Original story by Brian Williams, Sunday Mail
AMATEUR fishers have pledged to fight for as many green zones as possible to be opened to fishing after getting the go ahead from the State Government.
The move has been heavily criticised by University of Queensland ecologist and laureate fellow Hugh Possingham, who said research shows that green zones produced more and larger fish.
Sunfish chief executive Judy Lynne said it was not clear how much access would be sought but she had already received about 20 submissions – and the Mirapool green zone on Moreton Island was top of the list.
Green zones are the marine equivalent of national parks.
She said north Queensland and Great Sandy Marine Park fishers at Hervey Bay also opposed green zones in their areas.
National Parks Minister Steve Dickson announced during the Redcliffe by-election that recreational fishers could soon be able to fish at Scotts Point, Redcliffe, under a plan to change marine park zoning.
Premier Campbell Newman said he wanted to rezone 100m at Scotts Point to allow recreational fishing. It would become a special management area.
Mr Dickson has also called on fishermen to identify other green zones that they would like to fish.
“If there’s an area near you with good public access to the shoreline, where recreational fishing would have minimal impact on the environment, I urge you to tell your local MP,” he said.
The move has been heavily criticised by University of Queensland ecologist and laureate fellow Hugh Possingham, who said research showed that green zones produced more and larger fish.
“Larger fish have four to five times as many babies as fish half their size,” he said. “That’s why marine reserves are really good. It’s why recreational and professional fishers know to cluster at the edge of reserves because the fish they can catch there are much bigger than those in other areas.
“Opening up green zones defeats the purpose of fishers who want to catch more and bigger fish.”
Professor Possingham, who was on a scientific committee that helped determine bay zonings, called on Mr Dickson to reverse the decision.
Sunfish supported nursery areas being protected but believed many places that had been closed had little conservation value.
Ms Lynne said Sunfish supported nursery areas being protected but believed many places that had been closed had little conservation value.
Professor Possingham said recreational fishers already had ample fishing grounds, with access to 84 per cent of Moreton Bay.
Opening the beach at Scotts Point, it ensured fishers would be able to target species like whiting, flathead and bream in a prime area, leaving the rest of the zone as a protected area. This ensured the Government could say it had kept green zones even though critical areas were being fished.
Ms Lynne said Scott’s Point had no conservation value.
“We’re not prepared to accept that taking three or four fish has an impact,’’ she said.
Professor Possingham said the danger in recreational fishing was the cumulative impact which in some areas was so great that its take outweighed commercial fishing.
He said fishing in green zones had the potential to reduce positive results of protection.
A 2012 CSIRO Moreton Bay report says: “Although the new green zones have only been in place for approximately two years … the average biomass of snapper, spangled emperor, redthroat emperor, black spot tusk fish, Maori rock cod and goldspot wrasse all increased in the new green zones.
“Changes to the marine park are still new and many of these species are long-lived, therefore the responses of populations within the new green zones may take many years to become fully evident.’’
Professor Possingham said it was odd that the Government would remove protection when good results had appeared so fast.
He said arguments that green zones led to impacts on camping and fishing shops and reduced boat sales were incorrect given growth in the industry.
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