‘Govt ignores anglers, environment in Southern Fish Trawl Fishery’
The Commonwealth is proceeding to take over the Southern Fish Trawl Fishery.
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The Recreational Fishing Alliance believes the consultation paper is biased, deficient and does not justify the transition or satisfy the concerns of most recreational anglers or the community. No negative impacts are considered and no cost-benefit analyses were undertaken. The proposal affects about only 12 fishers. These are the risks:
- no limit on bobbing gear, allowing trawlers to trawl over reefs.
- size limit on fish are removed, but flathead reduced from 33-28cm.
- trip limits removed, resulting in negative impact on fish stocks.
- conflict expected between stakeholders.
- conflict between commercial fishers as different rules will apply to trap-and-line fishers.
- great risk of eliminating threatened species.
- destruction of the close-spawning snapper grounds.
- no community sharing resource.
- a number of species are classified as “growth overfished” and need some protection.
- no guarantee of fresh seafood by local commercial fishers.
The fishery supplies just more than 1.5 per cent of seafood to NSW and extends to the Hawkesbury River and well past the Victorian boarder and east for 3 nm.
If tourists go elsewhere to fish, how will local jobs survive? Recreational fishing contributes $360.82 million each year to the South Coast – how will small business and the tourist industry survive if this income is largely lost? Please contact you MP with your concerns. Visit www.rfansw.com.au and subscribe to our newsletter.
Max Castle
South Coast RFA
‘Recycle this idea’
Who was the bright spark that decided on the location of the container recycling unit?
The Moruya Woolie’s carpark is a nightmare at the best of times, but add people parking adjacent to the unit to unload their containers, as well as the trucks emptying it at regular intervals, and you have utter bedlam.
Yass, apparently, had the same problem and saw fit to relocate the unit.
So to the powers-that-be, move the damn thing to a more suitable location, and this time give it a bit more thought.
Alex Wallensky
Broulee
Don’t rubbish Australia
We should be grateful China has alerted us to how we have willingly exposed ourselves to the predicament of not being self-sufficient, particularly in recycling and in general waste disposal on this occasion, thankfully, – hopefully, before it's too late.
The strategic implications of our reliance on overseas suppliers of services and products should be ringing bells loudly and clearly in Canberra.
A metaphorical stroke of the pen in China has caused this alarm to be sounded, but what would happen if someone "over there" said they no longer wanted to buy such large amounts of our commodities or no longer wanted to sell us motor vehicles or tractors or aircraft or the tyres or the fuel they run on?
With all the leaders running around criticising each other, hopefully some will be motivated to show some real leadership and create some jobs and growth in areas to ensure we are capable of ongoing self-sufficiency.
Jeff de Jager
Coila
