Three new Net Free Areas a reality as of 1 November 2015
YAHOO!!!
As of 1 November 2015, Queensland new has three new Net Free Areas.
Every rec fisher in Qld should congratulate former Minister Byrne and the ALP State government for delivering on their election promise.
UPDATE: The proof of the overwhelming success of these new NFAs is now there for all to see. Social media sites are alive on a daily basis with excited recreational anglers catching quality fish in these NFAs. The Central Qld NFA has been particularly inspiring with amazing barra and King threadfin catches from the area and new businesses and money flowing into the area as a result.The once vocal opponents are now licking their wounds as the economic, social and environmental benefits are there for all the world to see.
The history:
The Burns Inquiry back in 1993 called them ROFAS (Recreational Only Fishing Areas) and recommended we should have them here in Queensland. We all even agreed to paying $10 extra on our boat registration each year (PPV) to pay for the buyout of netting licences. Oh we paid the money all right, but we never saw any ROFAS. Reliable estimates are that the ever increasing PPV, (now renamed RUF & about $18.year) has raised around $60,000,000 since its inception (not a typo folks). So where has all this money gone? We'll give you two guesses and the last one doesn't count.
In order to effectively and fairly create NFA's, large numbers of netting licences will need to be bought out and "burned". Thereby hangs the problem. That is going to cost a very large amount of money and successive governments have said quite clearly they are not going to put up this money.
But haven't we already contributed about $60m? Yep, but it's all gone elsewhere apparently.
The Mackay Recreational Fishing Alliance and CAREFISH in Cairns have done an enormous amount of work trying to get support for NFAs near Mackay and Cairns (Trinity Inlet). Other groups across the state have, and continue to lobby for NFA's in their localities as well.
How did they do it in NSW?
They had a state government with gonads who said it had to happen and introduced a recreational fishing licence to fund it. Once people realised that the money was actually being used directly for their benefit, initial objections faded quickly. You see the money raised was not siphoned off, but quarantined in a Trust Fund and used for what it was supposed to be used for. So if you area a doubter about the value of a well structured fishing licence in Queensland, we understand your reservations and lack of trust of government (well founded), but there isn't any other option right now. We recommend you go to the dropdown about Recreational Fishing Licences on this website and see how a recreational fishing licence could be introduced in Qld so we all get the benefits.
We urge all rec fishers in Qld to seriously think this through. We will never again see healthy inshore fish stocks in this state until commercial netting is significantly reformed and restricted along our coastline.
The 2015 government set aside $10m to buyback displaced effort from the three new NFAs, but after that, the bucket will be empty to fund any more new areas. If you want one in your backyard, you'll need to start thinking about where the money to fund it is going to come from.
The future is in our laps if we want it badly enough.
As of 1 November 2015, Queensland new has three new Net Free Areas.
Every rec fisher in Qld should congratulate former Minister Byrne and the ALP State government for delivering on their election promise.
UPDATE: The proof of the overwhelming success of these new NFAs is now there for all to see. Social media sites are alive on a daily basis with excited recreational anglers catching quality fish in these NFAs. The Central Qld NFA has been particularly inspiring with amazing barra and King threadfin catches from the area and new businesses and money flowing into the area as a result.The once vocal opponents are now licking their wounds as the economic, social and environmental benefits are there for all the world to see.
The history:
The Burns Inquiry back in 1993 called them ROFAS (Recreational Only Fishing Areas) and recommended we should have them here in Queensland. We all even agreed to paying $10 extra on our boat registration each year (PPV) to pay for the buyout of netting licences. Oh we paid the money all right, but we never saw any ROFAS. Reliable estimates are that the ever increasing PPV, (now renamed RUF & about $18.year) has raised around $60,000,000 since its inception (not a typo folks). So where has all this money gone? We'll give you two guesses and the last one doesn't count.
In order to effectively and fairly create NFA's, large numbers of netting licences will need to be bought out and "burned". Thereby hangs the problem. That is going to cost a very large amount of money and successive governments have said quite clearly they are not going to put up this money.
But haven't we already contributed about $60m? Yep, but it's all gone elsewhere apparently.
The Mackay Recreational Fishing Alliance and CAREFISH in Cairns have done an enormous amount of work trying to get support for NFAs near Mackay and Cairns (Trinity Inlet). Other groups across the state have, and continue to lobby for NFA's in their localities as well.
How did they do it in NSW?
They had a state government with gonads who said it had to happen and introduced a recreational fishing licence to fund it. Once people realised that the money was actually being used directly for their benefit, initial objections faded quickly. You see the money raised was not siphoned off, but quarantined in a Trust Fund and used for what it was supposed to be used for. So if you area a doubter about the value of a well structured fishing licence in Queensland, we understand your reservations and lack of trust of government (well founded), but there isn't any other option right now. We recommend you go to the dropdown about Recreational Fishing Licences on this website and see how a recreational fishing licence could be introduced in Qld so we all get the benefits.
We urge all rec fishers in Qld to seriously think this through. We will never again see healthy inshore fish stocks in this state until commercial netting is significantly reformed and restricted along our coastline.
The 2015 government set aside $10m to buyback displaced effort from the three new NFAs, but after that, the bucket will be empty to fund any more new areas. If you want one in your backyard, you'll need to start thinking about where the money to fund it is going to come from.
The future is in our laps if we want it badly enough.
