The long awaited release of the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) on snapper in SEQ has been put on hold until a second independent review of the snapper stock assessment is completed by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (Bureau of Rural Sciences) in Canberra.

This review was requested by the Fisheries Minister following pressure by recreational anglers and in particular by Barry Pollock the Chairman of Sunfish.

Sunfish, Bill Corten and myself have argued for the last two years over the validity of the input information used in the snapper stock assessment by Queensland Fisheries.

We are trying to avoid lengthy closures (for recreational anglers only) and it would appear that Sunfish is pushing for the snapper bag limit to remain at 5 with only 2 over a certain length (e.g. 60 or 65cm). I have no problem with this.

I will keep you all informed when the latest review is completed.

Cheers
Barry