2019-07-18 OM Agenda - Item 1 - Attachment 1 - Noosa Fishing Futures

                                                               SHORT-TERM OPTION ONE
     NOOSA COUNCIL MAKES A SUBMISSION TO THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT’S DISCUSSION PAPER
               ON FUTURE HARVEST STRATEGIES TO BE RELEASED SOMETIME IN MAY OR JUNE 2019


 For the following options, where possible, costs, benefits and risks of the various options are assessed
   based on available specific data and information, or quantitative estimates, while some are more
                     qualitative, based on stakeholder consultation and feedback.


In January 2019, the Queensland Government under their Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017-2027 released a
Fisheries Directions Paper to outline the proposed direction of their future fisheries management reforms.
Then in March, Fisheries Queensland sent out to commercial fishers a Draft Allocation Approach Discussion
Paper for the East Coast Inshore Fishery seeking feedback from fishers to have their say on the preferred
management framework of a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) and Individual Transferable Quota
(ITQ). Fishers had until the 26th April to provide a response. This information will be used to inform a further
Discussion Paper to be released sometime in May or June on the Government’s proposed regulatory changes
based on feedback from fishers and stakeholders. Any subsequent regulatory changes will be completed by
the 1st September 2019. This is an important opportunity for the Noosa Council to continue to engage in the
short-term with the Queensland Government and to provide the Government with an update on the findings
of this paper.

                     PROHIBIT THE USE OF 1,500M NET IN LAKES COOTHARABA, COOROIBAH AND WEYBA
                                 Division 4 - Use of mesh or seine nets in particular areas within the fishery area.
          Section 474 - A mesh net may be used in Lake Cootharaba, Cooroibah or Weyba only if it is no longer than
                                           1,500m and has a mesh size of at least 50mm but no more than 175mm.

The Fisheries Regulations 2008 provides for the holder of an N1 symbol to use up to 1500 metres of net in Lakes
Cootharaba, Cooroibah and Weyba. There are no other provisions in the Queensland Fisheries Regulations
that allow for the use of this length of net. The areas are habitat for commercial, recreational and Indigenous
fisheries including bass, bream, blue salmon, estuary cod, flathead, garfish, jewfish, luderick, mangrove jack,
sea mullet, tailor, whiting, mud and sand crabs, school, greasyback, bay and eastern king prawns13. Feedback
from fishers notes a fisher must shoot and haul the net (cannot soak the net14). Local fishers indicate there are
several N1 fishers currently using this length of net in the lakes. Under current fisheries management
arrangements anyone with an N1 can access the lakes for commercial fishing and there are currently 86 N1
symbol holders with access to the fishery. There are a variety of views put forward by stakeholders including
commercial net fishers, regarding possible changes to the management arrangements for the lakes including;

         No change;
         Reduce the net length to 800m or 600m;
         Restrict the number of fishers on the lakes and rivers to the fishers with ten or more years of recorded
          catch history in the lakes; and,
         Prohibit the use of all nets in the Lakes.




13
     https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/managing/area-summaries/noosa.html

14
  Soak times, defined as the time elapsed from when the first of the mesh net is deployed into the water
until the net is fully retrieved from the water.

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