2019 Review of the Great Sandy Marine Park
A review of the Great Sandy Marine Park commenced in 2018. A particular area of interest and long standing contention, are the waters of the strait between Fraser Island and the mainland. The area has been zoned under the Marine Parks zoning process for many years. This is administered by the Environment Department, not the Fisheries Department it must be understood.
Various zoning options are depicted by colours, from Blue for general use, through to pink for total exclusion zones for scientific purposes. In between there are Green areas where all forms of resource extraction are banned (including fishing of course) and Yellow areas that offer restricted resource removal. Typically these Yellow zones ban commercial gill netting and restrict line fishing apparatus able to be used. Zoning in this form exists throughout the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,also Moreton Bay and the Great Sandy Straits.
Under a review, the current zoning arrangements are looked at to see if they are still relevant and achieving the objectives originally set out for the area. These reviews involve extensive community consultation and engagement to get a feel for how the users view the appropriateness of the zoning.
There is a glaring zoning anomaly existing in the Sandy Straits where a Yellow Zone also has Red coloured cross hatching covering it. This coloured zoning does not exist anywhere else in Queensland. This cross hatching allows for commercial gill netting to occur in this area. Given that Yellow Zones are designed to limit the extraction of animals and plants for conservation purposes, it beggars belief how open slather gill netting can meet this requirement. Gill netting is non selective and kills everything that entangles in the net, including non-target species.
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance has campaigned to remove this zoning anomaly for many years. The current Review offers the opportunity for the community in that area to voice its position regarding this particular zoning anomaly. QRFN fully supports the campaign to have this anomaly removed from the zoning plan moving forward.
Following is the FCFA's formal position regarding this cross hatched area:
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance Inc. request Leeanne Enoch MP - Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef and the Palaszczuk State Government to commit to ending commercial netting operations in the Great Sandy Marine Park and adjacent waterways under the current full term 10 year review to restore fish stocks and help protect the Queensland urban coast’s largest dugong population.
Removing the anomaly that is the “Designated Great Sandy Area” will prohibit commercial netting and beam trawling in what should be TRUE Yellow Conservation Park Zone Areas.
The FCFA would support commercial line fishing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis.
The FCFA supports ‘Continued commercial crabbing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance is calling for the following changes to be made to the Great Sandy Marine Park Zoning Plan in-line with this current 10 year – full term review of the Great Sandy Marine Park :-
• Remove the anomaly that is the “Great Sandy Designated Area” – Red Cross Hatching
• Remove ALL netting including bait netting and small mesh netting from Yellow Conservation Zone Areas
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zones from Double Island Point North to In skip Point/Wide Bay Bar entrance ( CP17 )
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zone on Eastern Side of Fraser Island South to join up with Western side Yellow Area/Wide Bay Bar entrance ( CP 14 )
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zone On Eastern Side of Fraser Island to include the Sandy Cape and back down Western side /Platypus Bay to Moon Point ( CP13 )
• Declare the waters above the current GSMP boundary in the Mary River a “Net Free Zone” Up to the Mary River Barrage.
• Remove ALL trawl Fishing ( otter and beam ) from in-side the Partially Smooth Waters area - along the western shore of Fraser Island to latitude 25º 22.90' south to latitude 25º 24.90' south, longitude 152º 58.06' east due west to the mainland at latitude 25º 24.90' south.
• Recreational fishers be allowed to use up to two hand-held rods or handlines per fisher, with no more than two hooks in total for each fisher in Yellow Conservation Zones throughout the GSMP.
Various zoning options are depicted by colours, from Blue for general use, through to pink for total exclusion zones for scientific purposes. In between there are Green areas where all forms of resource extraction are banned (including fishing of course) and Yellow areas that offer restricted resource removal. Typically these Yellow zones ban commercial gill netting and restrict line fishing apparatus able to be used. Zoning in this form exists throughout the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,also Moreton Bay and the Great Sandy Straits.
Under a review, the current zoning arrangements are looked at to see if they are still relevant and achieving the objectives originally set out for the area. These reviews involve extensive community consultation and engagement to get a feel for how the users view the appropriateness of the zoning.
There is a glaring zoning anomaly existing in the Sandy Straits where a Yellow Zone also has Red coloured cross hatching covering it. This coloured zoning does not exist anywhere else in Queensland. This cross hatching allows for commercial gill netting to occur in this area. Given that Yellow Zones are designed to limit the extraction of animals and plants for conservation purposes, it beggars belief how open slather gill netting can meet this requirement. Gill netting is non selective and kills everything that entangles in the net, including non-target species.
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance has campaigned to remove this zoning anomaly for many years. The current Review offers the opportunity for the community in that area to voice its position regarding this particular zoning anomaly. QRFN fully supports the campaign to have this anomaly removed from the zoning plan moving forward.
Following is the FCFA's formal position regarding this cross hatched area:
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance Inc. request Leeanne Enoch MP - Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef and the Palaszczuk State Government to commit to ending commercial netting operations in the Great Sandy Marine Park and adjacent waterways under the current full term 10 year review to restore fish stocks and help protect the Queensland urban coast’s largest dugong population.
Removing the anomaly that is the “Designated Great Sandy Area” will prohibit commercial netting and beam trawling in what should be TRUE Yellow Conservation Park Zone Areas.
The FCFA would support commercial line fishing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis.
The FCFA supports ‘Continued commercial crabbing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis
The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance is calling for the following changes to be made to the Great Sandy Marine Park Zoning Plan in-line with this current 10 year – full term review of the Great Sandy Marine Park :-
• Remove the anomaly that is the “Great Sandy Designated Area” – Red Cross Hatching
• Remove ALL netting including bait netting and small mesh netting from Yellow Conservation Zone Areas
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zones from Double Island Point North to In skip Point/Wide Bay Bar entrance ( CP17 )
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zone on Eastern Side of Fraser Island South to join up with Western side Yellow Area/Wide Bay Bar entrance ( CP 14 )
• Extend the Yellow Conservation Zone On Eastern Side of Fraser Island to include the Sandy Cape and back down Western side /Platypus Bay to Moon Point ( CP13 )
• Declare the waters above the current GSMP boundary in the Mary River a “Net Free Zone” Up to the Mary River Barrage.
• Remove ALL trawl Fishing ( otter and beam ) from in-side the Partially Smooth Waters area - along the western shore of Fraser Island to latitude 25º 22.90' south to latitude 25º 24.90' south, longitude 152º 58.06' east due west to the mainland at latitude 25º 24.90' south.
• Recreational fishers be allowed to use up to two hand-held rods or handlines per fisher, with no more than two hooks in total for each fisher in Yellow Conservation Zones throughout the GSMP.
