Fishing industry to meet minister and urge rethink of snapper fishing ban
Groups representing anglers and fishing businesses will meet the fisheries minister today, urging him to reconsider a snapper ban they say will devastate their industry.
Key stakeholders in the state’s snapper fishery will urge the State Government to reconsider imposing a three-year ban on fishing for snapper.
Groups representing fishing tackle retailers and manufacturers, recreational and professional anglers and small businesses will meet Fisheries Minister Tim Whetstone to discuss the impact the controversial move would have on the state, which they argue will be devastating.
Australian Fishing Tackle Association (AFTA) chairman Bob Baldwin, who retired as a federal Liberal minister in 2016, said his board and members were “strongly advocating for reason and commonsense to prevail’’.
“They understand the snapper stocks in SA are in a very dire position, that there has been a failure to manage the fishery over a long period of time, but we also need to recognise that businesses need the opportunity to stay in business,’’ he said.
The State Government has proposed two drastic options to protect dwindling snapper stocks — a statewide closure for three years, or a closure for all waters except those in the South-East for a restricted period for the next three years.
It will select one option that will start on October 1 in the first week of September, after considering public submissions on the proposals, which can be submitted until August 30.
There has been widespread concern from all sectors that rely on snapper fishing, including the charter boat industry, marine dealers and country business operators who rely on summer fishing tourism.
The Opposition has called for an urgent review of the science used to prompt the proposed bans amid fears over its accuracy and the likely impact a ban will have on small businesses and regional tourism. Mr Whetstone, who initiated Friday’s meetings, said the severity of the situation concerning snapper stocks “has left me with no option but to make a hard decision to ensure’’ the sustainability of the fishery into the future.
“As a person who lives in the regions, a keen recreational fisher and a lover of premium South Australian produce, I know that there will be impacts of any action taken to protect snapper stocks,” he said. “However, unlike the previous Labor Government, we will not take a back seat and just watch the snapper stocks decline.” He said he had been working closely with the fishing sectors and peak bodies to discuss government and industry collaboration.
Besides AFTA, other stakeholders including the Marine Fishers Association (MFA), the Charter Boat Owners Association and recreational fishing representatives will also meet Mr Whetstone.
Mr Baldwin said there needed to be discussion about the future of the fishery before final decisions were made by the Government.
“That is about all opportunities to see recovery in the fish stocks and to be able to keep sustainability in the recreational fishing industry,’’ he said.
“We want to minimise the damage to the industry and the businesses. It is not just the fishing tackle shops; the flow-on effects from this can be through tourism operators, hotels and accommodation. The multiplier effect of recreational fishing is massive.”
Charters Boat Owners Association spokesman Gary Lloyd said the meeting was his sector’s “last chance’’ to put its case forward. “We hope we will get a good hearing out of it,” he said. MFA president Craig Fletcher said the meeting would discuss the two closure options to gauge if they were flexible “to keep the industry functioning in a sustainable manner until further science on spawning was available.’’
SA Fishing Alliance spokesman Graham Keegan, who is also chairman of the Minister’s Recreational Fishing Advisory Committee, said he welcomed the meeting.
Their submission will include a closed season from October 1 to January 1 to allow aggregated snapper schools more time to spawn, rather than the total closures.
Supplementary measures included reducing recreational bag limits by more than half for three months once the extended closed season opened, banning professional fishing for snapper for three months when the season open and extra funding for research.
Public submissions can be made at www.yourSAy.sa.gov.au/snapper