By JONATHON HOWARD
THERE was a time, not so long ago, that beach anglers could cast a line from the shores of Teewah Beach and within minutes they were reeling in their first catch.
But more recently locals and holiday makers have found it difficult to catch anything and commercial beach net fishing has been flagged as a contributing factor in the decline of fish stocks.
The issue came to the attention of Noosa Council as an agenda piece, and the council is now likely to request that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry cease commercial beach net fishing along Noosa North Shore, in a bid to allow fishery resources to renew.
A final vote was expected to be carried during tonight’s ordinary meeting, where all final votes are cast.
The request comes as the deadline for the Department of Fisheries review of commercial fishing expires at the end of October.
But the council fell short of including an amendment to the fisheries submission, which referred to a request to investigate the long-term sustainability of Noosa River and Lakes systems.
Mayor Noel Playford said he saw no issue with amending the current submission to the Department of Fisheries to include a sentence encouraging investigation into the sustainability of fish stocks in the Noosa River and Lakes.
Cr Playford said the issue of overfishing across the Noosa shire had been close to being resolved in the early 1990s.
“We had agreed then to stop commercial fishing, but the minister (at the time) reversed the decision,” he said.
“I see this as an opportunity to include an additional request to investigate the sustainability of the Noosa River and Lakes.”
Cr Tony Wellington, who chaired the general committee meeting on Monday, also spoke in support of investigating the sustainability of Noosa River and Lakes, which he said were vital parts of the fish cycle and therefore warranted sustainability investigation.
However, councillors Bob Abbot and Frank Pardon could not agree with councillors Playford and Wellington on the matter.
Cr Abbot said the motion was only for Noosa North Shore and in his opinion the letter of submission to the Department of Fisheries should not include additional information about the Noosa River or Lakes systems. Cr Jurisevic agreed with Cr Abbot.
“I have been down this road before of adding details at the last minute – it never ends well,” Cr Abbot said.
“We have one recommendation before us and that’s to recommend ceasing of commercial fishing at Noosa North Shore, the letter and investigation from staff does not mention the Noosa River or Lakes and I cannot support Mayor Playford’s amendment.”
Cr Pardon had been the driving force behind the Noosa North Shore commercial fishing ban recommendation, but he said he had made a promise to residents.
“It makes me sad that I am not able to support the amendment to include a request for investigations into the sustainability of the Noosa River and Lakes,” he said.
“However, I made a promise to several residents that I would not include the Noosa River and Lakes in this submission and I intend to keep that promise.”
The amendment was subsequently voted down by a vote of four against which included councillors Abbot, Pardon, Bolton and Jurisevic.
The original submission recommending a cease of commercial net fishing at Noosa North Shore was carried with a unanimous vote.
However, further information could come to light during the council’s final ordinary meeting tonight, Thursday 23 October.
