New Marine Protected Areas

Fin-S wrote:

As much as I find the idea admirable, the implementation ignored the results of the consultative process and is another government knee jerk reaction.

If the existing rules were policed correctly and resources correctly allocated, we wouldn't need additional MPA's.

Why can't the department spend the time and money stopping the poaching, educating the public and children, following through on the judicial process, link up with Anti Gang Units, etc to actually try and fix the real issues.

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We are not policing the existing reserves - why would new ones serve us better?

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Agree with you, poachers feel nothing for MPAs

Ja I also wonder about gov' corruption and just being useless in general.. One of our local commercial vessels was caught earlier this year or late last year in a MPA, with another, after being watched so being there more than once and when raided after having AIS or whatever off through the night and leaving the reserve just after sunrise, they were bust with tons of undersize miss lucies and others on board.

Cut to a few months later and the boat is back on the water, poaching with not a care in the world. It is not the first time they have been bust. But I as a white man cannot get a licence to line fish a pelagic or bait species in a sustainable manner for a living or side income. So what good is a fat bank account if we are not allowed access and others are left to raid it at will. The local port apparently does not even have a compliance officer employed there anymore as there are staff or budget shortages and commercials are anchored off reefs everynight coming in with boatloads of undersize slow growing and endangered reef fish daily..So the reality of the situation is far from peachy.

lets not miss the bigger picture completely.
we need this even if I did not agree to it.

the far off restricted zones can be nice as no fishing is allowed.
so a trawler in the water at the wrong place, needs to explain, finish klaar.

so lets not get too negative about things.
yes we do not have man power to police it all, that is why the acts are written in the matters they are.

it is easier to convict one that way. because ignorance is not a excuse