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Local Seafood Supply at Risk from more Marine Park closures Queenslanders love seafood and the best seafood is local Queensland seafood. You can help our local seafood industry by sending a message to Environment Minister Peter Garrett, Federal Fisheries Minister Tony Burke, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Queensland Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin – that you and future generations want to be able to continue to access local Queensland seafood. This supply of local seafood is at risk from new marine parks being developed in waters right around the coast of Queensland. This letter is also being cc'd to Federal Queensland MP's and Candidates. To send this letter to the Prime Minister go to: pm.gov.au and copy the text into the Comments section. To: Hon Peter Garrett AM MP Hon Anna Bligh Hon Tim Mulherin MP Re: Access to local supply of seafood at risk! As a seafood consumer I am concerned at the continuing loss of access to local seafood through closures to commercial fishing. No comparable region in the world has a greater percentage of its adjacent seas closed to commercial fishing than Queensland - through the Australian Government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and the Queensland Government's complementary Great Barrier Reef Coastal Marine Park, as well as Moreton Bay Marine Park, Great Sandy Marine Park and numerous other inshore closures. And now the current marine bioregional planning process further puts at risk the continued supply of local seafood to consumers. I understand that Queensland's commercial fisheries are accredited as sustainable under the Australian Government's Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, that Queensland and Australia are recognized as world leaders in fisheries management, and that Queensland already has a higher percentage of waters adjacent to a developed coastline protected as Marine Parks than any other comparable region on the planet. As one of the 90 per cent of Queenslanders who rely on professional fishermen to harvest some or all of my seafood requirements, I request that no further areas be closed to those professional fishermen harvesting seafood on my behalf. I am aware that your Governments are under pressure to impose even more restrictions on the areas, techniques and species that are currently accessed on behalf of Queensland seafood consumers, and respectfully request that you protect my existing access to wild caught Queensland seafood by resisting such pressure. Yours sincerely |