Mesh netting restrictions

Two types of protection areas were agreed by the Great Barrier Reef Ministerial Council in August 1997: Zone 'A' and Zone 'B'.

Zone 'A' Dugong Protection Areas include significant dugong habitats in the southern Great Barrier Reef (consistently contain over 50 per cent of dugong numbers). In these areas, the use of offshore set, foreshore set and drift nets are prohibited, except in Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait Protection Area where specialised fish netting practises are allowed to continue with modifications. The use of river set nets are allowed with modifications in Zone 'A' Dugong Protection Areas, except in two key areas where river set nets are prohibited (Hinchinbrook and Shoalwater Bay Dugong Protection Areas). Other netting practices such as ring, seine, tunnel and set pocket netting which are not considered to pose a serious threat to dugong are unaffected.

In Zone ‘B' Dugong Protection Areas mesh netting practices are allowed to continue, but with more rigorous safeguards and restrictions than before. Zone ‘B’ Dugong Protection Areas have been shown to contain about 22 per cent of dugongs in the southern Great Barrier Reef. These measures are being kept under review to ensure protection of dugongs in these areas.

Local Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol offices should be contacted for more information.

A major effect of the Dugong Protection Areas on the Great Barrier Reef was the banning or great restriction of commercial netting in the 2407 km² of Dugong Protection Areas Zone A, and the introduction of lesser restrictions on mesh netting in 2243 km² of Dugong Protection Areas Zone B.

The benefits of Dugong Protection Areas were significantly enhanced under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003, which increased the proportion of strictly protected zones in the Park from less than five per cent to over 33 per cent. It is now estimated using spatial modelling that 57 per cent of dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are highly protected from incidental drowning in mesh nets and 83 per cent of dugongs occur in areas where trawling is banned. The number of commercial mesh netters licensed to operate in the Great Barrier Reef Region has approximately halved since 1997.

History

The establishment of Dugong Protection Areas was a critical step in efforts to save the dugong in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The dugong is recognised as one of the values for which the Great Barrier Reef was listed as a World Heritage Area. Australia therefore has an international responsibility to protect the dugong and has created the world's first system of protected areas specifically for the conservation of dugong.

The decisions by the Great Barrier Reef Ministerial Council in 1997 were guided by the best available science, providing renewed confidence that the decline in dugong numbers can be reversed. An independent chair and an advisory group comprising Commonwealth and Queensland officials, eminent scientists and representatives of the commercial fishing industry assessed the relevant scientific evidence.

Following the independent review of scientific information and developments of proposals for payments to affected fishers the Ministerial Council announced various restrictions on mesh netting. The restrictions were implemented on 12 January 1998 under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994. For details of all fishing regulations refer to the Queensland Fisheries Regulations 1995. Dugong Protection Areas were subsequently declared in legislation under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992, and as Special Management Areas under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003.