Page 1799 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (11.08): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to present the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 to the Assembly. The bill makes a number of amendments to the Fisheries Act 2000 and also to the Nature Conservation Act 2014 and the Pest Plants and Animals Act 2005. The purpose of the bill is to update the Fisheries Act to, firstly, include important aspects of fisheries management such as aquaculture and cultural fishing by Aboriginal people; and, secondly, to improve provisions associated with environmental protection, sustainable recreational fishing, compliance and enforcement, and commercial trade.
The bill also proposes complementary changes to the Nature Conservation Act to facilitate cultural resource use by Aboriginal people and makes minor changes to the Pest Plants and Animals Act to improve licensing arrangements. I will now go into more detail about this bill.
The bill amends section 17 of the Fisheries Act regarding the declaration of fishing gear. The amendments make it clear that certain gear is prohibited and not allowed to be used in any waters, public or private, within the ACT. Higher penalties will apply for use of gear that is declared prohibited.
An immediate priority will be to declare enclosed yabby traps, such as opera house traps, to prohibit their use in all ACT waters. Opera house traps are a major threat to native animals such as platypus and water rats—also known as rakali—which drown if caught in the traps. Other jurisdictions are also acting on this issue, with Victoria banning the use of opera house traps on 1 July this year.
Amendments also include a requirement for retailers to provide point-of-sale information when use of fishing gear is prohibited in the ACT. This will deter consumers from buying equipment they cannot lawfully use in the ACT.
I am also exploring options including a yabby trap swap program to raise awareness about the ban and to encourage the community to swap to more environmentally friendly forms of recreational yabby fishing. The swap program would be similar to that recently undertaken in Victoria.
I would like to see the sale of these traps banned in the ACT. However, the nature of our federation means this is not possible, particularly due to the provisions in the Mutual Recognition Act. Notwithstanding, I have written to ministerial colleagues in each state and territory asking that we collectively work towards an outcome that stops these kinds of traps being sold in Australia. I will continue to further this as part of future meetings with ministers in this area.
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