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19 October 2008
Conservationists disappointed with Moreton
Bay Zoning Plan
This
release available here in pdf (333kb)
Conservationists are united in their disappointment with
the QLD Government’s final zoning plan for Moreton Bay
Marine Park, launched today.
The draft Plan offered approximately 15 percent protection
(in marine national park zones) while the final Plan commits
to 16 percent protection, far short of scientific recommendations
of at least 30 percent.
Craig Bohm, Campaigns Director with the Australian Marine
Conservation Society said, “This plan provides less
than half the amount of protection that Moreton Bay needs.
It exposes a whopping 84 percent of the marine park to intense
fishing pressure providing little security for local marine
wildlife into the future.”
Simon Baltais, President of the Wildlife Preservation Society
of Queensland added, “Threatened wildlife such as turtles,
dugongs and shorebirds face an uncertain future under the
Plan. Coral reefs, seagrass meadows and, in fact, many special
places have simply not been protected. The Plan simply does
not meet international standards for marine conservation.”
Toby Hutcheon, Executive Director with of the Queensland
Conservation Council said, “So many concessions have
been given to existing uses, such as fishing, that the conservation
benefits of this plan have been severely compromised.”
During the two year Moreton Bay review, the Queensland government
received over 12,000 letters from concerned Queenslanders
who called for a doubling of the level of protection offered
in the draft Plan.
“The final Plan appears almost identical to the draft
plan.” Bohm said. “The government needs to be
asked why the views of 12,000 people have simply been ignored.”
Baltais concluded “The government must act urgently
to strengthen this plan with additional conservation measures.
We are calling on them now to create a new and more powerful
‘watchdog’ for the Park, a statutory management
authority, and to spend $10m buying out active fishing licences.”
ENDS
Media inquiry contacts:
Craig Bohm – 0427 133 481 Simon Baltais – 0412
075 334 Toby Hutcheon – 0419 664 503
Conservation organisations – Australian Marine Conservation
Society, Queensland Conservation Council, The Wilderness Society,
Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland and WWF Australia.
Additional Points
- Conservationists, eminent marine scientists
and celebrity notorieties, such as Australian author (and
avid fisher) Tim Winton also called for at least a doubling
of protection to over 30 percent coverage.
- The zoning plan puts lines on a map where
different types of activities can occur in Moreton Bay Marine
Park, not unlike a town planning scheme.
- ‘Marine National Park’ zones
are areas of the park where fishing is prohibited but where
public access is maintained. These zones have the highest
conservation value.
- The conservation movement also partnered
with the Queensland Tourism Industry Council and Tangalooma
Island Resort to call on the government to protect 10 special
areas in marine national park zones. Together they released
a report called The 10 Missing Jewels of Moreton Bay in
which these areas were identified and their values articulated.
(Available
here)
- The 10 Missing Jewels are - the Eastern
Banks, Manta Ray Bommies (off Point Lookout), the wider
Flinders Reef Complex, Peel Island (south), Myora Reef and
Wanga Wallen Banks (Stradbroke Island), Ormiston, Waterloo
Bay – south (Lota), Green Island – east, Bird
and Goat Island and China Wall (east of Moreton Island).
These places represent the precious seagrass meadows, rocky
reefs, coral gardens and sandy shoals which are critical
to the survival of our threatened wildlife such as turtles
and dugongs.
- According to the EPA, loggerhead turtles,
which reside in Moreton Bay, are at risk of local extinction
in Queensland in the next 40 years unless drastic action
is taken.
- All 6 species of Australian sea turtle,
which have been found in Moreton Bay, are threatened with
extinction. On average about 20 turtles drown each year
by being entangled in crab pots alone in Moreton Bay. As
many as 200 turtles have died in one year in Moreton Bay
according to the EPA.
- In 2007 alone, 10 dugongs were found dead
in Moreton Bay Marine Park. Being hit by speeding boats
is believed to be the greatest killer of dugongs in Moreton
Bay.
- Dugong populations along the urban coast
of Queensland are at 3 percent of their size from the 1960’s
according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Researchers have identified that the Queensland’s
urban dugong population can only sustain less than 10 deaths
per year along the entire urban coastline (south of Cooktown
to the NSW/QLD border).
- One of the major impediments to securing
protection in Moreton Bay has been fishing – gillnets,
ringnets, cast nets, tunnel nets, trawl nets, handlines,
crab pots, dilly traps and other fishing gear is used in
Moreton Bay Marine Park. Conservationists believe Moreton
Bay is literally saturated with fishing effort.
- Recent research in Moreton Bay by Dr Sue
Pillans for her PhD found that mud crabs reached a much
larger size and number within marine national park zones,
protected from fishing, than outside these zones. This is
good for the health of the mud crab population. She also
found that several fish species also occurred in much higher
densities in the marine national park zones than in other
areas of the marine park exposed to intense fishing pressure.
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