Advertisement

Crocodile deaths prompt call to ban commercial fishing in Kakadu river system

The discovery of two dead crocodiles drowned in a commercial fishing net has prompted an Aboriginal traditional owner to call for a commercial fishing ban in a popular Northern Territory river system.

The 4.5-metre and 3-metre crocodiles were found last month in the abandoned gill net at Coopers Creek, one of the tributaries of East Alligator which borders Kakadu National Park, by recreational fisherman Andrew Lehmann.

It emerged the man accused of leaving the net that killed the two crocodiles is the NT Seafood Council's barramundi spokesman, Peter Manning.

He was charged with offences under the NT Fisheries Act, including abandoning fishing gear and "failing to exercise direct control". He will face court in April.

He told the ABC his crew had accidentally left the net, which he said was worth $1,000.

Mr Lehmann's close friend and senior Bunitj clan traditional owner Jonathan Nadji was so angered by the discovery that he has urged Northern Territory Fisheries Minister Willem Westra van Holthe to close the East Alligator river system to all commercial fishermen and put restrictions on commercial tour operators in the area.

"I was very devastated and very angry about this incident. These beautiful animals took a long time to get to this size and they were both killed in gill nets that I don't want in my clan area," Mr Nadji told the ABC.

"I am now even more furious that this net was left there for more than two weeks."

"I want all of the East Alligator River including Coopers Creek closed."

He said he did not have a problem with recreational fishermen in his clan area, whom he described as being "like my policemen watching over it".

Mr Nadji, who works in the compliance and wildlife operations section of Kakadu National Park, said his concern was not only that the gill net killed the crocodiles.

He said threatened species including sawfish and the speartooth shark were also caught in the nets.

Mr Nadji said he and his family had watched the changes that commercial fishing had had on fish catches over generations and had been involved, through his work in Kakadu, in several successful prosecutions of commercial fishermen for using illegal sized mesh in their nets.

He also said the NT Government had not consulted him about where the lines would be drawn on the areas commercial fishermen, and he should have been.

"The Government just went ahead and made the closure lines without consulting traditional owners."

Access to Coopers Creek from the East Alligator river is usually gained at high tide through an area covered by the Blue Mud Bay court decision which gave traditional owners land rights to the intertidal zone.

An agreement made by some of the area's traditional owners and the NT Government to allow access to the intertidal zone expires in 15 months.

AFANT to make net ban an election policy issue

Craig Ingram, CEO of the Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory (AFANT), said the Government could easily temporarily close the East Alligator for commercial fishing, until discussions about better management of commercial fishing in the area could be held.

But he said he would also like to see gill netting completely banned on the East Alligator.

"It's one of the Territory's spectacular rivers and these 'walls of death' nets are indiscriminate killers of threatened species.

"It's just unacceptable that gear was abandoned and just left there for two weeks."

After the photos of the dead crocs were released, Mr Ingram said AFANT was willing to pressure politicians and make the banning of nets an issue at the 2016 NT election.

"The response on social media has been extraordinary," he said of the images.

"We will definitely be making this an election policy issue."

Over the years, commercial and amateur fishermen in the Northern Territory have each accused the other of depleting fish stocks.

On its website the NT Seafood Council says the local commercial fishing industry is worth "over $60 million gross value product a year".

It says benefits of the industry include "regional employment, export income, cost effective monitoring of the marine environment, economic diversification and resilience for regional communities, premium quality and tasty seafood, contributions to the NT tourism industry and Australia's future food security".