Offences related to waterskiing, freestyling, surfing and wave jumping in Gold Coast waters attracted 16 marine infringement notices and 59 formal warnings in 2016-17.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Broadwater was an incredibly popular recreational marine space.

"Most people do the right thing," he said.

"We're seeing some hoons that are endangering other people's lives in that marine environment and that is totally unacceptable.

"There's a minority of people out there on jet skis and sometimes on boats who are doing silly things and people die every year from marine accidents and often it's because somebody was doing something really dumb."

Mr Bailey said the Gold Coast Waterways Authority was deploying high-tech, closed-circuit cameras, which could measure speed and identify water hoons, allowing authorities to react in real-time.

"The authority has allocated $100,000 to purchase five high-definition, low-light cameras to hugely enhance their ability to identify boating congestion, reckless behaviour and rapidly identify emerging situations," he said.

Maritime Safety Queensland, Water Police and Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrols currently use fixed cameras in strategic locations.

"While these have been extremely effective, there are still gaps in coverage and unavoidable delays in responding to public complaints," Mr Bailey said.

Gold Coast Waterways Authority chief executive Hal Morris said relocatable cameras had the advantage of being able to target individual hot spots at short notice.

In a parallel move, Maritime Safety Queensland has also turned to high-definition cameras to snare tow-in jet ski hoons, using fast-image capture over long distances, providing evidence for legal action.

Mr Bailey said reckless jet ski riders were ignoring speed limits and safe distance rules in the surf because they believed they were "untouchable" or could not be identified or pursued.

"But that has changed," he said.

"Hooning behaviour of any kind, be it on the road or water, is unacceptable and we are putting a stop to this reckless and dangerous behaviour."

Mr Bailey said paddle surfers and others enjoying big swells off beaches at Currumbin and Coolangatta points had expressed fear for their safety with the increasing risk of collision with tow-in jet skis operating outside the law.

The figures were released following an LNP question on notice, tabled in the Queensland Parliament.

LNP member for Broadwater David Crisafulli said he received more complaints about Broadwater from residents than most other issues.

Mr Crisafulli said the main problems were speeding and confusing speed zones, dredging and rules about houseboats, and said solutions to explore would be tougher laws or more policing.

"I think we owe it to the local community to find a solution to these issues and as the local member I'll work with the minister," he said.

"A good starting point would be a single point of contact when dealing with issues - the Gold Coast Waterways Authority is a pretty good starting point.

"They understand the area and I'd like to see them as that strong point of contact."

Jet ski riders must keep to a speed of six knots within 60 metres of a swimmer or surfer and stop operation completely when paddlers are in the water.

There were also 130 fines and 859 formal warnings issued for speeding in Gold Coast waters last year and one marine infringement notice issued by police for environmental breaches relating to waste discharge last year.

There were 40 removal notices issued by the Gold Coast Waterways Authority in relation to anchoring, mooring and ground restrictions last year.

There were no notices issued for overstaying the time limit for living on board watercraft in Gold Coast waters in the past two years.