only for the purpose of the exercise).
The problem we have, is a massively excessive number of symbols and operators in the fishery, all competing for the diminishing fish stocks in a dog eat dog environment. The problem is further exacerbated by investors buying multiple symbols (licences) and legally leasing them out to inexperienced in most cases, wanna-be commercial fishers who move around the state plundering fish stocks just to pay their lease costs and trying to make a living on top of that. The inevitable victims of this third world approach are our rapidly depleting fish stocks.
The solution is not to buy out a handful of net licences, but progressively buy out the majority of them, leaving a relatively small number of operators who can continue to fish in a very professional way, catching high quality product to supply what is really, a quite small boutique market for locally caught inshore species. This model has been in place in the Northern Territory for many years now, and has resulted in an inshore recreational fishery the envy of the rest of Australia and a commercial net fishery that is highly profitable and isn't negatively impacting on the sustainability of fish stocks.
If they can do it, so can we!!!!!!!!!!
'The Bones of Contention' which is a collaborative work lead by Paul Aubin from Cairns and David Cook from Cooktown, with input from many QRFN members.
Fish stocks in Queensland's east coast inshore fishery are generally believed to be in dire straits by knowledgeable and long term recreational fishers. This belief is based on significantly declining catches across almost all species in most locations along the coast. However this appears to fly in the face of claims by Fisheries Queensland that inshore fish stocks in the main, are in pretty good shape. Someone has got it very wrong, and we're pretty sure it isn't us, the recreational fishers, who are actually out there every day witnessing the decline first hand.
Rec fishers are reporting they are seeing more commercial nets in the water than ever in history, despite Fisheries Qld telling us they are progressively reducing the number of commercial net symbols out there. So what's going on?
Yes, there are less netting symbols theoretically available than in the past, but what is happening is that a very high percentage of those symbols still in the fishery are being used, whereas in the past, a large proportion of the symbols were not "active" or being utilized on a regular basis. On top of that, net technology and techniques have improved markedly, resulting in greatly increased efficiency and catches for individual operators.
In the past, where say 100 commercial netters might account for 100 tonnes of fish annually amongst themselves, these days, that same 100 tonnes can be caught by just a couple of well equipped operators (figures used here are by way of example only for the purpose of the exercise).
The problem we have, is a massively excessive number of symbols and operators in the fishery, all competing for the diminishing fish stocks in a dog eat dog environment. The problem is further exacerbated by investors buying multiple symbols (licences) and legally leasing them out to inexperienced in most cases, wanna-be commercial fishers who move around the state plundering fish stocks just to pay their lease costs and trying to make a living on top of that. The inevitable victims of this third world approach are our rapidly depleting fish stocks.
The solution is not to buy out a handful of net licences, but progressively buy out the majority of them, leaving a relatively small number of operators who can continue to fish in a very professional way, catching high quality product to supply what is really, a quite small boutique market for locally caught inshore species. This model has been in place in the Northern Territory for many years now, and has resulted in an inshore recreational fishery the envy of the rest of Australia and a commercial net fishery that is highly profitable and isn't negatively impacting on the sustainability of fish stocks.
If they can do it, so can we!!!!!!!!!!
