| Moreton Bay Marine Park Zoning Plan |
Send a Message to the PremierTo send a message to the Premier, that you support Moreton Bay fishing families, simply fill out the form below and take action! To contribute to the Moreton Bay fighting fund, simply contact the QSIA on 3262 6855 or send your donations to: PO Box 392 To: Hon Anna Bligh, MP Premier PO Box 15185 City East Q 4002 CC: Hon Tim Mulherin, MP Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries GPO Box 46 BRISBANE QLD 4001 CC: Hon Andrew McNamara, MP Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation PO Box 15155 City East QLD 4002 Dear Premier Continued access to local Moreton Bay seafood is at risk. I believe the Moreton Bay Marine Park Zoning Plan by the EPA will put fishers out of business and supplies of local seafood will diminish. The reason for this is that, under the Plan, fishers who remain after a buyout of licences will be forced into too small an area to be profitable. The EPA is taking a sustainable fishery and making it financially unsustainable. EPA will move on and leave a problem for fisheries managers. The basic problem is that EPA is trying to do it on the cheap – shut the maximum area to fishing at the least possible cost. The funds being made available by EPA are simply not enough to relative to the fishing grounds being closed. Not enough fishers’ licences will be able to be bought out, and so too many remaining fishers will forced to compete in too small an area once the closures have been implemented. Family businesses will be destroyed – both on the water and in dependent onshore industry – and jobs lost right around the Bay. I urge you as Premier of Queensland to provide fishing families with certainty so their industry can thrive and remain profitable whilst ensuring Queenslanders continue to have access to our local seafood now and into the future. I believe what needs to be done is: - More money be provided by EPA for a buyout of more licences through a proper business restructure/exit package; - Funds be provided for non-owner fishing vessel skippers and for deckhands impacted by the new fishing closures; - Provision be included for impacted onshore businesses and their employees. I support fishing families in Moreton Bay and wish to convey to you my support for them during this uncertain time. I understand fishers with generations of experience in Moreton Bay believe the present Plan will ruin the lives of both those who choose to go and those who remain if it proceeds. I am also concerned that I will no longer be able to buy fresh healthy seafood from the Moreton Bay area. I urge your Government not to rush through the current Plan but to provide a properly funded business restructure package for fishing families and related businesses. Yours sincerely |
