A REPORT detailing the effects of dredging in Queensland’s Gladstone harbour – believed to be linked to fish and turtle kills in the region last year – is not being taken seriously, according to the Australian Greens.
The interim report commissioned by the Gladstone Fishing Research Fund and paid for by public donations and local fishermen, was conducted by fisheries veterinarian and Sydney University lecturer Matt Landos.
According to a Channel 9 report, Landos said the government has underestimated turtle deaths and failed to conduct proper monitoring in the harbour.
Australian Greens environment spokeswoman Larissa Waters says the first report to be released by a body other than the Queensland government or Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC) backs up what the central Queensland town’s residents and fishermen have long suspected.
“There is still an ecological crisis in Gladstone harbour,” Senator Waters told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
“We’ve still got sick fish, sick crabs, a sick turtle, various different sick sharks.
“There’s still something going terribly wrong in Gladstone harbour and yet the Queensland government is still trying to say that everything’s fine.”
Senator Waters hit out at the federal government for not doing anything to halt the dredging, despite the harbour being in a World Heritage area.
