Zoning our Fisheries
Update!! Zoning in a form has been introduced to the east coast net fishery as of the 2019 reform process. This in theory will be a good thing, however, there is no plan to reduce the number of netting licences across the state, so for the reasons explained below, it is doubtful any zoning introduced will succeed in addressing any of the sustainability issues associated with excessive harvesting in this fishery. .
One of the biggest causes of conflict between recreational and commercial fishers stems from the fact that a commercial fisher with the appropriate symbols, can pretty much fish anywhere they choose along the length of the coast. There are a few exceptions, including the ocean beach net fishery (K symbol) which restricts licence holders to certain stretches of the southern Qld coast only, but by and large, if you hold a commercial netting licence or a crab licence, you can set up your operation anywhere you like along the east coast. But if you wish to commercially fish in the Gulf of Carpentaria, you need a different licence symbol from the east coast, but again, once you get this, you can fish anywhere in the gulf.
Historically in the good old days, fisher mobility wasn't such a major issue, as roads were pretty ordinary and boats were nowhere near as trailable as they are today. The result was most commercial fishers tended to stay within their home range to fish. Things have dramatically changed however, with commercial fishers now moving the length of the coast chasing fish.
Where there perhaps used to be an element of "looking after my patch" among commercial fishers, this has long gone unfortunately. Anyone can turn up on anyone else's turf and plunder the fish stocks, then move on when it becomes uneconomical to remain there. It's a bit like setting up a fruit orchard and just when the fruit it ready to pick, people stopping on the highway and walking into the field and helping themselves to "your" crop. Of course that would never be allowed to happen, but it does every day in the fishing industry.
The notion of zoning of fisheries revolves around lines being drawn on a map that restrict where fishers can operate.
Support for zoning of our inshore net fishery in particular is high, both among recreational and many local commercial fishers as well. But it has never got past first base in fisheries management circles or the commercial fishing peak bodies.
While it might seem simple to draw a few lines on a map and lock people inside those lines, in practice it isn't that easy at all. How do you initially determine who should be permitted to fish in which zones and who shouldn't? Thirty years ago it probably wouldn't have been such a big issue, but as previously identified, today's commercial fishers are very mobile and most can produce evidence that they have fished in many locations along the coast and can argue that they should be allowed to continue to do so based on their fishing history. If zoning based on residential postcodes were to be used, it is likely that the first appeal against a decision to zone an individual would be upheld, thus stopping the process dead in its tracks.
So how could zoning be introduced fairly and effectively?
First, we'll need to drastically reduce the number of commercial licences in the fishery. What would be the point of locking in say 50 commercial netters to each 200km stretch of coast and allowing them to continue fishing as they do currently? All you would achieve is increased competition between those 50 operators for the fish that are left along that stretch of coast, resulting in increasing conflict among them and with recreational fishers. Fish stocks would continue to be decimated and no one wins.
A whole range of parameters need to be evaluated in terms of what a zone could support before any decision is made regarding how many commercial operators should be licenced to fish that zone. It may well turn out that in some zones, only a handful of commercial fishers can remain, with strict total allowable catch limits containing their catch and assuring fair and sustainable harvesting occurs.
What happens to the rest of the commercial fishers who are not allocated a zone to fish?
Obviously they will need to be bought out of the industry permanently. We're talking hundreds of licences just in the inshore net fishery here, so where is the money going to come from? Don't say the government, because that just isn't going to happen. We're probably looking at a bucket of money in the vicinity of $100,000,000 here.
We've looked at every possible option and keep coming back to one that is practical and achievable - a levy or licence on recreational fishers.
Now before you spit your dummy and put your fingers in your ears, ask yourself this question, "Do I want to see our fish stocks recover and be able to catch a decent feed of fish on most occasions when I go fishing?"
Of course you answered "Yes", we all do. But this isn't ever going to happen while we have the excessive levels of commercial fishing we current have out there, so unless you're willing to contribute to your own benefit, nothing is going change. We suggest you now go and read what we have to say about how a recreational fishing licence could be introduced in Queensland in order to achieve what we all want for the future for our fishery (see Recreational Fishing Licence dropdown under the "Issues" tab).
