Just a quick touch on Tunamans comments. It is not just the lock-outs which are the problem. It is the specific areas targeted and even more importantly the enourmous multi-media PR campaign which goes hand in glove with the rezoning.
While really only having the GBR rezoning to use as a benchmark (just as the green lobby are using the GBR rezoning as a benchmark)
* TV/Radio/Print media campign aimed at convicing the general public. Particularly the Non Fishing public that the sky is falling and it is all the fault of the dirty rotten fisherman.
* Teach our kids that fishing is bad for the environment.
* Make us feel guilty because we like to go fishing
* Lots of publicity (public shaming) of anyone caught breaching the laws (regardless of honest mistakes) & the criminality of the breaches (A breach of a GBR zoning law results in a court case and mandatory criminal conviction as well as a substantial fine.....all for what should really be a "parking ticket").
These factors combine to produce up to a 42% drop out rate in participation in recreational fishing (Qld DPI figures).
Fishing along the GBR coast has become more of a stress than a relaxation. That is what is looking over your shoulder in Moreton Bay.
All this could be avoided with management regimes which specifically target any overfishing or even potential overfishing issues.
1. Identify the fisheries issues and species health/breeding dynamics and sustainable harvest.
2. Adjust recreational harvest to sustainable levels using accepted norms such as bag limits, slot sizing and closed spawning seasons Where NEEDED.
3. Remove any unsustainable fishing activities......and clearly we have problems with inshore beam & otterboard trawl as a potential flashpoint.
4. Provide TAC quotas on all commercial fisheries, again based on sustainablity.
DON'T JUST LOCK US OUT & THROW AWAY THE KEY.
That is not "management" it is exclusionism..they are our parks too, not just the greens.
KC