South Coast fishermen have welcomed a relaxation of laws against recreational fishing from beaches and headlands in the Batemans Marine Park, saying it will improve safety, reduce poaching and give locals a voice in finding a new "proper solution" based on science.
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In addition to relaxing fishing restrictions from ocean beaches and headlands, every NSW marine park will be reviewed under major changes to environment laws announced by the state government.
They are moves championed by Jack Tait, the president of the Coastal Rights Association, which objected to the creation of the park in 2007, as locals were not consulted. "It was the fastest marine park ever put in place anywhere in the world,'' Mr Tait said. ''The people weren't listened to, we had no ownership of this, and the public will now have a voice."
Mr Tait, who works in a Batemans Bay tackle shop, said he would again be able to send visitors to fish in spots which were safe in various conditions.
"There are areas [in the sanctuary] you can fish when there's a southerly blowing, an easterly blowing … it was hard when someone walks into the shop that you virtually can tell has got no idea what they're doing, [and you couldn't] say to them, 'go here and you can fish this area safely','' Mr Tait said. "It opens up a lot of that again.
"I think it will also cut down a lot of the poaching, because the poachers were in there where they knew no one was allowed to go."
Prohibitions on line fishing from land will be lifted within all but one sanctuary zone, Burrewarra Point in the Batemans Marine Park, which Mr Tait said was a "very dangerous spot to fish" anyway.
The reversal of current practice follows the government's recent five-year moratorium on the establishment of new marine parks, and constitutes a sea change in fisheries management.
''There has been a lot of criticism in the past that marine parks were only established for political purposes,'' the Primary Industries Minister, Katrina Hodgkinson, said. ''We want to get past the politics.'' The Opposition and the NSW Greens accused the government of capitulation to the whims of the Shooters & Fishers Party.
The Coalition said the former Labor government established new protection zones in the Jervis Bay and Solitary Islands marine parks shortly before the last election to attract Greens preferences.
The changes follow an audit of marine parks delivered to the government by the University of Queensland's Associate Professor Bob Beeton last year.
Ms Hodgkinson said that in response to the audit, a ''marine expert knowledge panel'', chaired by Andrew Stoeckel of the Australian National University, would be formed. This would consider not only the science of marine park establishment but also its socio-economic impacts.
The panel will report to a new marine estate management authority, which will include the directors-general of relevant government agencies and be chaired by Wendy Craik, a member of the Australian Productivity Commission.
The authority will advise Ms Hodgkinson and the Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, on the future of the state's marine park estate.
Ms Parker said it would consider estuaries and marine parks ''right up and down the coast line, making sure that we look at that in a holistic way''.
Ms Hodgkinson said the decision to lift restrictions on line fishing from rock faces and beaches in marine parks was taken because Professor Beeton's audit found the activity had ''minimal impact''. But the audit did endorse marine sanctuaries in some circumstances.
''This move is contrary to the recommendations of their own scientific audit,'' said the Opposition environment spokesman, Luke Foley.
''It is Mr O'Farrell's latest dirty deal with the Shooters & Fishers Party, following allowing amateur shooting in national parks.''
The NSW Greens criticised the changes.
''The existing bans on recreational fishing on some beaches and headlands exist for a reason, and that's because they do seriously affect the fish species that reside there,'' Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said.