An Illawarra commercial fisherman has been left scratching his head after a NSW government-led training session regarding the industry’s future left him with more questions than answers.
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Dapto’s Paul Heron, who has fished Lake Illawarra for two decades, first aired his angst over planned changes to the commercial fishing in the Mercury last month.
Mr Heron’s plight came after the Baird government revealed details of its Commercial Fisheries Business Adjustment Program.
The reform includes a requirement for fishers to hold a certain number of shares to be able to fish.
The 38-year-old is gathering signatures opposing the changes, via a hard-copy petition in every Illawarra fishmonger, and was among the fishers who attended a training session at Nowra this week.
The session, part of an Adjustment Subsidy Program, showcased share-trading market software and demonstrated how fishers could place bids/offers for shares, ahead of a preview market scheduled for mid-October.
Run by Rural Training Initiatives, Mr Heron said no NSW Department of Primary Industries representatives were present at the gathering.
“I’ve never met the Minister [for Primary Industries] ever in my life, he’s never come to a meeting down here,” he said.
“We want them to come down and listen to what we’ve got to say.”
Mr Heron described the session, held at the Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemens Sports Club in Worrigee, as a “wasted two hours of my life”.
“They practically showed us how to fill in a piece of paper,” he said.
Further training sessions are scheduled in other coastal areas of the state next week. Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair told the Mercury he was listening to fishers’ concerns.
“I have personally met with over 200 fishers up and down the NSW coast throughout this reform process and I am committed to listening to their concerns as we move forward,” Mr Blair said, adding a number of reform changes had been implemented as a result.
“Good industry participation in the preview share trading process will result in more information on share price and availability, which is the primary issue that fishers and industry bodies have raised with me throughout the consultation process.”
The reforms apply to the state’s five general share-managed fisheries.
There are about 80 Illawarra shareholders in those fisheries. However, not all will be affected by the reforms to the same degree, according to the Minister’s office.
We want them [the government] to come down and listen to what we’ve got to say.
- Paul Heron