2019-07-18 Ordinary Meeting Agenda

ORDINARY MEETING AGENDA                                                                   18 JULY 2019


7     ORDINARY MEETING REPORTS


1     NOOSA FISHING FUTURES

Author            Craig Doolan, Environment Services Manager
                  Environmental & Sustainable Development Department

Index             ECM/ Subject / 63.03 Waterways Management - Noosa River

Attachments       1.    Noosa Fishing Futures – report on options for sustainable fisheries
                        management of the Noosa River, estuary and beaches (44 page
                        attachment provided separately to this agenda)
                  2.    Queensland Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Discussion paper:
                        Proposed amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 (27 page
                        attachment provided separately to this agenda)
                  3.    Noosa Council submission to the Queensland Government Discussion
                        Paper: Proposed amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 (8 page
                        attachment provided separately to this agenda)


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides Council with the findings and final report undertaken as part of the development
of the Noosa River Plan on commercial fishing in the Noosa River and surrounds, entitled Noosa
Fishing Futures options paper. The Noosa Fishing Futures options paper is intended to both inform
the next version of the Noosa River Plan, for further consultation with the community, and as the
basis for Council submission into the current State Government fishing reform process. It specifically
forms the basis of Council’s proposed submission to the Queensland Department of Agriculture &
Fisheries, Discussion paper: Proposed amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Environment Services Manager to the Ordinary Meeting dated
18 July 2018 and;
A.    Note the Noosa Fishing Futures paper (Attachment 1) as a key input into the next draft of the
      Noosa River Plan and as the basis for Council’s input into the current State reform process of
      fisheries management; and
B.    Provide a submission to the Queensland Government on their Discussion Paper: Proposed
      amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 as provided at Attachment 3.

REPORT
Background
Feedback to the Draft Noosa River Plan, released for public comment in August 2018, and other
local feedback over a long period, has raised concerns over declines in biodiversity in the Noosa
River, estuaries and coastal areas. In 2015, Council funded a research paper by Dr Ruth Thurstan
of the University of Queensland. Entitled Historical ecology of the Noosa Estuary fisheries, it used
historical, scientific and anecdotal evidence to confirm a decline in biodiversity in the river across the
twentieth century.
The paper did not attribute causes, and it is likely multiple factors have been at play in these long-
term declines. In February 2019 a Milestone Report by Dr Greg Skilleter was released, the interim
results of a study of benthic invertebrates in the Noosa River. Following on from a baseline 20 years
earlier, Assessment of the status and options for recovery of prawns & estuarine biodiversity in the

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