jaybee
09-08-2004, 06:23 PM
ABC News
Last Update: Wednesday, August 4, 2004. 11:19am (AEST
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) says rotational fishing closures would not protect the biodiversity of the reef.
The head of Queensland's Seafood Marketers Association, Sid McKeown, has called for temporary rather than permanent closures to fishing areas, after calculating the impact of the rezoning on the banana prawn take.
He says 60 per cent of his banana prawn supplies come from areas now closed and those areas would only need to be open three months a year to improve the take.
But GBRMPA's Bruce Kingston says that would be similar to opening up national parks to logging.
"You do not log your national parks every five years and there is a good reason for that," he said.
"People want those parks left in a relatively pristine state to enjoy them and that is what the green zones are about."
Mr Kingston says it is impossible to maintain parts of the marine park in a pristine state if trawling is allowed.
"There have been a number of CSIRO studies that show that the impacts on the bottom communities by trawling are quite substantial," he said.
"So again you cannot have someone doing what can be seen as a relatively destructive fishing practice in an area that you might see as a national park in water."
Last Update: Wednesday, August 4, 2004. 11:19am (AEST
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) says rotational fishing closures would not protect the biodiversity of the reef.
The head of Queensland's Seafood Marketers Association, Sid McKeown, has called for temporary rather than permanent closures to fishing areas, after calculating the impact of the rezoning on the banana prawn take.
He says 60 per cent of his banana prawn supplies come from areas now closed and those areas would only need to be open three months a year to improve the take.
But GBRMPA's Bruce Kingston says that would be similar to opening up national parks to logging.
"You do not log your national parks every five years and there is a good reason for that," he said.
"People want those parks left in a relatively pristine state to enjoy them and that is what the green zones are about."
Mr Kingston says it is impossible to maintain parts of the marine park in a pristine state if trawling is allowed.
"There have been a number of CSIRO studies that show that the impacts on the bottom communities by trawling are quite substantial," he said.
"So again you cannot have someone doing what can be seen as a relatively destructive fishing practice in an area that you might see as a national park in water."