REC fishing groups are concerned following reports the Baird government is still being pressured by conservation groups to declare Sydney Harbour as a marine park.
This follows a recent release by the NSW Recreational Fishing Alliance that up to 60 per cent of the Harbour is already closed to – or highly restricts – rec fishing activity.
The future of the harbour will be one topic discussed at the World Parks Congress that opened in Sydney this week. While the government has unveiled a new national park protecting wetlands and additions to several other parks, researchers, Labor and green groups are pushing for marine reserves in and around Sydney Harbour.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Emma Johnston, inaugural director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), said protection should be granted to the Hawkesbury-Nepean bioregion stretching from the Hunter to Wollongong,
“We very much support the process of zoning a bioregion like Sydney Harbour,” Professor Johnston said. “This is the only bioregion [in the state] that doesn’t have a marine park.”
But the government won’t be announcing any marine parks during the congress, a spokesman for Environment Minister Rob Stokes said. Research on the issue is being undertaken by the NSW Marine Estate and SIMS, he said.
In September, Labor announced that if elected at next year’s elections it would create a Sydney Marine Park stretching from Pittwater to Port Hacking, including the harbour, Botany Bay and Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers.
“Sydney Harbour is an icon. We want to protect it for both conservation values and recreational fishing,” Luke Foley, the shadow environment minister, said.
This confirms Fisho’s understanding that Labor’s marine park plan may not involve any closures to rec fishing, a move that is sure to be applauded by the city’s anglers.
