Meeting re: Coral Sea Closure

[Chris Ryan]

Hi all,

We have had word that a meeting with relevant Federal and possibly State Ministers on the proposal from Pew Charitable Trusts about the closure of the Coral Sea will be held in Cairns late April.

The closure will encompass a massive area, down as far as Coffs Harbour to Cape York from the Shelf to the Mainland. The word is Minister Garrett is seriously considering this as a positive thing.

So can I suggest the FNQ members need to get to this meeting in numbers if that is possible to let them know rec fisho's are against this 100%. If you guys want to mobilise for this, what help can we down here in the South do to support you?

Cheers,
Chris

[Wahoo]

Hi all,

We have had word that a meeting with relevant Federal and possibly State Ministers on the proposal from Pew Charitable Trusts about the closure of the Coral Sea will be held in Cairns late April.

The closure will encompass a massive area, down as far as Coffs Harbour to Cape York from the Shelf to the Mainland. The word is Minister Garrett is seriously considering this as a positive thing.

So can I suggest the FNQ members need to get to this meeting in numbers if that is possible to let them know rec fisho's are against this 100%. If you guys want to mobilise for this, what help can we down here in the South do to support you?

Cheers,
Chris

Chris, i really see this is never going to happen, ever, how much will the goverment lose in $$$$$, we will be talking billions, every thing from boat builders to whatever a boat needs, including fuel, i cant see them loseing this much $$$$ per year, well i hope im right, and yes i will be there, thanks for the heads up, maybe they have something up there sleave and using this as a decoy, like more reef closures,


Daz

[Blueroo]

Good on you Chris.
We need to support FNQ fishers. There should be no distinction between FNQ, Central Qld or SEQ fishers.
We all have a common foe and need to be unified to be strong.

It's easy to say the Coral Sea Closure will never happen but we are not the ones in power.

Garrott is, and by power I do mean POWER.

We need to stand up for ourselves.
We are all still sitting on the sideline and letting these idealistic idiot's rule our lives. While we sit here in our apathy these extreme green groups will just pick us off one by one.
The next thing will be be the banning of "fish" from the dictionary and the inclusion of "sea kittens".
Give me a break.
Stue

[Scott nthQld]

Do we have any proposed dates yet? I'll more than likely have to book up some leave because without a doubt they will be held midweek.

Also, for those in the know, where can I get economic and fishing impact information for the coral sea? Also tourist info regarding foreign tourists who come to Cairns exclusively for the Giant Black Marlin season, and they're economic contribution whilst they are here?

I've got a copy of PEW's submission, but if we are in for a fight, we need all the info we can get to rebutt the crock of shit they included.

It'll go ahead in one way or another, you can bet your life on it, thanks to the 'precautionary principle'. Its tantamount to a copper booking someone for speeding when they weren't, after all, they could speed at anytime.

[Chris Ryan]

Scott, the scuttlebutt is 28/29 April.

My thoughts are to get the locals up there, as well as us Southerners to write letters to the local MP's with our concerns.

Also I recommend getting some signs up around in people's houses and in the marine industry locations.

Let us know what else we can do.

[TheRealAndy]

I might be able to get up there for a day if there is going to be in public involvment.

[Bouttime]

They had better build some BIG jails because it will not stop me fishing.It is about time the goverment got the message enough is enough.

[TimiBoy]

Andy, I may be able to tag along too, but won't know for sure until the week before.

Who's got a spare bed or two up there?

Cheers,

Tim

[ozbee]

there aim will be for you to submit areas to stay open so they then close them and leave the barren areas open remember most of there info has come from 17 year old jcu uni students . best bet is object but keep your bloody mouth shut about locations . they really dont know jack shit and is best to keep it that way

[Scott nthQld]

Graham, they're not trying to get new zoning like the GBR, they're trying to close the whole damn thing.

28/29 April would be highly doubtful I could get time off work, the last week of the month is our busiest, and its very rare that leave is given during that time. I'll have to see what work we've got on first.

[ozbee]

i know where your coming from Scott its not that im objecting that's why i say object but with my dealings , with bodies like epa , national parks ,state forrest there is always a underlining plan usually for expansion of control( hence management) between bodies because there's $$$$$ there so even though the meeting may seem absurd they know there not going to get 100% as the policies will not get pass parliament but its the interpretation of policies by head bureaucrats of GRMPA , world heritage , wet tropics etc which unfortunately are not entirely under total Australian control in fact 2 per board are from genva . why you must say it is because they are the represented body for our lovely banana republic we have . they underneath have a say because it is the loan guarantee for foreign funds as Australia does no longer have gold as a standard for default. have you ever noticed that when a government also state wants to borrow funds soon after its quite common for old state forests to be converted to national parks . looks good for voters but really is just a way of hiding the mortgage. grmpa is much the same but is the guarantee for federal funds if we all go bust. rudd is borrowing all this money. did you expect the world would give it to him with no guarantee . expect more silly announcements as we spend our way out . the good old labour days are back.

[ryeham]

Providing work doesn't get in the way I'll be there....this is a cluster**** aimed at screwing rec fishers.

I have a couple of rooms spare if people need them however my work timetable on those big govt grey boats may changes plans at short notice.

Cheers.

[Black_Rat]

Now i'm based in Townsville untill the end of May and would be more than happy to drive the 5 hrs up to Cairns to make some noise !

I'll keep an eye on this thred for dates.

Damo.

[TimiBoy]

Having read the proposal, I have a couple of queries someone on here may be able to help with.

The map shows the intended area to be roughly 1770 up, and outside of the GBRMP, ie. a long way offshore.

They state that very little commercial activity, including Charter Operations work in the area. Is that true? We need to understand the Commercial Implications, I would hope the Pros and Charter folks are doing that work.

Do any Rec's go that far? Why?

I ask these questions simply because other than it being an issue of "if we give them this, what's next?" and "Rec Anglers just don't have an impact, the science is flawed", why should we oppose it?

Maybe, just maybe, this is something we should be supporting? Given that it has little if any direct impact on Recreational Fishing, being so far offshore, we could very adequately demonstrate our Brown Credentials by getting behind it...

I'm just throwing the idea out there, this is not my position, so don't start yelling at me!!!

Cheers,

Tim

[TheRealAndy]

Having read the proposal, I have a couple of queries someone on here may be able to help with.

The map shows the intended area to be roughly 1770 up, and outside of the GBRMP, ie. a long way offshore.

They state that very little commercial activity, including Charter Operations work in the area. Is that true? We need to understand the Commercial Implications, I would hope the Pros and Charter folks are doing that work.

Do any Rec's go that far? Why?

I ask these questions simply because other than it being an issue of "if we give them this, what's next?" and "Rec Anglers just don't have an impact, the science is flawed", why should we oppose it?

Maybe, just maybe, this is something we should be supporting? Given that it has little if any direct impact on Recreational Fishing, being so far offshore, we could very adequately demonstrate our Brown Credentials by getting behind it...

I'm just throwing the idea out there, this is not my position, so don't start yelling at me!!!

Cheers,

Tim

I think if it were to go ahead, its sets a precedent for these green groups. The science needs to be valid, for this very reason alone it should be opposed.