The cost and range of seafood available at Port Douglas restaurants will not be affected by the proposed Coral Sea Marine Reserve, a report by the Australian Conservation Foundation shows.

ACF’s Healthy Oceans Campaigner Chris Smyth analysed seafood items on the menus of 128 restaurants in the Douglas and Cairns regions to see if supply or cost would be affected.

Menus fron local restaurants including 2 Fish, Croc Eye Cafe, Harrison's, Hi Tide, Il Pescatore, Ironbar Steakhouse Restaurant, Lagoons Restaurant, Nautilus, On the Inlet, Ospreys Restaurant, Port O’Call Bar and Bistro, and Salsa Bar and Grill went under the microscope.

“Seafood on menus in Cairns restaurants is largely sourced outside the waters of the proposed Coral Sea Marine Reserve,” Mr Smyth said.
            
“Seafood is more likely to have come from other Queensland waters, including the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, or from interstate or overseas wild-catch and aquaculture-based fisheries."

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Mr Smyth said many popular seafood menu items are not sourced from the proposed marine reserve area, including mussels, crabs, Atlantic salmon and barramundi.

“Mud crabs, blue swimmer crabs and spanner crabs, for example, are caught closer to shore, while the reserve covers deep waters, more than 100 kilometres from Cairns.  

“In Queensland, prawns, calamari, scallops, bugs and tropical fish species are mostly caught in parts of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park where fishing is permitted."

He said the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery, which supplies highly valued eastern king prawns, other prawn types, calamari, scallops and bugs, will still be allowed to operate in the Coral Sea marine reserve, where only 0.1 per cent of its production will be affected.

“Similarly, tuna, which is caught throughout Australian waters, will still be able to be caught in the Coral Sea reserve.

“The Coral Sea reserve will include a range of protection levels, from areas that do not allow fishing to those that allow most types of fishing. The location of each zone has been designed with a focus on minimising any impact on commercial fishing activities,” Mr Smyth said.

The analysis was initiated after claims were made by the Cairns Regional Council that the Cairns economy would suffer a $1 billion loss over 30 years from the establishment of the marine reserve.

The Coral Sea reserve is part of the proposed national marine reserve network and the Federal Government has committed up to $100 million for affected commercial fishers.