How ‘insane’ QLD fishing laws could raise the price of seafood

Commercial fishers have slammed new QLD laws they say will cripple the industry and increase the price of seafood. Others want more legislation. What you need to know.

Mackay Reef Fish Supplies owner David Caracciolo says commercial fishers are already walking away from the industry after the introduction of more legislation.

New fishing rules seven years in the making are being blasted as “insane” and the “last nail in the coffin” for commercial Queensland fishers.

The new harvest strategies bringing the state’s total to 15 include commercial operators having to report bycatch discarded back into the ocean for the first time.

Mackay Fish Market owner David Caracciolo said the laws — affecting the mud crab, east coast inshore, trawl fin fish fisheries and more — were “ridiculous” and hastily rolled-out.

Mackay Reef Fish Supplies owner David Caracciolo says commercial fishers are the Queensland Government’s ‘scapegoats’ with the industry facing uphill battles with increasing legislation.

“At midnight every night, (commercial fishers) have to report their catch in before they start fishing the next day,” Mr Caracciolo said.

“Things have to be telephoned in at midnight, paperwork’s got to be done on the boat.

“These guys are in boats 14 to 20 feet (4.2m to 6m) long, in the oceans or the creeks or whatever, operating in blowing winds, rain, all that sort of stuff.

“Products have to be weighed at a designated point at a landing point or a boat ramp approved by Fisheries.

“They’ve just made it that difficult for fishermen to operate under that they’ll exit the industry voluntarily.”

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said there would be a transitional period until December 31 with the department focusing on education to help fishers adjust.

“Enforcement action may be taken, however, in the case of intentional, repeated or serious noncompliance,” Mr Furner said.

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner with Ian Hamilton from Aussie Seafood House in Lawnton. Picture: Richard Walker

Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Simon Miller said the rules also set new catch limits for barramundi, crabs and prawns among other species for both commercial and recreational fishers.

“At the moment, there’s no reporting requirements for recreational fishers, there’s just bag limits and size limits,” the fishing spokesman said.

Mr Miller explained catch quotas were localised to different regions; for example, if Mackay’s barramundi levels stooped, the catch limit would be reduced accordingly, and vice versa.

He said the majority of Queensland’s “table” fish were nearing target sustainability levels while other species such as scallops, snapper and pearl perch were in a “bad place”.

Queensland's new fishing reforms came into effect on Wednesday, September 1, 2021. Picture: James Sherwood, Bluebottle Films

He welcomed the new strategies but said the government must support small-scale fishers for whom the majority were responsible stewards of the ocean.

He also said more needed to be done for Queensland to become the “gold standard” of sustainable fishing, pushing for cameras on boats particularly in higher-risk gill net and trawl fisheries.

Mr Miller said the AMCS also wanted temporary halts on gillnet fishing if and when too many protected species were caught — such as dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sawfish — to allow populations to recover.

“It’s vitally important we protect these species,” Mr Miller said.

Mr Caracciolo said the suggestions were “totally ridiculous” with gillnetters attending their nets “all the time”, adding shark populations were thriving and he could not recall the last time a commercial fisher interacted with a dugong.

Mackay Reef Fish Market owner David Caracciolo says localised catch quotas would just force commercial fishers to move further and further away and eventually the industry will collapse. Picture: Heidi Petith

He further slammed the catch quotas as a “total minefield”, “hinged on discrimination” and introduced for political appeasement.

“We’re just totally under the belief that the commercial sector is the one that is the scapegoat and we’re the ones that are penalised,” Mr Caracciolo said.

“People who are going to suffer out there besides the fishers is the market, the consumers.

“If they do have wild caught fish, it’ll be that expensive they won’t be able to touch it.

Mr Caracciolo said he expected seafood prices to rise by about 30 per cent, forcing consumers to either buy less, choose cheaper alternatives or switch out to beef or chicken instead.

“We‘re certainly concerned,” he said.

“It’ll increase imports, that’s what’s going to happen.

“We’ve got the third biggest ocean mass in the world and we’ve got the smallest fishing industry.”

For more on the new harvest strategies, head to the Fisheries website.

And if you would like to have your say on the new rules, email [e-mail] with a letter to the editor.