A paddle-out will take place in Byron Bay tomorrow to protest against the opening up of marine sanctuaries to fishing.
Organised by the Conservation Council of New South Wales in conjunction with local ocean advocates.
Organisers are inviting people to paddle their boards, skis, kayaks, or anything that floats into the Cape Byron Marine Park with a message that they want local sanctuary zones restored.
Anyone wanting to take part should gather at Byron Main Beach in front of the surf club at 7.30am for an 8am start.
The event is in response to the NSW Government’s plans to permanently open up two sanctuary areas in the Cape Byron Mare Park to fishing.
Public submissions into the proposal are open until 13 November.
Under the government’s proposal, both Tyagarah Beach and East Cape Byron, would have their sanctuary protections removed.
NCC’s Marine Campaigner Justin Field said marine sanctuaries were essential for protecting marine life and ensuring a healthy lifestyle for the future.”
‘Less than 7 per cent of the NSW coast is protected in marine sanctuaries,’ he said.
‘This event is an opportunity for north coast ocean lovers and everyone with an interest in healthy oceans to show the government they want local marine sanctuary protections restored.’
Anyone wanting to make a submission should go to http://www.marine.nsw.gov.au/key-initiatives/ocean-beaches-and-headlands-assessment
Clearly these anti-fishing fear mongers didn’t read the Ocean Beaches and Rocky Headlands Assessment report where the quantifiable scientific threats and risks to marine habitats, fish assemblages, threatened birds and threatened species at the Tyagarah nudist beach and East Cape were scientifically rated as low or minimal (page 14 and 17).
The local band of doomsayers also fail to mention that the sustainability of social and economically quantified impacts on these two specific zones, as determined by the expert knowledge panel of marine scientists, wouldn’t ruin the Marine Park or its biodiversity.
Meanwhile at the Lennox Reef zone, the taxpayer funded group of expert Marine scientists could not even find a single reason to ban land-based fishing that zone (again page 14 and 17). Instead, they left the job of scientifically, socially and economically unjustified fishing lock outs to Ministers Stokes and Hodgkinson who wielded an anti-fishing hatchet to Lennox Reef without a single thread of tangible scientifically determined evidence.