THE Inshore Flats Project is a collective of industry professionals, fishing guides, lodge owners, filmmakers, scientists, fish biologists, writers, and passionate fly-fishing advocates united by a shared commitment to protecting Queensland’s inshore flats.
The Inshore Flats Project is opposing the new tunnel net fishery that Fisheries Queensland and the Department of Primary Industries is trialling along the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef coastline.
Its mission is to defend these fragile coastal ecosystems and world-class fisheries. The initial focus is advocating against tunnel netting—now and into the future—so that our flats remain healthy, vibrant, and accessible for generations to come.
Tunnel nets are huge (1.6 km long) inshore nets that are fixed in shallow, sensitive environments and indiscriminately trap everything moving across the flats — including iconic flats fishing species like golden trevally, giant trevally & permit, juvenile fish, non-target species, and key predators essential to healthy ecosystems. The only fish they don’t trap are any little fish that manage to pass through the small mesh gaps without injury. Among many problems, tunnel nets can disrupt natural food webs, remove breeding size fish, injure or kill juvenile fish, and damage the very habitat that supports Queensland’s world-class recreational fishery.
Allowing a new commercial tunnel net fishery in Central & North Queensland will seriously threaten our flats fish stocks in the areas where they are used. It will also seriously threaten the long-term ecological health of our inshore flats and coastal areas, tourism, and the high economic value of sustainable recreational fishing.
The Inshore Flats Project is calling on the Queensland Government and the Federal Government to halt all current tunnel net trials and prevent any future approvals immediately — before irreversible damage is done to our inshore flats and coastal fisheries.
There are several ways to get involved:
- Stay informed by following our updates and research releases
- Sign petitions or submit feedback during public consultation periods
- Share our message across your own social platforms
- Participate in citizen science programs that help monitor the flats
- Join the community through volunteering, events, or partnerships
- Support sustainable fishing practices and encourage others to do the same
Find out more at https://www.inshoreflatsproject.com.au/ or socials at @inshoreflatsproject
