By Margaret Maccoll
Noosa commercial fishers are fed up with being solely blamed for the reduced fish stocks in Noosa River and want Noosa Council to stop using ratepayers’ money to fund organisations that discredit their family histories.
They say they are offended and insulted by unfounded claims made by Noosa Parks Association (NPA) president Dr Michael Gloster that commercial fishermen are responsible for the depletion of oysters in Noosa River.
In a letter to Noosa Today in June, Dr Gloster said:
“Reversing the destruction by commercial fishermen of Noosa’s once prolific oyster reefs is the driving motivation for the Bring Back The Fish project partners.
“In the late 1800s and early 1900s commercial fishermen decimated the Noosa River’s and Weyba Creek’s oyster reefs. The historical record shows that by the early 1900s about 1 million oysters a year were being commercially dredged and shipped to Moreton Bay for fattening and sale. By the 1920s, the reefs had been wiped out.”
A University of Queensland 2015 report by Dr Ruth Thurstan, funded by Noosa Council, The Thomas Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, found oyster farming was conducted from 1900-1920. Its decline after the 1920s “was likely due to a number of factors including declining water quality (with links to disease), overexploitation, reduced market demand and increased competition from NSW and New Zealand suppliers”.
The study also found Noosa River provided a significant quantity of fish for both commercial fishing and from the 1920s an increasing number of recreational fishers with declining fish catchers noted over a period from 1913-1970. The study determined both commercial and recreational fishers attributed declines in fish to development since the 1970s in the river mouth, particularly Hays Island and surrounds and the altering of the river mouth. Bring Back the Fish is a project of Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation, University of Sunshine Coast and the University of Queensland with proponents Noosa Parks Association and The Thomas Foundation.
