The recently introduced NX licences that allow the use of gillnets during a phase-out have been criticised as 'unworkable' by commercial fishers.
Queensland gillnet fishers were concerned the new NX licences would be revoked amid safety concerns.Two safety incidents related to NX licence holders, including the capsizing of a boat on the reef, are being investigated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
But a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said there were no immediate changes planned.Gillnets are small nets that hang in the water, often with floats on top and weights on the bottom that trap fish by the gills when they swim through the mesh. He said any changes that would take away fishing zones needed to be paired with other structural reforms.
"That's why we're ensuring an industry structural adjustment and assistance program specific to the commercial inshore fishery in the Gulf."Clint Waldon, who fishes near Marlborough on Queensland's east coast, was one of those who signed up for an NX licence, hoping to continue as the third generation of his family fishing the reef."We've tried to comply with all these new regulations as best we can and it's completely unworkable.
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