Some recreational fishers have walked away from government-run working groups in frustration, saying they will not rejoin until the state government passes new regulations to cap the amounts and types of fish that can be caught.

Queensland’s fisheries minister, Mark Furner, said the government remained committed to the reforms and they were still “on track”.

The Great Barrier Reef has seen three major outbreaks of coral bleaching in the past five years – events driven by climate heating that can kill and weaken corals and severely disturb the ecosystem.