Qld: Fishing to be banned in 15 per cent of Moreton Bay

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-2007
Qld: Fishing to be banned in 15 per cent of Moreton Bay

BRISBANE, Dec 2 AAP - Commercial fishing will be banned in nearly 15 per cent of Moreton
Bay under the Queensland government's plans to preserve the area for future use.

Premier Anna Bligh today launched a draft conservation plan for the bay, which covers
the wider Brisbane area.

"This is about looking after fishing well into the future and making sure for generations
to come there are fish there for all of us to catch and for those of us, like me, who
like eating seafood, fish out there for many years to come for us to eat," she told reporters
at Shorncliffe on Brisbane's bayside.

"We can't have a fishing industry if we don't protect the sensitive breeding habitat
of this bay and in order to do that we need more green zones."

Currently only 0.5 per cent of Moreton Bay is covered by green zones but that will
lift to nearly 15 per cent of the 350,000 hectare bay under the draft plan.

The state government has estimated the changes will hurt the $24 million-a-year local
fishing industry by up to $4 million a year.

In response, it proposes establishing a $14 million adjustment package to buy out commercial
fishing licences over time.

Ms Bligh downplayed the impact of the plan on recreational fishers.

"For those people who like to throw in a line off a jetty anywhere in Moreton Bay,
you'll be able to do that now and into the future," she said.

AAP ews/arb/mn

KEYWORD: MORETON

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