A six-week state wide ban on fishing snapper has badly affected the charter boat industry. Cleveland-based charter boat operator Jim Theodorou said his business had taken a dive after Tuesday’s snapper ban came into play. Theodorou, who runs Big Cat Charters, said since Tuesday, 10 clients had cancelled bookings for trips during the six-week ban.
Six weeks with no income is hard to take and the four options the State Government has proposed for the future are no better. He told that it’s a shocker especially after we’ve just come through the biggest flood in recent history. Theodorou said the State Government had failed to consult the charter boat industry and at Monday night’s meetings operators were forced to shout above recreational anglers for the attention of Fisheries Queensland managing director Jim Groves.
The meetings also highlighted four options outlined in a Regulatory Impact Statement designed to overhaul the rules governing the recreational, charter and commercial fishing of snapper. Theodorou said charter boat operators would back the Liberal-National Party’s efforts this week to thwart the ban and fight the proposed four options for snapper fishing.
LNP Member for Cleveland Mark Robinson said the Government tried to sneak the ban into Queensland days before Christmas, to escape public attention and without parliamentary debate. He also said that the LNP disallowance motion ensures government MPs must now take notice of what their community is saying.
