FOLLOWING on from last week’s release of a report by the Australian Marine Conservation Society calling for more marine sanctuaries in northern Australia (more here) resulted in a huge backlash in the Northern Territory.
Chris Makepeace, from the Amateur Fisherman’s Association of the NT (AFANT), told the NT News that the green group’s call for nine more no-go no-take zones off the Territory coast has resulted in more than 30 pages of comments from individual fishers and members of the community that will form part of an AFANT submission to Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke.
“It adds significant strength to our submission there should be no further areas closed to recreational fishing because these are real Territorians speaking from the heart and not some southern do-gooders pushing computer buttons to send form letters pre-written by extreme conservation groups,” Makepeace said.
Territorians were angered at calls to close Fog Bay, an area on the other side of the Bathurst Trench, areas around the Wessel Islands and Gove Peninsula, waters around Groote Eylandt, the Limmen Bight and a number of other areas off the Territory coast.
Territory politicians from both sides of the fence joined together to reject the proposal and the media coverage has been considerable.
NT Fisheries Minister Kon Vatskalis has also said he was stunned at the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s call to establish “no-go no-take” areas right around the NT coast.
“I will support our fishermen and categorically state the NT Government will never support these wide-scale proposed fishing bans in the Territory,” he said.
NT opposition fisheries spokesperson, Kezia Purick has also publicly opposed the proposal.
To further push for support against the proposal the NT News and a local radio station have organised a protest. The orgnaisers are calling for concerned locals to show their support by launching their boats on the morning of this Saturday, November 5 and assembling around the Stokes Hill Wharf at 11am.
