Prawn and barramundi fishermen may soon be joining forces to create a new seafood lobby group in Australia’s Queensland.
The main seafood lobby group in the state, the Queensland Seafood Industry Association, is facing a challenging future with a number of recent board member resignations.
Alaistair Dick, from the The Australian Prawn Farmers Association, says it wants to fill part of the gap left by QSIA, and will vote on forming a new group tomorrow.
“Look, I think there is good general support for it, I think it’s quite logical that it would happen like that,” he said.
“Most of the current issues to do with things like country of origin labelling, and environmentals, and a whole range of other things on both of our agendas.
“So there’s no sense in being divided on lobbying on any of those issues.”
Former QSIA president Michael Gardner was in a group of fishing industry representatives which met with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister John McVeigh yesterday.
He says an industry plan to restructure and rebuild the representative body was well received and he believes aquaculture industries would have a place in a new organisation.
However, Mr Gardner acknowledged there were a lot of divisions and factions which had to be united and issues which had to be resolved.
The State Government recently cancelled the $120,000 a year in funding it had been receiving and Mr Gardner says the group knows there will be no more funds.
2011 ABC