Narooma Port Committee chair Philip Creagh has urged NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean to consult widely when it comes to recreational fishing zones in the Batemans Marine Park and not succumb to "greenwashing" by environment groups.
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Mr Creagh was responding to the minister's comments on Batemans Marine Park no-take zones made at the Nature Conservation Council's conference on October 31.
"It's disappointing to hear Matt Kean, who lives in Hornsby and was only made the NSW Minister for the Environment in 2019, apparently contradicting his colleague (Bega MP) Andrew Constance," Mr Creagh said.
"Andrew lives here, has known the issues with the Batemans Marine Park for the past 15 years and is intimately concerned with the socio-economic issues as well.
"It is of great concern to us that Mr Kean will simply receive a green-washed view of our marine environment.
"Matt Kean should be meeting with local people as well as those from the Sydney-based extreme conservation groups.
"He also needs to brush up on his knowledge of the Marine Estate Management Act which stipulates that NSW Marine Parks are to conserve biological diversity."
Asked if he would restore no-take zones lifted in December 2019, Mr Kean said the "simple answer" was "yes", but "science" would determine the issue. He would soon dive the waters of Montague Island and said he would invite Mr Constance to accompany him.
The Nature Coast Marine Group quickly welcomed Mr Kean's comments, but Mr Creagh says pollution is the real issue.
"The Nature Coast Marine Group appears to want to banish fishing as their response to a marine park when many see other issues, such as pollution in all its forms, as the invisible menace to our marine environment," Mr Creagh said.
"Let's hope that Matt Kean does not swallow the extreme misinformation promulgated by the Nature Conservation Council and the Nature Coast Marine Group.
"Sanctuary zones in a well-managed fishery are purely unwarranted fishing closures when NSW Fisheries have been adequately managing fish stocks this century."
Mr Creagh rejected the Nature Coast Marine Group's statements about the risks of recreational fishing to grey nurse sharks.
"Disappointing to see the tsunami of misinformation from the Nature Coast Marine Group masquerading their anti-fishing agenda with fake news about the lack of protection of the Grey Nurse Shark at Montague Island," he said.
"The shark continues to have the same protection that it has on the northern end of the island. Anecdotal reports from divers at Montague Island claim that the sanctuary zones have made some of the habitat issues worse than 2007."
