Fine print reveals more Green Zones

Gamefishing industry groups are concerned that the excellent working relationship that was formed with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) during the consultation process of the Representative Areas Program (RAP) has been somewhat eroded due to the discovery of Special Management Areas (SMAs) along the Ribbon Reefs that were not mentioned in the Zoning Plan currently before Parliament.

Fortunately for gamefishers, Capt Laurie Wright - president of the Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association - was perusing the Regulatory Information Package that accompanies the Zoning Plan and discovered some "fine print" that suggested the important Buffer Zones that allow trolling right up to the edge of the Reef would only be applied from September 1 to December 31. For the other eight months of the year the Buffer Zones would become SMAs where no fishing would be allowed.

What this meant was that any vessel (charter or private) that wanted to base itself at Lizard Island from January 1 to August 31 and troll for pelagic species on the outer edge of the reef would have to travel all the way to Hicks Reef before it could put its lines in the water.

This would obviously greatly effect any charterboats wanting to commence their heavy-tackle season in August or finish in January. Not to mention the boats that base themselves at Lizard Island during the off-season to take advantage of the light-tackle fishing or even the emerging offshore blue marlin fishery. Most private vessels would also no doubt think twice about travelling to Lizard Island if they couldn’t access No 10 Ribbon, No Name or Yonge Reefs.

Fortunately Wright has been able to set up a meeting with the GBRMPA before the Zoning Plan is legislated, and although not confirmed at the time we went to press, the CPGFA and GFAA are hopeful that once again they have been able to reach a workable arrangement.

Under the new proposal, trolling will be allowed in the Buffer Zone from the top of Yonge Reef to the top of No 10 Ribbon and also in the pass and around the bommie at the bottom of No 10.

The reef edge from the top of Day to the top of Yonge and from the top of No 10 to the bottom of No 10 extending 2nm seaward will be closed to all fishing from January 1 to August 31. Also closed to all fishing for those eight months of the year will be the middle of No 7 Ribbon to the top of No 5 Ribbon out 2nm, the small patch of bommies between No 4 and No 5 Ribbons and the Buffer Zone at No 2 Ribbon. The remainder of the large Buffer Zone (B-14-3005) seaward of the 2nm eastern boundary remains a Buffer Zone and trolling can continue all year.

Capt Laurie Wright told BlueWater: "Hopefully this is how the rewrite of the regulations will go ahead and we won’t see any more surprises. But as amendments to the regulations can be changed at any time during the next few months, there are no guarantees."

Another person heavily involved in the consultation process with the GBRMPA was president of the Queensland Game Fishing Association, Ian Bladin. Bladin said, "It was disappointing to find that after a long and involved series of meetings with the GBRMPA, what we thought was a very good working relationship between us became tarnished by their decision not to divulge the critical information about these SMAs to us. At least we got back to the table and I hope we can put this behind us now and rebuild our relationship with the Authority for the longterm benefit of gamefishers."

IGFA president, Rob Kramer told BlueWater, "The International Game Fish Association is greatly concerned that after agreement had been reached between CPGFA and GFAA with the GBRMPA that this agreement may have been changed in the fine print of the legislation. IGFA strongly supported the submissions and stance taken by CPGFA and GFAA.

BlueWater contacted the office of Dr David Kemp, Minister for the Environment and Heritage for a comment regarding this issue. At the time of going to press, no reply had been received.