It seems the dust is slowly settling on the historic bipartisan commitments by both major NT political parties to phase out barramundi gillnetting and buy back all commercial barramundi licences over the next four years.
According to an AFANT media release, it sends a strong message that the NT will remain the best place in the world to fish for wild barramundi long into the future.
AFANT Executive Director, David Ciaravolo, said: “In response to AFANT’s election policy questionnaire and a fishery reform campaign we’ve led since the beginning of the year, NT Labor was the first to respond, committing to support recreational fishing, to phase out the use of gillnets in the fishery over the next four years if re-elected, and allocating $15M to buy back commercial licences.
In an historic Labor press release, Chief Minister Eva Lawler said: “We want to give our fishos the best chance of bagging the biggest barra and that’s why we will work with the commercial sector to ban gillnets for barramundi fishing and buy back licences.”
The Minister for Recreational Fishing Joel Bowden said: “The Territory is the best place in the world to wet a line and this will protect our rec fishing industry for years to come.”
History continued to be made when Shadow Fisheries Minister Josh Burgoyne told the ABC Country Hour: The CLP would also support phasing out the use of gillnets in the barramundi fishery, and would work closely with the commercial industry to find a fair and equitable solution within four years.”
This was followed by a media statement from the CLP confirming the bipartisan approach, including supporting comments from the Shadow Minister for Recreational Fishing Gerard Maley,
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro told Katie Woolf: “We know recreational fishing is critically important to our lifestyle and to our tourism industry; it’s a really important part of the Territory, and so it has to be protected, and that’s why going forward we need to transition away from that use of gillnets.”
AFANT President, Warren De With, said: “AFANT has been leading calls for major barramundi policy change since it became apparent that the barramundi fishery management review was not heading in a suitable direction and was not designed to respond appropriately to major access losses in the commercial fishery.
“Recent commercial fishing area closures resulted in too much gillnet being squeezed into a few remaining open catchments: mostly the Daly, Roper and Moyle.
“With the Daly River already very popular for fishing with locals and tourists, and hosting major fishing competitions, and with the Roper River promising iconic adventure fishing experiences, leaving these catchments under threat from increased commercial fishing pressure was unthinkable.
“This situation represented a genuine challenge to the NT’s status as the best place to fish for barramundi,” Warren said.
David Ciaravolo said: “Since February, AFANT had been seeking an end to the uncertainty facing our community and our valuable industry.
“We’ve been heavily engaged with both Labor and the Country Liberal Party, having countless meetings and conversations.
“We also engaged with the media and the broader community to explain the issues and to highlight the serious need for policy change in order for the NT to safeguard the future of our $270M recreational and tourism fishing industry, along with the 2,500 full time jobs it supports,” David said.
Warren De With said: “We have to wait to see who ends up in the Whitehouse before we ask further questions about timing of the buyback and phasing out the gillnets.
“We believe we have a good working relationship with both major parties,” the AFANT President said.
The NT Guided Fishing Industry Association also worked tirelessly in partnership with AFANT to professionally and effectively communicate the rationale and opportunity for policy reform to political leaders, industry, and the broader community.
Notwithstanding this historic barramundi fishery reform, AFANT has also put a comprehensive policy questionnaire to the major parties contesting the 2024 NT Election, with responses expected by the end of July.
Gavin Bedford was trolling Lee Point for a Spanish mackerel when a surprise 6kg longtail tuna smashed his Reidy’s The Judge lure.
Tara Errity fished with husband Chris to catch this solid South Alligator barra.
