To Clarify What WILL be effected by "Correcting" our Great Sandy Marine Park & debunk some of the propaganda from the commercial sector :- REMOVING the "anomaly" that is the Great Sandy Designated Area ( Red Cross Hatching on our Yellow Zones ) WILL NOT EFFECT :- * Trawler fishing - Which mostly ALL occurs outside of the Great Sandy Designated Area ( with exception a couple of beam trawl operators ) * Prawns – Otter Trawling ALL occurs outside of the Great Sandy Designated Area ( with exception a couple of beam trawl operators & some stripe nets in the Mary River ) * Scallops & bugs - Which ALL occurs outside of the Great Sandy Designated Area * Spanner crabs – which are harvested outside of the Great Sandy Area * Fish and prawns farmed commercially in Queensland * Commercial Line Fishing IE: Mackerel , trout etc. * The FCFA would support commercial line fishing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis. * The FCFA supports ‘ Continued commercial crabbing in the Great Sandy Area by “long term local operators” on a Permit & quota basis . IT WILL EFFECT & REMOVE Commercial Gill Netting ! While the commercial value ( See attached image of the key species (including Tailor) is $1.67m the value of the total catch is $3.3m based on an average $5/kg. Based on $4/kg it is $2.6m and based on $6/kg it is $4.0m. For the key species - These figures are only an approximation and more detail would be required to produce more accurate figures. Mullet is the largest component of the fishery by value at approximately $0.77m.... The commercial sector will boast the current Great Sandy Designated Area also allows Recreational fishers to use three lines or rods per person with a combined total of six hooks when fishing in this area. Recreational fishers in TRUE conservation park (Yellow) zones in the Moreton Bay Marine Park are able to use up to two hand-held rods or handlines per fisher, with no more than two hooks in total for each fisher. There are also six rivers and creeks in the State Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park Zoning Plan allow the use of two lines and hooks. The Fraser Coast Fishing Alliance will be insisting that recreational anglers will be allowed up to two hand-held rods or handlines per fisher, with no more than two hooks in total for each fisher once the Great Sandy Marine Park is "corrected" and the Great Sandy Designated Area is REMOVED in-line with the current full term – 10 year review ! Recreational fishing value on the Fraser Coast Referencing the State Wide 2010 Recreational fishing survey - Over a third of all recreational fishers (in excess of 700,000 state wide) lived in the Brisbane region but the participation rate among local residents was highest in the Mackay and Wide Bay-Burnett (Fraser Coast) regions, where 28% and 26% of the population were recreational fishers, respectively. Localised depletion is being experienced across a number of key important recreational fish species both locally across the Fraser Coast region and across the state. Catch rates for anglers on the Fraser Coast region alone, 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 the most current research but concerns are that this decline continues much further today and is in need of further review. Reference: Moore N. 1986 Recreational fishing in Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait. QDPI Information series Murphy I. 2003. 2003 Creel Survey. A ‘Snapshot’ of Recreational Fishers and Their Catches in the Hervey Bay Region, Queensland, between January and May, 2003. Visitor Expenditure generated through Recreational Fishing across the Fraser Coast equates to approximately $39 million per annum. It is important to note that this figure is based on visitors only, and it does not take into account the value generated by recreational fishing by keen fisherman who reside within the Fraser Coast - this figure would be significant. The figure of $39 million is compiled by the International Visitor Survey (IVS) and the National Visitor Survey (NVS) which is collated by Tourism Research Australia. This data is then distributed to the State Tourism Organisations and then distributed to the regional tourism organisations such as Fraser Coast Tourism and Events. Through the Fraser Coast Destination Tourism Plan, it is estimated that if the Fraser Coast is to increase its share of the Queensland Recreational Fishing Market by 8% by the year 2020, the value of visitor expenditure generated purely through recreational fishing would equate to approximately $107 million per annum by the year 2020. Again this does not include local expenditure – purely visiting anglers. The Fraser Coast contains more fish diversity than the entire Great Barrier Reef being a crossover zone between tropical and temperate waters. It is recognised as the most southern limit for Wild Barramundi on the East Coast of Australia. Reference:  Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management 2014. The Great Sandy Biosphere. In 2009 the Great Sandy Region was awarded Biosphere Reserve status by UNESCO, the global organisation that also awards World Heritage Listings. This decision gives worldwide recognition to both the Fraser Coast and Cooloola Regions, and the Wide Bay Burnett Coastline, putting the Great Sandy Region in the same class as the Galapagos Islands, the Central Amazon, the Everglades and Uluru. The Great Sandy Region is also recognised as an important RAMSAR Site, a dugong protection area and major turtle ecosystem.