jaybee
10-09-2003, 03:28 PM
Posted: Tue, 9 Sept 2003 8:10 AEST
Commercial fishermen say they will not be backing down over demands for compensation after the introduction of a tough new Great Barrier Reef fishing management plan.
Commercial licences will be slashed from 1,700 to fewer than 400 under the plan, to be phased in later this year.
Queensland Seafood Industry Association president John Olson says compensation will not be required in every case, but the State Government will have to accept some responsibility.
"There's a need for the fisheries to be restructured along with the incredibly difficult decisions being handed down by Government, so it is going to take us a while and that is the big one to get over...I'd like to think the government is going to show responsibility for the fishery as well as for their actions," he said.
Commercial fishermen say they will not be backing down over demands for compensation after the introduction of a tough new Great Barrier Reef fishing management plan.
Commercial licences will be slashed from 1,700 to fewer than 400 under the plan, to be phased in later this year.
Queensland Seafood Industry Association president John Olson says compensation will not be required in every case, but the State Government will have to accept some responsibility.
"There's a need for the fisheries to be restructured along with the incredibly difficult decisions being handed down by Government, so it is going to take us a while and that is the big one to get over...I'd like to think the government is going to show responsibility for the fishery as well as for their actions," he said.