Fishers furious as 1.6km nets trialled near Great Barrier Reef

Recreational anglers demand end to tunnel-net trials in north Queensland Tue 16 Jun 2026 at 7:32am In short: The Queensland government is trialling 1.6 kilometre-long fishing nets on coastal flats near the Great Barrier Reef to replace gillnet fishing, which will be banned from June 2027. Recreational anglers are calling for an end to the research, which they say could damage local fish populations and trap larger marine species. What's next? The Department of Primary Industries is reviewing trial data from 2025 and has proposed a second round of testing. Recreational fishers are demanding an end to the trial of 1.6-kilometre-long fishing nets in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. Tunnel nets were trialled in Bowen, the Whitsundays and Gladstone in July 2025 and are a proposed alternative to controversial gillnet fishing, which will be banned from June 2027. Recreational angler Chris Burgess, who has fished the waters off Bowen for five years, is leading community opposition. "We're talking about a 1.6-kilometre-long net that indiscriminately captures every fish of any species within that area," he said. Tunnel nets are comprised of two 800-metre-wide mesh walls that are staked to the ocean floor. They draw fish to a central trap that has a gate to keep out larger species such as dugongs and turtles. Fisheries workers then sort the catch from a tunnel-like holding area. The trial caught and released 30,000 fish in 17 days between July and September last year, according to operators Fish-LIGHT. Target species such as barramundi or king threadfin made up just 3 per cent of the catch. "We know that in one trial, 25 per cent of the fish were observed dead," Mr Burgess said. Mr Burgess and Este Darin-Cooper have formed the Inshore Flats Project to lobby for the end of tunnel-net trials. "You remove that quantity of fish from an inshore area, that's going to have an impact on the recreational angling and fish populations that are in the area for locals to enjoy," Ms Darin-Cooper said. "Angling is something that supports the local businesses and is a driver of the local economy." Primary Industries Minister Tony Perrett said several fishing methods were being trialled under the program, which was funded until 2030. "[We've] made a commitment to support commercial and recreational fishing sectors by only legislating scientifically-backed changes to regulation," he said. The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is reviewing data from the initial tests but confirmed a second round of trials was proposed. Consumer impact The $9 million research program comes amid concerns Queensland's seafood industry could collapse. Matt Calder, the owner of several seafood markets, said finding a sustainable way to catch species such as barramundi was the key to the survival of the fishery. "I don't think we have people that come [to the Whitsundays] that want to eat a lesser-grade product," he said. "For us, the barramundi is the iconic creature." Mr Calder said the practices and regulations of a remaining gillnet fishery were strict and sustainable. "[The ban is] going to leave a massive hole, not only in our business here in north Queensland, but every single seafood business," he said. "There's a lot of fish that comes out of here that also gets sent to southern states … restaurants and wholesalers." Support for tunnel nets James Cook University marine scientist Andrew Chin has researched tunnel net methods in Cardwell, near Townsville. He said the trials showed the nets were a "cleaner, greener" option. "One of our big concerns has always been entanglement of dugongs, turtles and hammerhead sharks, which are a specific area of interest of mine," Dr Chin said. "And what we saw is that these nets just get around that problem. "You just drop the side of the net where they are and they swim out." Dr Chin said future fisheries should modify the size of the gates to allow more target species like barramundi into the trap area. He said there was also no data yet on post-release survival of bycatch but understood it was being investigated in DPI research. Fishing guides affected Clinton Isaac, a recreational fishing business operator in Cardwell and Bowen, said a future tunnel net fishery would be a "reputational risk" to north Queensland. "When we're going to drag these huge nets along our World Heritage coastlines, it just blows my mind," he said. The DPI estimates the recreational fishing sector generates up to $2.5 billion to the Queensland economy each year. Commercial fishery production was estimated at $249 million statewide, creating about 3,000 jobs. Mr Burgess said his group was not against commercial fishing. "Wild seafood is absolutely important," he said. "None of us are going to have to eat imported catfish with a combination of increasing reliance on aquaculture … and lower-impact, more sustainable fishing methods."