Commercial fisher Jeremy Hooper says Lake Innes fish breeding grounds in jeopardy from reversion plan

Fourth generation commercial fisher Jeremy Hooper says the financial and environmental impacts would be enormous.

Three full time and three part-time commercial fishers currently ply their trade on Lake Innes.

The discussion around reversion has increased recently with the Revive Lake Cathie group calling on relevant stakeholders to consider the plan to return Lake Innes to freshwater.

The group says the reversion would create an emergency water source for the Port Macquarie-Hastings. It says the future-proofing of the lakes is urgent.

But Mr Hooper says closing off the lake would highly impact recreational fishers and tourism while having an environmental, social and economic impact across the Port Macquarie-Hastings and Mid-North Coast.

He said access to Lake Innes for commercial fishers was their last throw of the dice after the state government closed the Hastings River to them in 2002.

"I've noticed some organisations are calling for the lake to be closed off and reverted to freshwater," he said.

"That's just completely ridiculous. It will completely ruin the entire estuary system.

"Fisheries recently completed research and their findings say that the benefits would be marginal compared to the negative impacts and risks.

"The report also mentions that scientific evidence and similar experiences throughout NSW and Australia show that reversion (to fresh water) is highly unlikely and the lake would most likely be dominated by invasive species.

"The report says there would be significant risk."

A department of primary industries spokesperson says DPI Fisheries regularly meets with stakeholders about the general management of the Lake Innes/Lake Cathie Estuarine System.

"Port Macquarie Hastings Council is responsible for the management of Lake Cathie and is leading the development of an LGA-wide coastal management program," the spokesperson added.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council were asked for comment.

Mr Hooper said his main concern was that the lake's deterioration would eventually, if left without human intervention, affect the entire system.

The time for hoping for rain was just not good enough anymore while letting it run dry is also not an option, he said.

"I have never seen the lake's deterioration as bad as it is, and we've been on this river for a combined 200 years.

"Last year they opened it up (at the lake mouth) on the southern side, which was a complete waste of time," Mr Hooper said.

"As soon as the north easters got up it just closed it real quick.

"You simply need to get a grader in there and take the top off the sand and just let the sea push water into the lake at a steady rate.

"That will benefit the lake enormously," he said. "But it cannot be a major influx (of water).

"There needs to be a long, slow increase in water into the entire system."

Mr Hooper said Lake Innes was a breeding and spawning ground for prawns that then travel down to the ocean on the back of a full moon.

It is also a prominent fish nursery that he described as "a very special place".

While he acknowledged the significant drop in the lake's water levels, Mr Hooper says it has not impacted on fish stock numbers.

"I'd estimated that there is something like 80 ton of mullet alone currently in the lake system.

"That figure does not include other species including black fish, bream, tailor, whiting or king and school prawns.

"All these fish species have just finished their spawning cycle which has created plenty of juvenile fish in the estuary.

"These young fish could potentially grow into hundreds of ton of mature fish in a few year's time.

"That would also be jeopardised if this reversion plan were to go ahead. That fish and prawn local resource would not be available to the public."

Mr Hooper said in his family's experience they had never seen a decline in fish stock numbers in the lake.

"If anything, it is now better than it ever has been.

"There is no pollution, no human development, no run-off and no pesticides contaminating the place.

"It is virtually untouched."

Mr Hooper said fish and prawns caught in the Lake Innes estuary are either sold direct to the public, through the Laurieton Fish Co-op or to local seafood outlets.

"There is local product available to the local market," he said.

"Seal off the lake and turn it back to freshwater and you won't get that kind of access anymore. The resource won't be there."

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