Fantastic support so far with over 1500 signature in the 1st week ! Our natural advantage is being wasted .... • The Great Sandy Marine Park is the ONLY marine park in Australia (possibly the world ? ) that allows unrestricted commercial gill-netting to take place in Conservation Zones. • Not only is this happening in a World Heritage listed area, it is also happening in a declared RAMSAR Site, a dugong protection area, a major turtle ecosystem, as well as the recent declaration in the Great Sandy Biosphere. • In the Fraser Coast region, catch rates for anglers have dropped from 7.8 fish landed per person per trip in 1986 to 0.81 fish per person per trip in 2003. This is unfortunately the most current research but concerns are that this decline continues even further today with localised depletion experienced across a number of key species like Golden Trevally & tailor . • Our unique natural asset should be a tourist mecca but is being ‘managed’ to the detriment of recreational fishers and tourism, so that a small number of commercial fishers and associated businesses might benefit. • There are NO fish species commercially caught in the Great Sandy Strait that cannot be sourced elsewhere. • Fishermen and tourists are well informed. Increasingly they are traveling to regions with Net Free Zones like Mackay , Rockhampton & Cairns ! • The Fraser Coast desperately needs a sustainable economic boost. Other regions such as Northern Territory are reaping the benefit of the economic multiplier effect that recreational fishing readily offers with low input costs. You can read ALL the Facts relation to our Great Sandy Marine Park @ http://www.frasercoastfishingalliance.com.au/media/Restoring-The-Fraser-Coast.pdf