The NT Government offers $10 million in an attempt to sort out the future of fishing.
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There have been protracted negotiations between various NT governments and the Northern Land Council regarding commercial and recreational access to the waters overlying existing Aboriginal land for a decade.
Minister for Primary Industry and Resources, Ken Vowles, has today outlined to the NLC details of a package the NT Government has been developing for the increased Indigenous involvement in the seafood sector.
The $10 million package will help develop economic opportunities, create jobs and support work with the NLC and other fishing stakeholders, such as the NT Seafood Council and AFANT, to review the management of our coastal fisheries.
The NLC wants to introduce a permit system next year so anglers can continue to enjoy the NT’s famous fishing culture.
A buyout of commercial fishing licences is tipped to be part of the government package.
The influential Blue Mud Bay decision by the High Court gave Traditional Owners the right to manage their intertidal lands.
The government said it respected the right of TO’s to manage that access.
The NLC has conditionally approved a six-month extension of the waiver of the need for permits to access the Aboriginal-owned intertidal zone.
That waiver is set to expire on December 31.
But that extension was dependent on the Government’s negotiating “a comprehensive and final settlement of matters affecting fishing in the intertidal zone”.
The NLC had threatened to block access until at least May if no progress was made.
“The High Court’s Blue Mud Bay decision came down more than 10 years ago. Aboriginal Traditional Owners are deeply frustrated that little progress has been made since then, and they’ve made it plain to us that they want real benefits from that decision,” Mr Morrison said.
The decision applies to most of the NT coastline and is held up to be one of the most important Aboriginal land rights decisions in Australian history.
The government today said two thirds of recreational fishing activity in the NT occurs in waters that are not affected by the Blue Mud Bay ruling, including Darwin Harbour, Bynoe Harbour, Shoal Bay, Kakadu and Shady Camp.
Of the remaining third, 75 per cent of that fishing effort falls under existing permit-free agreements negotiated with the NT Government, such as Daly River, Nhulunbuy, Borroloola and Wadeye.
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