Trying to get this problem resolved by January 1 will take a Christmas miracle

IT WILL take a Christmas miracle for the NT government to resolve a fisho fiasco unleashed by the Northern Land Council this week

• Fishing turmoil over NLC permit decision

THERE were handshakes and celebrations all around when the Northern Land Council announced a little over a week ago that there would be permit-free fishing in the Territory until 2022.

It was announced on December 11 that its Full Council had approved the granting of two-years’ access for recreational and commercial fishers to Aboriginal tidal waters in the Northern Territory.

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The importance of access to Aboriginal waters for Territory fishermen, both commercial and recreational, cannot be understated. But confusion now reigns, and fishermen and the NT government are unclear about what seems to be a change in the agreement as they understood it.

Under the new arrangements, recreational fishers and fishing tour operators were told by the NLC they would be granted the two-year access permission upon registration with the NLC. A public notice in this newspaper on Friday announcing conditions of access to tidal waters on Aboriginal land in the NLC region from January 1 makes clear reference to the need for permits.

So what happened to the commitment to permit-free fishing? As usual, the devil seems to be in the detail.

On December 11, NLC CEO Marion Scrymgour said wide-ranging consultations had been held with traditional owners since July, and further consultations would be required with some groups.

She then went on to say: “This may result in varied access conditions for their estates.”

We now seem to be seeing the full extent of what that means, with large sections of the NT coastline off limits to recreational and commercial fishermen from January 1.

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The NT government has precious little time to clear this confusion up before January 1.

Tomorrow is Christmas week, and we all know what usually happens within the bureaucracy in that week. Nothing. Well, nothing but office parties and Christmas shopping.

Trying to get this problem resolved by January 1 will take a Christmas miracle.

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