Dear Premier,

I am writing to you to consider banning opera house traps and other enclosed yabby traps due to their impact on wildlife. Opera house and other enclosed yabby traps are inadvertently killing platypuses, as well as other native species such as turtles, Australian water-rats and water birds.

While legal in Queensland, opera house traps are banned in all public waters of Tasmania, Victoria, ACT and east of the Newell Highway in New South Wales due to the threat they pose to wildlife.

The Queensland recreational fishing regulations state that opera house traps and other enclosed yabby traps such as funnel traps and round traps must have no more than 4 entrances, with each entrance hole measuring no more than 10cm in any dimension. Scientific and anecdotal evidence shows that a number of wildlife species including turtles, platypuses and water rats can pass through an entrance hole of these dimensions.

Should your Government decided against banning these fishing devices, I ask that you consider as a minimum, amending the regulations to reduce the dimensions of entrance holes from 10cm to 5cm. While such actions will not guarantee protection of all wildlife, it would certainly restrict the impacts on platypuses and breeding turtles.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

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