Gillnet fishing ban petition attracts 'massive' 10,000 signatures

Mr Dametto, who sponsored the petition asking the House to reconsider closing inshore gillnet fishing, said 9991 was a massive number of signatures for something that was occurring in North Queensland.

"Four thousand of those were paper submissions - the others were electronic - which were distributed at fishmongers and fish and chip shops and the like," he said.

"Everyday people are getting involved, when they learn the fish they're about to eat might be the last caught in the wild in Australian waters.

"A lot of the place petitions could be signed were on the Bruce Highway, which got a lot of tourists through.

"They say they can't believe what the government's going to do, and they're not your traditional LNP, KAP voters."

In June, fishermen on Queensland's east coast, were hit with the news of a federal ban, supported by the state government, of long-standing forms of gillnet fishing in northern waters, which they say was done to appease UNESCO in advance of its decision on whether to declare the Great Barrier Reef as in danger.

The resulting petition begun by fisherman Lucas Dansie says stakeholders, industry and the public want the government to change the approach to the gillnet ban, "taking into account that the N2 fishery does NOT gillnet on the Great Barrier Reef".

"Arrangements can be made to achieve the objectives of all parties without banning gillnet fishing," it goes on to say.

"We understand the pressure Australia is under from UNESCO, but feel there can be a set of guidelines that separate the inshore barramundi fishery and the Great Barrier Reef, eliminating the need for this fishery to be closed.

"Gillnet fishing is sustainable. It operates under very strict guidelines, with quota systems in place as well as GPS tracking systems.

"We believe for these reasons Queensland gillnet fishers should not be the target and should be exempt from this UNESCO reform.

"Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to reconsider and work with industry to develop a balanced solution that protects the Great Barrier Reef whilst also allowing sustainable fishing practices, including N2 inshore gillnet licences.

"For those fishers exiting the industry, they must be properly reimbursed for the resumption of their business enterprises."

KAP is calling for the closure to be reversed, or alternatively, for a 12-month cooling off period, and will be pushing those points when it meets with Agriculture Minister Mark Furner on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Dametto said the livelihoods of barramundi fishermen had effectively come to an end at the start of November when their season ended, and they were now living in a limbo.

"The Future Fisheries Taskforce has been put together but no-one's clear on how it will work, or where and how the $360m will be spent," he said. "I'm sure the dugong population won't fall off the cliff if we hold off on this ban for 12 months - the stats show one a year was being killed in nets."

Mr Furner now has 28 days to respond to the petition, and Mr Dametto said he hoped he would take the time available to consider the points in it carefully, with so much at stake.