The state government has abandoned moves to ban or restrict fishing in new protection areas in the proposed Sydney Marine Park.
The announcement on Monday that “fishing lockouts have been taken off the table” followed a backlash by recreational fishers.
Conservation groups condemned the decision, which was made 10 days before the end of the public consultation period.
Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Adele Pedder said, “stripping sanctuary protections may render the park potentially ineffective”.
Areas in southern Sydney affected by the decision include proposed additions to the existing Towra Point and Cape Banks aquatic reserves and new protection zones, Cabbage Tree Creek in Port Hacking and off Royal National Park.
Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said there would be no loss of fishing rights or access under the proposed marine park sites put forward by the NSW Marine Estate Management Authority (MEMA).
Mr Blair said he had received “extensive feedback from both local communities and anglers and is confident that fishing is not the key threat to the sustainability of our marine environment”.
“While consultation will continue, I felt it was paramount to allay the uncertainty and fear the fishing industry is currently experiencing,” he said.
Mr Blair said MEMA identified 25 areas that required better management to ensure their sustainability.
“What is now clear is that their proposed management methods and in some cases the sizes of the sites, offered up a narrow option that unfairly impacted on low risk activities, such as fishing and spearfishing,” he said.
“As a result the NSW Government has taken lockouts off the table.
“We are confident there are many other ways to manage these sensitive areas.”
Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski said, “This decision undermines public confidence in the government’s consultation process, which still has 10 days to run”.
“By caving into a noisy minority of voices and pre-empting the results of the public consultation, the government has denied thousands of people a say in the protection of our precious marine life,” she said.
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