Anglers hook in to plan for Coral Sea
MORE than 600 people rallied in Cairns last night to fight against a controversial move to ban game and recreational fishing in the Coral Sea.
The Coral Sea Heritage Park proposal, which has been proposed by the US-based Pew Environment Group and is supported by the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, has upset the fishing industry.
The plan aims to create the world's largest "no-take" marine park.
Last night, every seat was taken in Cairns State High School's Croswell Hall as hundreds of people signed petitions in a bid to stop the marine park move.
Fisherman fear the red tape involved in the Coral Sea plan would lead to more green zones and the eventual closure of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to the shoreline.
Laurie Casey, who has made fishing rods in the Far North for more than 20 years, said the plan will put him and his family in serious trouble.
"I'm in this industry, it's going to kill me. I've got to close my doors. That will be it for me, goodbye Charlie," Mr Casey said.
"About 20 per cent of my sales have gone down with that green zoning. If they close this park off, you think about it, we've got to import more fish, there will be fish on the black market.
"And when you've got a population like this, fishing in another area, they'll wipe it out. This place, the Coral Sea, solves that problem."
Recreational fisher Diesel O'Hara, of Parramatta Park, described the plan as "a bunch of political bulls**t".
Ernie Copelin, of Cairns North, said the plan had no backbone.
"The only problem is that if this goes ahead they'll keep pushing the boundaries until it comes close to our coast," he said.
Cairns angler Alex Witten told the crowd the green group's plans lacked scientific evidence.
Fishing Party of Queensland's Rick Huckstepp followed and said that the majority of fishers and boaters in Australia were conservationists in their own right.
Marine biologist Walter Stark said Australia was the most over-managed, heavily-restricted and least productive fishery industry in the world.
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