Barrier Reef disaster status 'will hurt tourism'

ABC News 22 Mar 09;

The Queensland Tourism Industry Council says declaring part of the Great Barrier Reef a natural disaster zone would be disastrous for reef tourism.

The Seafood Industry Association wants the State Government to declare half the Great Barrier Reef a natural disaster area because of damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Hamish.

The association says the category five storm destroyed parts of the reef from Bowen south to the Wide Bay and jobs are at risk because the fish have gone.

But Daniel Gschwind from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council says declaring the reef a disaster area is not a good move.

"It would be very unhelpful for the tourism operators up and down the coast," he said.

He says the negative publicity would further hurt tourism operators.

"We recognise that Cyclone Hamish was a significant natural event but to take the step now and seek a declaration for a natural disaster would certainly not be helpful," he said.

"It would be inappropriate and probably misleading for the public as well.

"We're very keen to make sure that the public is not driven into believing that it's no longer worth going to see the reef."

The Department of Primary Industries says a disaster declaration over half the reef would be a first.

But the Queensland Fisheries Department says it could take up to a year before fish numbers return to normal in the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef.

Department director-general Jim Groves says fishing operations cannot continue as normal.

"Coral will recover in time. The advice we've been given is it could take 12 months for the fish to reappear," he said.

"There are fish further north so some operators have moved up to off the Townsville region, but there's a limit to how many operators can operate in the smaller area that's now available."