Commercial fishers up and down the coast are ringing the alarm bells after the Palaszczuk Labor Government released its plans to slash fishing quotas.
LNP Shadow Minster for Fisheries Tony Perrett and Hervey Bay MP Ted Sorensen met with local commercial fishers in Hervey Bay today to discuss the impacts of Labor’s draft quota on the region’s commercial fishing industry.
“Labor’s proposed changes to crab, trawl and inshore fishing quotas are failing not only commercial fishers but also the communities they support,” Mr Perrett said.
“These proposed changes have real world impacts as they immediately devalue licenses and make it harder for commercial fishers to make a living.
“Under the proposed changes, crab fishery allocations will receive between 40 to 68 per cent of their average catch resulting in an average of 30 to 60 per cent loss of income.
“We have heard testimonies from commercial fishers with decades of experience saying these changes will be the end of them.
“Many commercial fishers will be forced to leave the industry and lose their livelihoods.
“It’s shameful that Labor refuses to conduct an open and transparent regulatory impact statement – just like they did during the Vessel Monitoring System rollout.”
Hervey Bay MP Ted Sorensen said local commercial fishers had been left in the dark and were yet to be shown the justification, science, and rationale behind the quota changes.
“Queensland’s fisheries stocks are in great shape according to the 2018 Australian Fish Stocks Reports,” Mr Sorensen said.
“It’s time to put science and transparency into fisheries – Labor need to go back to the drawing board with these unfair quota allocations.
“Labor have an anti-fishing agenda and want to destroy Hervey Bay’s commercial fishing industry.
“Only the LNP will fight for the hard-working men and women in Queensland’s fisheries to save local jobs.”
