Business owners in north Queensland are concerned about the economic flow-on effect of the looming Great Barrier Reef gillnet ban, with some commercial fishers fearing they will have to leave the industry and seafood shops may have no option but to close.
In Ayr, Heather and Peter Bradford serve locally caught seafood to about 150 families a week and say their business will not survive without gillnet fishers on the water. "Next year we'll have to probably close the shop," Mr Bradford said. "Cut out the netting, there's 80 per cent of our business, so we've got no other option but to close."
Gillnets are used to catch certain species of fish, including barramundi, by their gills. In 2023, the Queensland and federal governments made the decision to phase out the use of gillnets in the Great Barrier Reef fishing zone by June 30, 2027. The governments provided financial assistance to licensed fishers at the time and established the temporary NX licence, which allowed fishers to use gillnets under strict on-board camera monitoring.
The state government has been working with fishers to find an alternative fishing method in the last three years, such as trapping and line fishing. But as the expiry of NX licences approaches, no solutions have been rolled out to fishers.
South of Townsville, Alva Beach commercial fisher Neil Green said the other options trialled had not been successful so far. "The intent was to have alternative gear running by 2027. That's been a failure," he said. Mr Green said without change he would probably be forced to retire, but he was worried about more than his own future. "It's not about me - it's about the next generation of fishers that are coming on that we're talking about," he said.
Mr Green is among several fishermen pushing for a three-year extension to the ban, which has the support of Shadow Minister for Northern Australia Susan McDonald. "It will allow [the fishers] to demonstrate that gillnet fishing is incredibly targeted on the species that the fishermen are taking," she said.