Meridien Marina has denied rumours that fishing boats will be left stranded without a place to unload their cargo as the development of the marina progresses.

A group representing the fishing community has raised concerns that, should access to the slipway and pontoons be restricted, there would be nowhere to unload their fish stocks and to undergo maintenance.

Tony Purves, a former medical scientist, said any move by Meridien Marina to stop fishermen using the area without a suitable alternative being provided would result in the loss of hundreds of jobs from the region.

"The relocation of our entire fishing fleet from Port Douglas to Cooktown would result in such dire consequences as to take away some 400 jobs from the community let alone the serious financial strain on the local economy.

"The importance of the Port Douglas slipway is obvious, servicing both the Port Douglas fishing fleet of 25 vessels and the Cooktown fishing fleet of over 10 vessels, this is even before servicing the local charter fleet."

Mr Purves said that should this occur, local restaurants and consumers would suffer from a massive increase in fish prices.

"The tonnage that they offload here is mind-boggling, it's incredible," Mr Purves said.

"The bulk of their dead fish goes to Cairns, they (the fishermen) sell it at $15kg to Cairns, who will process it and send it back to Port Douglas at $46kg."

The group believes the problem has arisen due to Cairns Regional Council's deviation from the original waterfront masterplan which was reportedly approved by all parties, including a Project Advisory Group made up of 26 representatives of local industries and associations.

According to Mr Purves, under this plan there was a provision for an area near the existing slipway for fishing boats to sell their product direct to the public, a bar, and fish and chip shop, creating a fishing village style atmosphere.

Reports that Meridien had given fishermen an end of month deadline to vacate the pontoons and slipway have been refuted by management.

"We've not given anyone any orders in any way, shape, or form," said Peter Jones, general manager of Meridien Mariner in Port Douglas.

"As per the Port Douglas Masterplan which we have to follow, we'll be supplying an area for every legitimate fishing boat.

"We are completely behind keeping this as a fishing village and any legitimate fishing boat that's working with permits and registered and licensed we've agreed to look after and we're always going to.

"We want to make it part of our new development," he said.

"There are a few boats in that area that will end up getting kicked out. Some boats that don't have their own power, our insurance won't allow us to put them in the marina.

"They're living on the boats and they're not licensed fishing boats. There is going to be the odd boat that will be asked to move on." 

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