“The number of tickets historically sold have ranged from 500 to well over 1000,” he wrote.

“This is far too many for a small, fragile reef ecosystem.

“We can prove on record that after a ‘successful' Classic, the local fish stocks are absolutely depleted and the three full-time pro hand-line fishermen do it tough for a few weeks,” he said.

Mr Morgan said there appears to be no concern for the fact most bream, mulloway, luderick and other species are spawning or will be and that the snapper have moved inshore as a preamble to their spawning season.

Fishing Classic president Peter Leeson conceded a large number of jewfish were caught, but said: “NSW Fisheries enforced bag limits over the course of the classic and they and the waterways people were very vigilant and they were happy with the way people conducted themselves and the way they stuck to the rules.”