5000 supporters of the ‘Stop The Lock-out!’ movement rallied against the government’s marine park legislature on Thursday.
For as long as she can remember, Denise Emmanouilidis has been fishing at East Sydney’s Camp Cove. From tagging along on her father and uncles’ trawling outings as a young girl to now, when her toddlers sit beside her on the sand with small fishing rods of their own - being able to enjoy quality family time and catch a fish or two has been an important part of her life.
The Sydney mother of two was one of the estimated 5000 supporters in attendance at Thursday’s ‘Stop The Lock-out!’ rally against the government’s marine park legislature, which would stop fishing activity at many locations along the NSW coast, including Camp Cove. Thousands of community members and fishing industry personnel united at Hyde Park before marching to parliament in protest.
The original proposal, unveiled by Premier Gladys Berejiklian in August, was an attempt to increase marine life protection by creating 25 coastal zones between Wollongong and Newcastle. Angling activity - both line and spear fishing - would be restricted or banned completely within those areas, which included popular fishing spots such as South Bondi, the Dee Why headland and Botany Bay.
Once put into place, the planned marine park regulations were expected to effectively reduce the amount of recreational and sustainable fishing along the NSW coastline.
However, the Berejiklian Government axed the controversial plans for fishing lock-out zones last week amidst backlash from the NSW fishing community, who saw the marine park zones as a barrier that would endanger their trade and lifestyle.
Despite backing down on marine park proposals, Thursday’s ‘Stop The Lock-out!’ protest went ahead, with supporters fearing that the government may backflip on their decision again in the future, or following next year’s state election.
Alex Bellissimo founded the ‘Stop The Lock-out!’ movement with his two friends in 2016, after government discussions about cracking down on fishing laws surfaced in the news. Their Facebook page remained inactive after those plans were shelved but following the recent unveiling of government plans for 25 exclusion zones, Bellissimo estimates that the page has grown to about 70,000 supporters within the last few months.
“We’re raising awareness - trying to get people to write to their local members and keeping the ocean free of restriction for everyone to enjoy,” he stated. “The rally’s just one way to show the government that there’s people against [marine park] restrictions and that it matters to us, so we’re going to fight for it.”
Members of the fishing community, many of them made aware of the event through Bellissimo’s Facebook campaign, applauded MP Robert Brown’s rallying speech in Hyde Park before marching down Macquarie Street to parliament, waving signposts and chanting “We fish, we vote”.
Brown, the leader of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, was adamant that they would target weaker seats at the next election if the lock-out laws went ahead. “We’re putting the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and Labor on notice – if you ban fishing, we’ll see you at the ballot box.”
The Berejiklian Government denies the renunciation of plans was a political decision designed to protect vulnerable Liberal electoral seats at the next election. A final decision on the marine park laws has not yet been made, and the issue remains in the consultation period.
“They want to take away recreational fishing, [but] there’s no better tool to teach our kids about sustainability of our oceans,” Emmanouilidis said at the rally, as she smiled down at her children holding homemade ‘Stop The Lock-out!’ banners in the air. “They’re not taking away our family time… today was for the next generation.”
"They want to take away recreational fishing, [but] there’s no better tool to teach our kids about sustainability of our oceans. They’re not taking away our family time… today was for the next generation."
Written for MDIA1004.