Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Mick Veitch, met with fishers from the Great Lakes yesterday February 22 at the Wallis Lake Fishing Co-op to highlight the impact of the State government’s commercial fishing reforms.
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The reforms have forced a number of family run fishing businesses to exit the industry, while businesses association with the local fishing industry are under pressure.
An Upper House committee last year heard directly from co-ops over the impacts of these reforms – and was warned over the viability of co-ops if the reforms proceeded.
The worst fears are now starting to be realised.
Fishing co-ops are part of the social fabric of coastal communities – provide a market for fishers, locally caught seafood for locals and tourists alike – playing a key role in the local economy.
Last week the National Party – including local Member, Stephen Bromhead – voted down a Bill to mandate seafood labelling in cafes and restaurants – something that would have supported local fishers, Mr Veitch said.
“The National Party is single handedly destroying the livelihoods of many fishers up and down the coast – they should hang their collective heads in shame,” he said.
“I am concerned that fishers are leaving the industry, with others taking on more debt to simply survive,” he said.
“Now we are seeing the impacts on local co-ops like the one here at Wallis Lakes.
“At the very least – the Government should be looking to roll over rent subsidies to give our co-ops on Crown land a fighting chance."
“Instead of backing local jobs and businesses – the National Party are wreaking havoc on our fishers and a number of other businesses that service the fishing industry,” Midcoast Councillor, David Keegan said.
“Mr Bromhead has been missing in action when it comes to speaking out against these reforms – either unwilling or unable to stand up for fishers caught up in this botched reform program,” Mr Keegan said.
“It looks like the Nationals are doing to our fishing industry what they did to our dairy industry almost two decades ago – and consumers and local jobs will be impacted as a result."
Cr Keegan invited members of the community to attend next week’s MidCoast Council ordinary meeting in Taree to support the local industry and urged fishers to put forward their concerns as a matter of urgent business.
He described the Wallis Lake co-op as an institution in the area, which could soon be lost.
Cr Keegan exposed what little interest he took in industries that made up the fabric of the Myall Lakes community, with his comments, Member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead responded.
“The families who fish the Wallis Lake, Manning River and region, whose livelihoods depend on their catch, have no stronger advocate than me in the Parliament, I have had an open door for affected families and raised their concerns with the Minister in writing and in Parliamentary meetings,” Mr Bromhead said.
“Dr Keegan must be living under a rock if he was unaware of my advocacy on behalf of the industry, as my position has been clearly publicised in local media over the last two years.”
Mr Bromhead said he backed up the concerns expressed by his local fishing community about the impending reforms – Commercial Fishers Business Adjustment Program –writing to the Minister for Primary Industries as far back as 2015, and followed up by forwarding on Wallis Lake Co-ops submission to the minister earlier this month.
In a story published in the GLA, August 31, 2016: “I have been very firm in my recommendations to the Minister stating that there should be no changes to the commercial fishing in the area from Mungo Brush in the south to Crowdy Head in the north.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Primary Industries said the NSW commercial fishing reforms were introduced on December 1, 2017, following many years of declining profitability in the fishing industry.
“These reforms have only been in place for around three months.
“Since these reforms came into place last year, they have cut red tape, established linkages between shares and catch or effort and most importantly of all, provided more certainty for fishers to grow their businesses.
“We are already seeing the benefits of these changes to the industry with better prices on the auction floor and more value in many of the shares that are held by fishers and we expect that trend to continue.
“The industry is taking up new technology such as mobile phones to report their catches in real time and to buy and sell shares and quota.
“We have had independent reports and a Parliamentary inquiry confirm that going forward with these reforms is the only option. We could not let unviability, the lack of security for fishers and under-valued product and businesses continue any longer.
“The recent $16 million reform package has provided subsidies so that active fishers can purchase shares from less active fishers. The NSW Government also provided low interest rate loans to help fishers purchase more shares if they wanted to grow their businesses.
“There have been family-run fishing businesses that elected to sell their shares in this process as a way to exit the industry. That has been an individual decision by the fishers involved and entirely voluntary. No fisher was forced to participate and no fisher was forced to sell their shares if they did not want to.
“In addition, money has been made available to co-ops in the way of a $30,000 business planning grant, a total of $2.3M in rent relief for all Co-ops on Crown Lands and an offer of long term leases.”