http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17912848-421,00.html

COMMERCIAL fishing will be banned in Sydney Harbour from this morning and anglers told not to eat their catch after tests found dangerous levels of poisons in marine life.

The tests on bream and other fish species in the Harbour found high levels of dioxins - which can cause cancer and birth defects - coming from contaminated sites at Homebush Bay.
The ban applies to the entire Harbour - from Parramatta to the Heads - and is the first ban of its kind in Sydney's history.

Recreational anglers will be told to "catch and release" all fish and signs will be posted across the Harbour.

Swimming will still be allowed as the poisons are not carried in dangerous quantities in water but concentrated in fish, making consumption potentially deadly.

Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald ordered the tests on fish after elevated levels of dioxins were found in prawns caught in the Harbour in December.

Commercial prawn fishing was banned at the time and an independent panel was set up to examine the situation.
That panel was meeting last night to consider the results of the latest tests before the NSW Food Authority makes a recommendation to Mr Macdonald.

Sources told The Daily Telegraph late yesterday that dioxin levels in fin fish caught in the Harbour were so high they were unsafe to eat.

Mr Macdonald was last night waiting for expert recommendations, expected early this morning, but the sources said the minister would have little choice but to stop the consumption of fish caught in the Harbour.

Another source said experts were considering telling anglers to limit consumption of Harbour fish to once a month.

"I expect that advice to include a range of options for the Government's consideration, including a possible ban on commercial fin fishing in the Harbour," Mr Macdonald said last night.

"It's important to remember that fin fish from Sydney Harbour make up less than 2 per cent of the total catch sold in Sydney."

Dioxins are passed along the food chain through a process called bioaccumulation. Because bream eat a lot of prawns, they require urgent testing.

When people eat fish contaminated with dioxins - which come from fertilizer and pesticides - the contaminants accumulate in their body tissue.

Thiess Services is cleaning up two sites at Rhodes Peninsula in Homebush Bay - including the Union Carbide site that produced Agent Orange - and that is where the dioxins have come from.

Upper House MP and medical practitioner Dr Peter Wong, who has been investigating the dioxins situation, said he was concerned for women who may have consumed Harbour fish.

"Sadly it is pregnant women and their unborn babies who are at the greatest risk from these mutagens and cancer causing chemicals," Dr Wong said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18093336-29280,00.html

THE NSW opposition and a Sydney Harbour fisherman have attacked a compensation offer for commercial fishers banned from the harbour, calling the multi-million dollar package "peanuts".

The fishing ban was originally imposed for three months, but Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said the clean-up of the "industrial hangover" would take some time.

"$5.8 million to buy out 40 (fishing) families and their crews, $5.8 million to also educate the public and to remediate dioxin is akin to the Magic Pudding."

"I'll be honest with you, if I don't get a decent compensation out of it, I won't be taking it, I'll be going up to the Hawkesbury and fishing."

But Mr Macdonald said he hoped the buyback would prevent overfishing in areas around Sydney like the Hawkesbury.

Testing was also being carried out on a range of pelagic fish species and the government may look at a limited reopening of Port Jackson to a few commercial fishers, he said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18782907-29277,00.html

ONLY half the commercial fishers offered a buyout after high levels of dioxin were found in Sydney Harbour have agreed to the deal with the New South Wales Government.

The NSW Government announced a $5 million buyback of 42 Sydney Harbour fishing licences in February.

A spokesman for Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald today said only 21 of those licence holders had accepted the buyout.

Five more were still in negotiations, he said.

A second round of offer letters will be sent this week to the remainder, giving them an extra month to accept.

Mark Forrester, a Sydney Harbour fisherman, from Five Dock, said he had not agreed to a buyout because it was inadequate.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18868367-29280,00.html

SYDNEY harbour fisherman and their families have toxic chemicals in their blood up to ten times higher than the average Australian.

Blood samples taken from a group of Sydney fisherman who ate fish from the harbour three to four times each week showed high levels of dioxins in their blood, ABC Television reports.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19010631-29280,00.html

A BAN on eating many fish species in Sydney Harbour could be lifted after recent dioxin tests showed most were safe to consume.

"Of the 70 fish so far tested in the latest round of tests, only 11 had levels of dioxin higher than the six picograms per gram recommended by the expert panel," Mr Macdonald said today.

"I must stress these are early samples only, but the signs for some species and some areas are hopeful."

The dioxin problem stems from industrial pollution in areas like Homebush Bay which have poisoned sediment in the harbour.

Most of the species effected by the dioxins are bottom feeders, such as bream, prawns, mullet and squid, which continue to record high levels of the poison.

The Government was to review dietary advice given to recreational fisherman once the tests, which are only 20 per cent complete, have been assessed by the Food Authority's Expert Panel.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19034869-29277,00.html

THIRTY-one of Sydney Harbour's 44 commercial fishing operators have accepted a New South Wales Government offer to buy out their licences.

Has anybody been diagnosed with dioxin poisoning yet?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Sydney-Harbour-fish-stocks-healthy-again/2007/07/28/1185339292193.html

Fish stocks in Sydney Harbour have rebounded just 18 months after slim pickings almost forced some fishermen to throw in their lines.

Over-fishing had badly depleted fish stocks in the harbour, prompting the NSW Department of Primary Industries to address the problem, Fairfax newspapers report.

A ban on commercial fishing since January last year, the closure of 30 estuaries, a seven-year ban on kingfish traps and the dredging of sediment from Homebush Bay are all believed to have helped boost stocks.

"It's such a good feeling to catch decent fish in your own backyard and, if it's managed right, it should stay that way," a fisherman told Fairfax.

Among the strengthening fish species seen this year is the almost-forgotten samson fish, closely related to the yellow-tailed kingfish.