Tag Archives: Fisheries Queensland
Spanish mackerel catch quota reduction ‘catastrophic’ for north Queensland fishers, industry says
New quotas that will dramatically reduce the number of Spanish mackerel commercial fishers can catch will “devastate” the industry, according to north Queensland fishers. The Queensland government has unveiled a suite of changes that slash the total catch quota for the state from 570 tonnes to 165 tonnes for commercial fishers. Chloe Bauer’s family business, Bowen Fisherman Seafood Company, has been supplying Spanish mackerel to restaurants up and down the Queensland coast for 40 years. She said the new quotas would “devastate” the industry. >click to read< 11:22
Queensland’s scallop industry in doubt
Fisheries Queensland says recent figures show scallop numbers are in serious decline with the biomass, or the amount that can be fished, dropping to 12 per cent of 1977 levels. But Queensland Seafood Industry Association treasurer and scallop fisherman Kevin Reibel said completely closing the fishery would be devastating to south-east Queensland communities. >click to read< 22:00
Queensland Fishers can expect ‘biggest changes industry has ever seen’
THE recreational and commercial fishing industries could be on the verge of some of “the largest changes in Queensland fishing”. Under State Government direction leaders in those industries joined environmentalists and government representatives for the first time last week to thrash out necessary changes to boost inshore fish stocks. Under State Government direction leaders in those industries joined environmentalists and government representatives for the first time last week to thrash out necessary changes to boost inshore fish stocks. >click here to read< 18:51
Tracking system trials commence on entire commercial fishing fleet in Australia
Fisheries Queensland Executive Director Claire Andersen said units were being trialled on crab, net and line vessels in the Gulf of Carpentaria, South East Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, both offshore and inshore. “The trials will cover all conditions and vessel types, from 15 metre boats to small tinnies without power,” Ms Andersen said. “Tracking the entire Queensland fishing fleet will allow us to improve compliance, validate logbooks and provide a valuable tool for fishery management. Ms Andersen said we were committed to working with industry to ensure that the rules are practical and achievable for smaller inshore boats. (yes. of course!) click here to read the story 17:56
Eat prawns over Easter? They might’ve been contaminated, Brisbane prawn catches at risk from airport chemical spill
Prawns eaten over the Easter long weekend were most likely contaminated by last week’s toxic spill, Brisbane’s commercial fishers have warned. At least 300kg of prawns were caught from the contaminated zone of the Brisbane River and sold on to local residents over Easter because local fishers were not warned against it. State Environment Minister Steven Miles yesterday wrote to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester seeking immediate enforcement action to be taken against those responsible for the chemical spill and for the responsible party to “remediate and compensate for any harm caused”. The Queensland Seafood Industry Association received advice from Fisheries Queensland only on Tuesday – a week after the spill – to stop selling seafood caught within the contaminated zone. Local commercial fisher Michael Wilkinson said the advice was “too little, too late” after the State Government initially said the contaminated area did not affect commercial fishing zones. “It makes me sick to my stomach that I sold contaminated food to somebody unbeknown to me,” he said. click to read the story 16:58
Brisbane prawn catches at risk from airport chemical spill – click here to read the story.
Sister of missing Night Raider fisherman wants answers, asks why search didn’t start sooner
The prawn trawler departed Urangan, at Hervey Bay, on November 11 and headed east before the trawler’s Vessel Monitoring System, a mandatory system that provides hourly updates on the location of all trawlers in Queensland waters to Fisheries, stopped responding on November 12. Leigh Ann Hunt said that is when a search should have started to find her little brother, 38-year-old Douglas Hunt, along with the two other men aboard, aged 24 and 60, who remain missing. A Fisheries Queensland spokeswoman said while the VMS was not an at-sea safety system, it could be used in search and rescue operations by providing the last known position of a vessel. For the next six days, Fisheries Queensland attempted to make contact with the Night Raider and notified other vessels in the area along with the family of the vessel’s owner. Read the rest here 09:10
Trawler crew vanishes without trace off Fraser Coast
The Sunshine Coast prawn fishing fraternity fears a trawler and its crew that vanished without a trace off the Fraser Coast met a sudden and catastrophic end. The search for Mooloolaba-based Night Raider, which has not been heard from since November 12, was scaled back by authorities on Monday after an extensive operation that involved helicopters, police and volunteer marine rescue vessels and patrols of the shoreline and inlets. Veteran professional fisherman Grant Sainty, 60, has been identified as the skipper and devastated relatives and colleagues say it is out of character for him not to be in touch. Industry insiders told The Courier-Mail their game can be dangerous and a rollover while fishing, sudden sinking or fire could be to blame for the disappearance. One of Mr Sainty’s two crew has been revealed as Port Macquarie father-of-six Doug Hunt, 38, while a 24-year-old man also was on board. Read the story here 10:52
Queensland Government slammed over permanent scallop closure
Bundaberg commercial fishers have labelled the State Government’s intention to permanently close scallop replenishment areas as “idiotic”, accusing them of using dodgy, out of date data to threaten livelihoods. On Friday, Fisheries Minister Bill Byrne said Fisheries Queensland officers would hold urgent meetings with commercial operators to outline changes to management to protect the sustainability of scallops, which had plummeted to crisis levels. But Bundaberg trawler owner Andrew Redfearn said the intended permanent closure of the SRAs was another under-handed resource grab from fishermen under the guise of fisheries management for which there was no compensation. “I seriously question the credentials, capability and political persuasion of the person who suggested the permanent closure of the SRAs and also question the same of the other managers that support this idiotic measure.” Mr Redfearn said the government was basing the current 6% of biomass on 1977 catches. Read the story here 09:21