One of the biggest causes of conflict between recreational and commercial fishers stems from the fact that a commercial fisher with the appropriate symbols, can pretty much fish anywhere they choose along the length of the coast. There are a few exceptions, including the ocean beach net fishery (K symbol) which restricts licence holders to certain stretches of the southern Qld coast only, but by and large, if you hold a commercial netting licence or a crab licence, you can set up your operation anywhere you like along the east coast. But if you wish to commercially fish in the Gulf of Carpentaria, you need a different licence symbol from the east coast, but again, once you get this, you can fish anywhere in the gulf.
Historically in the good old days, fisher mobility wasn't such a major issue, as roads were pretty ordinary and boats were nowhere near as trailable as they are today. The result was most commercial fishers tended to stay within their home range to fish. Things have dramatically changed however, with commercial fishers now moving the length of the coast chasing fish.
Where there perhaps used to be an element of "looking after my patch" among commercial fishers, this has long gone unfortunately. Anyone can turn up on anyone else's turf and plunder the fish stocks, then move on when it becomes uneconomical to remain there. It's a bit like setting up a fruit orchard and just when the fruit it ready to pick, people stopping on the highway and walking into the field and helping themselves to "your" crop. Of course that would never be allowed to happen, but it does every day in the fishing industry.
The notion of zoning of fisheries revolves around lines being drawn on a map that restrict where fishers can operate.
Support for zoning of our inshore net fishery in particular is high, both among recreational and many local commercial fishers as well. But it has never got past first base in fisheries management circles or the commercial fishing peak bodies.
While it might seem simple to draw a few lines on a map and lock people inside those lines, in practice it isn't that easy at all. How do you initially determine who should be permitted to fish in which zones and who shouldn't? Thirty years ago it probably wouldn't have been such a big issue, but as previously identified, today's commercial fishers are very mobile and most can produce evidence that they have fished in many locations along the coast and can argue that they should be allowed to continue to do so based on their fishing history. If zoning based on residential postcodes were to be used, it is likely that the first appeal against a decision to zone an individual would be upheld, thus stopping the process dead in its tracks.
So how could zoning be introduced fairly and effectively?
First, we'll need to drastically reduce the number of commercial licences in the fishery. What would be the point of locking in say 50 commercial netters to each 200km stretch of coast and allowing them to continue fishing as they do currently? All you would achieve is increased competition between those 50 operators for the fish that are left along that stretch of coast, resulting in increasing conflict among them and with recreational fishers. Fish stocks would continue to be decimated and no one wins.
A whole range of parameters need to be evaluated in terms of what a zone could support before any decision is made regarding how many commercial operators should be licenced to fish that zone. It may well turn out that in some zones, only a handful of commercial fishers can remain, with strict total allowable catch limits containing their catch and assuring fair and sustainable harvesting occurs.
What happens to the rest of the commercial fishers who are not allocated a zone to fish?
Obviously they will need to be bought out of the industry permanently. We're talking hundreds of licences just in the inshore net fishery here, so where is the money going to come from? Don't say the government, because that just isn't going to happen. We're probably looking at a bucket of money in the vicinity of $100,000,000 here.
We've looked at every possible option and keep coming back to one that is practical and achievable - a levy or licence on recreational fishers.
Now before you spit your dummy and put your fingers in your ears, ask yourself this question, "Do I want to see our fish stocks recover and be able to catch a decent feed of fish on most occasions when I go fishing?"
Of course you answered "Yes", we all do. But this isn't ever going to happen while we have the excessive levels of commercial fishing we current have out there, so unless you're willing to contribute to your own benefit, nothing is going change. We suggest you now go and read what we have to say about how a recreational fishing licence could be introduced in Queensland in order to achieve what we all want for the future for our fishery (see Recreational Fishing Licence dropdown under the "Issues" tab).
