Gillnet ban: Compensation little comfort for North Queensland fishers

Multi-generational fishing families have been scuppered and North Queensland fishermen are unsure what do with their businesses. See the fallout from the gillnet ban.

Firmer details of a compensation package are little comfort to North Queensland fishermen and women who will be out of a job in the New Year.

Tully fisherman Michael Zonta has five boats, three licences and nearly $1 million invested in his business.

Unlike Mr Zonta’s father before him, Michael’s 10-year-old son won’t earn a living on the water.

“It’s not the money that bothers me. It’s the generational thing,” Mr Zonta said.

Gillnets, typically set in and around river mouths, will be phased out from December 31; the federal and state governments said the “tough but necessary” decision was to protect the Great Barrier Reef, as recommended by UNESCO.

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner has called the ban ‘tough but necessary’. Picture: David Clark

On Thursday Fisheries Minister Mark Furner announced a $90m compensation package to buy back active gillnet licences and provide three years’ worth of “ex-gratia” payments to fishers for the income they are set to lose.

It is part of a wider $185m joint-funding package between the state and federal governments to phase out gillnet fishing. The end of the industry was first announced in June.

The boundaries of the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area. By mid-2027, gillnet fishing will be illegal within the red lines, when the newly created ‘NX’ licences expire..

Mr Zonta received paperwork about compensation on Thursday but has not had time to assess his next steps.

The Tully fisherman said he had invested $250,000 in the past three years keeping his business going.

He sells various species to Cairns, Ingham, Sydney and to people around Tully.

“We’ve got one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world. There’s no way we would ever fish it out.”

Tully fisherman Michael Zonta.

Queensland Seafood Industry Association president Allan Bobbermen said there were many families in the same position as Mr Zonta’s, and details about compensation were still hard to nail down.

“It’s hard to ascertain how much you’re going to be paid out and when you’re going to be paid out,” he said.

“I’m still trying to get my head around it all.”

There are about 240 active gillnet licences in Queensland.

Several turtles were allegedly trapped in a gillnet at Louisa Creek, Hay Point, near Mackay. Picture: From footage contributed by Australian Marine Conservation Society

Gillnetting represents 2.6 per cent of the east coast wild-caught seafood harvest.

But gillnets represent 90 per cent of Mr Zonta’s operations. He will still be allowed to line fish out near the Reef, but that requires calm weather so is an unreliable source of income.

The state government has created 40 new tightly restricted ‘NX’ licences, which Mr Zonta will consider.

Environmental Minister Leanne Linard said threatened, endangered and protected species like dugongs, snubfin dolphins, turtles, sharks and sawfish can become entangled in gillnets and be injured or killed.

Fisheries Minister, Mr Furner said the investment to phase out the industry reflected the government’s commitment to a “sustainable fishing industry” and gave certainty to the commercial fishing industry.

Originally published as Gillnet ban: Compensation little comfort for North Queensland fishers