kc
01-09-2005, 09:52 AM
The Fishing Party (Qld)
Branch Office PO Box 1311 Airlie Beach QLD 4802
ABN : 36 733 771 800
Contact Ph. 49464 260 (H) 0414 785 462 (W)
Email : kc@whitsunday.net.au
Press Release
1st September 05
Weapons of Fish Destruction! Is this another bureaucratic con job?
Much has been made in recent days about the compensation costs to taxpayers of the controversial fishing bans on the Great Barrier Reef.
When the Greenie Managed Marine Park Authority proposed the reef closures they pushed through their proposal by telling us that the compensation costs would be no more than $2.5M.
Now we now have clear acknowledgment that it will cost taxpayers more than $60M and an expectation from Government sources say that the cost will in fact exceed $100M. Did GBRMPA get it so wrong or were they out to deceive the public to push through their unpopular closures?
Fishing Party (Qld) chairman, Kevin Collins is adamant that this was a snow job from the very beginning.
“Trot out a few sporting superstars, spend a fortune on a multi media campaign all aimed at telling us the sky is falling and people believed it. The Reef is not in great danger – from a few anglers on weekends going out to the close in reefs. ”
“The same lies are still being trotted out as fact in many media circles when a cold hard look at the evidence does not and has never supported the GBRMPA position that the evils of recreational fishing are destroying the Great Barrier Reef.”
“The vast majority of the GBR is pristine, protected by size, distance and in relative terms a very small population.” “Any comparison to sustainable international fisheries exposes the shame of the overfishing myth perpetuated by GBRMPA and yet our fish shops are now filled with Nile Perch, dozens of imported “things”, usually called cod or perch and all in the name of “saving” the Great Barrier Reef.”
“The combined commercial and recreational catch on the GBR is roughly 17kg per square kilometre per year, compared with similar reef systems internationally which sustain catch rates of 7,700kg per square kilometre per year.” “Of the approx 70,000 recreational vessels registered in the reef region, these boats, not all of which are fishing boats, nor by any means are they all capable of accessing the reef have, in effect an available area of some 6 square kilometres each, and that would assume they all go fishing 365 days a year.”
“In a nut shell, the public has been conned, again, they have ruined an industry, effected the lifestyle of countless NQ families, spent a fortune in taxpayer funds doing it, with lots more now to follow, and all in the name being seen to be green and growing there own importance and no doubt operating budget so they alone can stop the sky from falling”, said Collins.
A review of the GBRMPA has recently been announced which will investigate, in its terms of reference the actions of its office holders and its accountability frameworks.
ENDS
Media Contact Kevin Collins 0414 785 462
Branch Office PO Box 1311 Airlie Beach QLD 4802
ABN : 36 733 771 800
Contact Ph. 49464 260 (H) 0414 785 462 (W)
Email : kc@whitsunday.net.au
Press Release
1st September 05
Weapons of Fish Destruction! Is this another bureaucratic con job?
Much has been made in recent days about the compensation costs to taxpayers of the controversial fishing bans on the Great Barrier Reef.
When the Greenie Managed Marine Park Authority proposed the reef closures they pushed through their proposal by telling us that the compensation costs would be no more than $2.5M.
Now we now have clear acknowledgment that it will cost taxpayers more than $60M and an expectation from Government sources say that the cost will in fact exceed $100M. Did GBRMPA get it so wrong or were they out to deceive the public to push through their unpopular closures?
Fishing Party (Qld) chairman, Kevin Collins is adamant that this was a snow job from the very beginning.
“Trot out a few sporting superstars, spend a fortune on a multi media campaign all aimed at telling us the sky is falling and people believed it. The Reef is not in great danger – from a few anglers on weekends going out to the close in reefs. ”
“The same lies are still being trotted out as fact in many media circles when a cold hard look at the evidence does not and has never supported the GBRMPA position that the evils of recreational fishing are destroying the Great Barrier Reef.”
“The vast majority of the GBR is pristine, protected by size, distance and in relative terms a very small population.” “Any comparison to sustainable international fisheries exposes the shame of the overfishing myth perpetuated by GBRMPA and yet our fish shops are now filled with Nile Perch, dozens of imported “things”, usually called cod or perch and all in the name of “saving” the Great Barrier Reef.”
“The combined commercial and recreational catch on the GBR is roughly 17kg per square kilometre per year, compared with similar reef systems internationally which sustain catch rates of 7,700kg per square kilometre per year.” “Of the approx 70,000 recreational vessels registered in the reef region, these boats, not all of which are fishing boats, nor by any means are they all capable of accessing the reef have, in effect an available area of some 6 square kilometres each, and that would assume they all go fishing 365 days a year.”
“In a nut shell, the public has been conned, again, they have ruined an industry, effected the lifestyle of countless NQ families, spent a fortune in taxpayer funds doing it, with lots more now to follow, and all in the name being seen to be green and growing there own importance and no doubt operating budget so they alone can stop the sky from falling”, said Collins.
A review of the GBRMPA has recently been announced which will investigate, in its terms of reference the actions of its office holders and its accountability frameworks.
ENDS
Media Contact Kevin Collins 0414 785 462