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

                                                                                       EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As part of the development of the Noosa River Management Plan, the Noosa Shire Council commissioned an
evidence based desktop study of the Noosa River, estuary and beach fisheries.

The purpose of the study was to provide Council with information on commercial fisheries active in the river,
estuary, lakes and beaches to better understand these activities, the current management arrangements that
regulate these activities and the recorded commercial fisheries catch history in the waterways from 2013 to
2018 for the T5 Beam Trawl Fishery, the K8 Ocean Beach Net Fishery and the N1 Net Fishery.

The information provided is sourced directly from local commercial fishers and other local stakeholders that
have a high level of interest in the Noosa River, estuary and beaches. From this information, the paper provides
a range of options for Council to consider that are considerate of short-term, medium-term and longer-term
priorities. The paper provides a pathway to implement these options that will afford Council the opportunity
to garner community and stakeholder support.

The paper uses spatial catch and effort data from Fisheries Queensland over a six-year period to validate the
commercial catch in the relevant fisheries.

The options are framed based on feedback from key stakeholder groups and can be achieved in the timeframes
outlined in the stakeholder engagement plan, which provides a pathway forward for Council to further engage
with the Noosa community and with key stakeholders assessed as high interest, high impact.

The short-term options emphasize the importance of ongoing engagement with the Queensland government
in the short-term cognisant of some key dates over the next 18 months in the local and state government
election cycles. The short-term options focus on some reforms for sustainable management of the N1 and K8
net fisheries in the river, lakes and beaches as well as consideration of a reallocation process for the T5 Beam
Trawl fishery. These reforms are based on information collected from local stakeholders.

The medium and longer-term options present Council with the opportunity to consider some of the bigger
picture issues that recognise the key features and natural assets of the region that are consistently listed as
the top four reasons for tourist visits to the Noosa region – the high conservation values of the Noosa national
park and beaches and the natural beauty and amenity of Noosa.




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