jaybee
26-11-2003, 05:02 PM
Recreational fishing lobby group Sunfish claims the Representative Areas Program used to develop plans to increase protection levels on the Great Barrier Reef to more than 30 per cent has been little more than a political stunt.
Sunfish north Queensland president, Brian Pickup, says maps of the proposed re-zoning shown to recreational and commercial fishing groups differ greatly to those shown to environmental groups.
Mr Pickup says there is too much conflicting information for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to have developed the re-zoning plan properly.
"When we saw the map on the 17th of October it only had one green zone in Bowling Green Bay," he said.
"And we're now led to believe that there is a further proposal to put an additional green zone in there as well, which is totally unacceptable to both recreational and commercial fishers of that area."
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority says it has been up-front about each step of its process to re-zone the reef despite claims from local fishers that it is playing politics.
The Authority's Bruce Kingston says it is obvious the maps were changed over time to reflect the needs of all reef users.
Mr Kingston says the Authority made it clear maps would be adjusted and updated during the drafting of the final plan.
"They're absolutely correct," he said.
"We had a number of options and over a period of consultations... different people would have seen a number of different options for zoning, possibilities in Bowling Green Bay, so I fail to see that there's any problem attached to that."
Posted: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:09am AEST
Sunfish north Queensland president, Brian Pickup, says maps of the proposed re-zoning shown to recreational and commercial fishing groups differ greatly to those shown to environmental groups.
Mr Pickup says there is too much conflicting information for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to have developed the re-zoning plan properly.
"When we saw the map on the 17th of October it only had one green zone in Bowling Green Bay," he said.
"And we're now led to believe that there is a further proposal to put an additional green zone in there as well, which is totally unacceptable to both recreational and commercial fishers of that area."
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority says it has been up-front about each step of its process to re-zone the reef despite claims from local fishers that it is playing politics.
The Authority's Bruce Kingston says it is obvious the maps were changed over time to reflect the needs of all reef users.
Mr Kingston says the Authority made it clear maps would be adjusted and updated during the drafting of the final plan.
"They're absolutely correct," he said.
"We had a number of options and over a period of consultations... different people would have seen a number of different options for zoning, possibilities in Bowling Green Bay, so I fail to see that there's any problem attached to that."
Posted: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:09am AEST