Senator Hill quickly capitulated. He abandoned the existing process and initiated new working groups dominated by the fishing industry, alienating dugong scientists and the conservation movement. The prohibition on netting was abandoned in 15 of 16 DPAs. Senator Hill relied on attendance requirements for nets, convinced by the fishing industry that a single fisher within half a mile of a net could determine if a dugong was caught in a net, react, arrive, and extricate the 900-pound dugong within the 4 to 8 minutes it takes a dugong to drown. He was also convinced to allow entirely new forms of netting that pose an added threat to dugongs.
Scientists disagree with the outcome.
In fact, Dr. Preen has been so vocal in his criticisms of the measures he has become a regular target of fishing industry venom and wise-use movement crackpots. The only other measures announced by the government were a series of voluntary agreements with traditional owners that they would not hunt the dugong in the DPAs while dugong populations were in such trouble, and the removal of some of the remaining shark nets. Hunting continues in some areas. There were no measures to address boat traffic. No measures to eliminate trawling over seagrass beds.