Fisheries of the Great Barrier Reef

[Extract] The fisheries of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) are diverse and dynamic. They reflect changing environmental, social, economic and regulatory conditions, as well as the stock status of fisheries resources. People have been fishing in the GBR for tens of thousands of years, with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples catching a wide variety of fish and shellfish for subsistence and cultural use (Smith 1987; Savage 2003; Cadet-James et al. 2017). In the 1800s, the arrival of Europeans in Australia, and later arrival of Pacific Islanders, brought new fishers and ways of fishing to North Queensland (Bolton 1970). Since the 1950s and 60s, fishing in the GBR has evolved into specific fisheries sectors, and fishing and fisheries continue to be important activities and industries that are recognised as some of the main uses of the 'multi-use' Great Bar-rier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Generally, GBR fisheries can be divided into four main sectors: (1) commercial fisheries; (2) recreational fisheries; (3) charter fisheries; and (4) Indigenous fisheries.