Afant News

Labor Party Recreational Fishing Policy Inadequate

The media release below was sent today after we recieved advice from the ALP that they would not improve their recreational fiching policy for the next term of government in the NT.

MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate publication 15 June 2005

Labor Party Recreational Fishing Policy Inadequate

For more than a week, AFANT has been urging the Labor Party to deal with a number of significant inadequacies in its election policy on recreational fishing in the Territory but, to date, no substantial improvements have been offered.

“AFANT members were extremely disappointed with Labor’s promises in a number of areas that are central to the future of our recreational fishery and we have been working behind the scenes to have these addressed,” said AFANT President Warren de With.

“We were also quite shocked that a number of statements made by Chief Minister Clare Martin in her Media Release and in her letter to AFANT on our specific policy initiatives indicate that she and her campaign advisors have little real knowledge of what is happening in recreational fishing at the moment.”

“For a start, her Media Release refers to ‘27 years of neglect’ of recreational fishing in the NT rudely ignoring the very significant achievements that have been made by AFANT and others and also ignoring the fact that, at the moment at least, our fishery is the envy of anglers in other states.”

“Clare Martin has been quick to point the finger at what she calls ‘unfunded promises’ by others and yet her own Media Release contains at least one major funding error with $2.8 million for the Hudson Creek boat ramp scheduled for 2008-2009 when the Government is in fact contracted to complete the work before the end of 2007.”

“The big problems though are in the substance of Labor’s policy and, in particular, its failure to provide a viable long-term future for our barramundi fishery.”

“Figures provided by Fisheries show that the barra fishery has reached its limit and that it simply can’t sustain the current levels of commercial netting yet Labor’s policy contains only sufficient funding to buy back one and a bit licences (despite the fact that it says three licences will be bought) and no money will be available before July 2006 - that’s more than a year away!”

“AFANT has been working towards a long-term plan for a sustainable barra fishery but it can only happen with strong support and realistic funding levels from government and if buying back a licence or two is all that Labor is going to do over the next four years, then we’re in serious trouble.”

“On the matter of closing significant recreational angling areas such as Shoal Bay, Bynoe Harbour and the Finniss River to commercial fishing and on setting priorities for the buy-back of commercial licences, Clare Martin has said these things will be determined by the Aquatic Resource User Group Forum - doesn’t she know that this committee hasn’t met since November
2003 and that at least one representative body has said it will not attend meetings?”

Labor has said the same thing about the closure of the 7” net barra fishery rather than grasping the opportunity to promote the conversion of some
13 rivers into recreational-only barra fisheries to economically-valuable fishing tourists who are already being drawn to impoundment barra fisheries in Queensland.”

“They wants to be seen to be consulting everyone and they want to get consensus among competing interests but, when this fails, Labor must be prepared to take the hard decisions and back them with necessary funding, not try to brush them off to non-existent or ineffective committees.”

Mr de With concluded: “AFANT has tried hard to show Labor that its policy and funding for recreational fishing does not provide what the Territory needs for the next four years but it would appear that Clare Martin and the campaign organisers don’t see this as a high priority.”

End