Queensland Country Hour: Monday 19 July – time stamp: the interview begins at 18:42 and ends 24:28.

The Association’s Treasurer, Kevin Reibel, recorded an interview with the Queensland Country Hour’s Megan Hughes regarding the Scallop fishery.

How can a commercial otter trawl fisher make vital business decisions if they have no clue regarding the duration of a potential closure? There is no indication how long a potential closure might be implemented by Fisheries Queensland. If fisheries managers had listened to commercial fishers, this situation may have been avoided. As usual, this has not been the case.

What we will see from a closure is: (1) increased stress amongst fishing families as a result of financial pressure, (2) loss of income for commercial fishers, (3) the loss of skilled jobs at the seafood processing level, (4) financial impacts for seafood wholesalers and processors, and (5) the loss of access to Queensland Scallops.

The lesson here – yet another example of inadequate fisheries management that will have significant social and economic impacts on predominantly small, family owned and operated commercial fishing businesses.

Additional information sources:

QSIA YouTube Channel: Impacts of Fisheries Mismanagement and the Qld Scallop Fishery

Authors: Kevin Reibel, QSIA Treasurer and Eric Perez, QSIA CEO.

Image: Reibel Fishing

The content of this post is provided for information purposes only and unless otherwise stated is not formal QSIA policy. The information on these posts are provided on the basis that all persons accessing the information undertake their own responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of it.