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Trawlers moored under the Gold Coast Fishermen's Co-op banner at Carters Basin
Gold Coast Fishermen's Co-operative logo
Save the Co-op

Queensland's last fishing co-op is being forced off the Spit

Fifty years selling the daily catch straight off the trawlers. The redevelopment plans hand them a site too small to work from. Here's the story, and what you can do about it.

Email the Deputy Premier
1970
Established on the Spit
0
Years selling direct
0
Signatures on the petition
Last
Co-op left in Queensland
The Co-op

Fifty years, straight off the boat

The Gold Coast Fishermen's Co-op opened in 1970, one of the first things ever built on the Spit at Main Beach. It's the last fishermen's co-op left in Queensland.

Trawlers land their catch at Carter's Basin and sell it direct to the public off the boat. No middle links, fresh that morning, at a price local families can afford.

Customers on the dock at Carters Basin holding fresh spanner crabs
Straight off the boatBuy the catch the morning it lands. No middle links, no cold storage, no supermarket markup.
Tap
Customers at Carters Basin. Tap the photo.
The Gold Coast fishing fleet moored at Carters Basin with the skyline behind

This is Carter's Basin. Public land, working water, and the fleet that feeds the coast.

What they were promised

A working home on the water

"
The project reflects the vision of the Spit Master Plan for Carters Basin... enabling the daily catch to be sold direct to the public in a convenient and ordered manner.
Spit Master Plan, May 2019
"
The fishermen have operated from this area for several generations. We wanted to make sure that the proponents supported the Fishermen's Co-op to continue there in the future.
Jarrod Bleijie, Deputy Premier & Minister for State Development, 17 December 2025
What the plans deliver

Promised a home. Handed a plan that fails to deliver.

Tap each card to see what it means for the co-op.

1

A site too small

The area the State allocated is too small to run a commercial fishing operation.

Too small to berth the fleet and run a working shopfront. A co-op that can't operate can't sell.
2

Parking away from the boats

Paid underground parking, then a long, complicated walk to the trawlers.

A drive-in seafood run becomes a chore. Foot traffic drops, and so does the co-op's income.
3

Rent that prices seafood out

A steep rent rise that pushes fresh seafood past what families can afford.

Higher rent flows straight to the counter. Affordable local seafood is the whole point. Price it out and it's finished.
What the co-op needs

Modify the plans so it can keep operating

The plans changed so the co-op can operate safely and keep selling fresh seafood direct off the boat, the way people have bought it here for 50 years.

Fresh Local Seafood, direct from our fishing vessels to the public, drive in sign at the co-op
Direct to the publicThe only place in Queensland where the fleet still sells its catch straight to families. Lose the site and you lose that.
Tap
The path to saving it

Where your voice comes in

Follow the story, and see where one email changes it.

1970
Opened
The co-op starts selling off the boat on the Spit.
2024
Tendered
The State puts the public site out for redevelopment.
2026
Too small
The plans come back too small to operate.
You
Your email
One message to the Deputy Premier adds to the pressure.
✓
The win
The co-op keeps its home and its counter.

One email helps keep the co-op open

Tell the Deputy Premier you don't want to lose fresh seafood direct from the trawlers. The message is written for you, just hit send.

Email the Deputy Premier
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Straight to deputy.premier@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Stand with the co-op

Follow the fight

Add your email and we'll keep you posted on the campaign to save it. One list, no spam.

We'll only email about the campaign.

You're in. We'll keep you posted on the co-op.
Freshest Catch (the co-op) → Instagram → Facebook → Save Our Broadwater →

Just up the coast, Starkey's Seafood on North Stradbroke lands its own wild catch, and their son runs a vessel out of this very co-op. Same fight, same map. Find both on the Nutrition Verified map of local producers.

Open the map →

Photos courtesy of the Gold Coast Fishermen's Co-op.

Nutrition Verified is an independent verification system for Australian food producers. Verification confirms that product information is accurate, consistent and not misleading at the time of review. Nutrition Verified does not certify products, assess food safety, or provide dietary advice. Verification does not replace obligations under Australian food standards or the role of FSANZ, the ACCC or other regulatory bodies. Nutrition Verified Market Co (NVMC) is the commerce arm and sells products from verified producers only.