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Regional & State Issues
Posts specific to state-level issues (WA, QLD, NSW) that don't fit the broader "National" narrative.


Australia’s wild caught fisheries: why we need a parliamentary enquiry into fisheries now, and what the nuclear option would be
Australia is importing seafood from poorly regulated sources while shutting down its own fishers. With only 1,200 wild-caught operators left, it's time for a Parliamentary Enquiry before the damage becomes irreversible.

Dane Van Der Neut
1 day ago12 min read


Silver Trevally NSW: Why Fishers Are Questioning The “Unsustainable” Label
No one fishing for a living wants to go back to the days of growth overfishing on Silver Trevally in NSW. The minimum legal length, effort reductions and spatial protections are real changes, and they have cost our businesses dearly.

Dane Van Der Neut
Dec 37 min read


The Unseen Currents: Part Seven
When “overfishing” became the crisis of the 1970s, governments turned to market logic to save the sea. The Individual Transferable Quota promised order and sustainability, but instead it changed who could fish, who couldn’t, and who owned the ocean. The Birth of the Quota explores how a policy built on good intentions transformed an industry and the people behind it.

Joshua Van Der Neut
Nov 285 min read


When Foreign Owned Aquaculture Moves In, Do Aussie Lobster Fishers Have to Move Out?
Key Tasmanian lobster grounds have been shut so foreign owned aquaculture can keep exporting clean on paper. Emergency antibiotics for salmon pens, an emergency ban for Aussie lobster boats. This piece asks why Australian fishing families keep paying for other people’s risks.

Dane Van Der Neut
Nov 195 min read


Commercial Fishing and the Fight for Our Estuaries
Commercial fishing is being pushed out of local estuaries in the name of “protecting the fishery,” while charter boats, fishing media and tackle retail are celebrated. The public is told this is conservation. It is not. It is a handover. This story asks a simple question: who gets the estuary, the people who feed the community or the people who film the catch.

Dane Van Der Neut
Oct 299 min read


WA’s Western Rock Octopus Fishery: Proof Our Fisheries Don’t Need Foreign Validation
Western Australia’s Western Rock Octopus Fishery is thriving, showing rare growth in Australia’s commercial fishing sector. But as it’s hailed as a sustainable success, questions remain about why we still pay foreign certifiers to validate what our own scientists already know.

Dane Van Der Neut
Oct 132 min read


NSW commercial fishing licensing: price signals over paper
NSW commercial fishing licensing: price signals over paper.
How NSW commercial fishing licensing has shifted to rigid caps and shares, choking estuary flexibility, while rec rules stay simple. Mulloway caps examined.

Joshua Van Der Neut
Oct 103 min read


Net Zero Fishers: The Real Goal Behind the Climate Scam
Government climate policies claim to protect the planet, but in reality they are pushing Australia’s working fishers out of existence. “Net zero fishers” is becoming the true outcome of net zero emissions.

Dane Van Der Neut
Oct 62 min read


Offshore Wind Farms NSW Pulled Back: A Win for Fishers and the Sea
Offshore wind farms NSW have been cancelled or paused, a decision welcomed by commercial fishers. Projects off Newcastle and the Illawarra threatened fishing grounds, seafood supply, and left no clear plan for clean-up once turbines became inoperable. For fishers and seafood lovers, this is good news: the waters remain open, local supply chains are protected, and the ocean won’t become a dumping ground for abandoned industrial infrastructure.

Dane Van Der Neut
Sep 13 min read
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