2018-12-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                11 DECEMBER 2018


L.    That Council has particular concerns for the potential environmental impact of prawn beam
      trawling in the Noosa River system and therefore requests that the Department of Agriculture
      & Fisheries give consideration to whether prawn beam trawling is having an adverse impact
      on the marine environment in the Noosa River, particularly the river floor and seagrass beds,
      thus adversely impacting on overall biodiversity, and further consider whether appropriate
      licenses should be bought back or at least not renewed; and
M.    Council requests that the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries give consideration to one or
      more total fishing exclusion zones at specific sites to allow replenishment of overall
      biodiversity and Council would commit to working in partnership with the State Government
      on a process to achieve this outcome including community and industry engagement plus
      consultation with appropriate researchers; and
N.    Council requests the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries give consideration to the
      reduction in bag limits for recreational fishing.


Finance
There is currently no budget allocation for the development of a Sustainable Fisheries
Management Issues and Cost Benefit Paper within current budgets. Given the specialised nature
of this issue, especially with regard to complex multi-agency management options, external
expertise will be required to assist in the development of the paper.
Given the desire to have the paper completed to support development of the Noosa River Plan
and to advance discussions with the State government around their fisheries reforms in early 2019,
there is some priority to complete this work this financial year. It is estimated the consultancy cost
of undertaking this work will be approximately $30-50,000. An Outside of Budget Funding Request
will be submitted to the Executive team for consideration. If endorsed by Council, a full scope of
this work will be prepared and tested with experts to refine the cost.
Risks & Opportunities
The opportunity for Council to provide clear and evidence-based input into the current State
Fisheries reform process, and specifically the proposed Harvest Strategies being developed and
consulted on in early 2019, is now. The development of a Fisheries Future Paper will inform the
final Noosa River Plan and Environment Strategy.
It will be important to ensure adequate and appropriate engagement with stakeholders occurs on
the implementation actions resulting from this piece of work.
Consultation
External Consultation - Community & Stakeholder
Nil. Council can use this paper as the basis for more specific stakeholder consultation on the
subject matter.

Internal Consultation
Director, Environment & Sustainable Development
Councillors




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