Fishing for answers

COMMERCIAL fishing made waves this year when the Department of Fisheries launched the fisheries management review.
It was a war of words between long-time local fishermen and environmental activists, with Noosa council submitting a recommendation to the government department to ban commercial fishing on Noosa North Shore.
The move sparked outrage from long-time fishermen and local commercial fishers began to experience a barrage of daily abuse.
Many in the community questioned the sustainability of large-scale fishing and wanted to know whether the Noosa biosphere was being impacted by commercial fishing.
Richard Brown of fish wholesalers, Markwell Fisheries, said the focus needs to be shifted to the lakes and waterways.
“The issue isn’t about what’s happening out in the oceans, it’s inshore,” he said.
And the Healthy Waterways Report Card agreed, giving Noosa’s waterways and freshwater catchments a lower score than last year, citing a lack of rainfall and vegetation as the reason for fewer fish stocks.