As the first stage of review for closing of Queensland’s Gulf fishery completed the stakeholders are reminded to have their say on the discussion paper. Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries Gulf fishery manager Shane Hansford said there had already been a great response from the fishing community.
Hansford told that meetings were held in the Gulf in September to encourage people to raise issues they would like to see addressed in the next stage of the review, which will include a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) and Public Benefit Test. It is informed that the discussion paper will also have views of the people remain absent at the meetings. All the interested people get chance to respond.
It is told that the review covers key issues such as:
the barramundi spawning closure
fish bag and size limits
the structure and functioning of the commercial net fishery
reducing the potential for protected species interactions
regulated water declarations.
According to Hansford they are using the first stage of the review to develop proposed management options that will strengthen the viability of this fishery while ensuring a sustainable resource in the long term. He further said that these proposed management options will then be the subject of further public consultation in the first half of next year.
