Burke unveils his vision for fishing

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Taken from todays Fishing World Email Newsletter

27 Oct 2011

By Jim Harnwell

TONY Burke has promised to minimise the impact on anglers of the system of federal marine parks he plans to unroll around the country over the next few years.

Following up from a recent meeting held with rec fishing leaders in Sydney, the federal Environment Minister said in an interview with Fisho this week that his "preferred option" for the national system of marine parks would be to achieve necessary environmental outcomes while having minimal impact on recreational fishing.

The Minister revealed that he was considering a system of exclusive catch & release recreational fishing zones, known as "wilderness conservation areas", for at least some of the planned marine parks, including in the Coral Sea. Anti-fishing groups had earmarked the Coral Sea as a total no-go zone, a situation that Mr Burke last week categorically rejected.

The "wilderness conservation areas" would allow for sustainable C&R fishing with limited extraction of fish for immediate consumption – ie, you can only take what you need while in the actual area. Many rec fishing pundits believe such a system has the potential to create an array of world-class sportfishing destinations around the country.

Other areas within the new parks would allow for general recreational fishing to take place but no commercial fishing, the Minister said. Recreational and commercial fishing would continue in yet other areas with relatively small sections of high conservation importance completely closed to all fishing.

Mr Burke said he wanted these no-fishing zones to be primarily located away from popular recreational fishing areas in order to minimise any disadvantage to anglers.

The Minister said he and the Government regarded recreational fishing as an important part of the Australian way of life and that where possible rec fishing activities would continue largely as normal within the new federal parks.

He said he did not personally support the strict no-fishing stance advocated by hard-line environmental groups such as the US-funded Pew organisation.

"It's OK for these sort of groups to have hard-line views on marine park lockups. I have no problem with them espousing those sort of views as long as they don't expect the Government to accept those views as policy," the Minister said.

"I personally think it's wrong to view rec fishing as environmental vandalism as some of these green groups do.

"Fishing is and always will be a part of Australian life."

Re-establishment of an effective communications process between the Government and anglers was seen as a priority, the Minister said. His office was currently looking at options to help fund the creation of a new peak national body representing all anglers.

"I'm very keen to maintain and develop dialogue with anglers. We'll all get better outcomes if good consultation and communication between anglers and Government is developed.

"I'm very open to working out a way to help fund a national body for recreational fishing. It's important that anglers be able to communicate directly with Government and for Government to communicate with anglers.

"You guys are a pretty disparate group and so we've found it hard to communicate effectively with you in past."

As fisheries minister in the former Rudd Government, Mr Burke withdrew funding to RecFish Australia due to concerns that included a view that it did not properly represent the majority of Australian anglers.

While praising WA-based RecFish West as a "model for effective consultation" in its work liaising with the federal Government on the SW marine park issue, Mr Burke said he did not favour a return to the "old style RecFish Australia approach".

"For consultation to be effective it has to be frank and fearless, and that's something I don't think happened previously."

Rec fishing leaders are currently working with the Minister's office on a strategy to form and fund a new peak body to represent anglers nationally.

Sources reveal that a decision on this is expected within a few weeks. This new organisation would more than likely encompass key angling groups, the tackle industry and the boating sector.

Initially at least, its main focus would be working with the Government on attaining the best possible outcomes during the federal marine parks process.

Although Fisho pressed the issue, the Minister would not give precise indications on when his federal marine parks strategy would be finalised.

Public consultations about the formation of the planned park in the SW region have now closed, although the Minister said his office was currently working with rec fishing groups to fine-tune the process.

"Significant changes (to the draft plans for the park) have been requested by all sides – recreational fishing, environmental and commercial fishing.

My office is currently seeing what outcomes can be reached that will suit all parties. I'm keen to see if we can switch areas around in order to reduce any impacts on recreational fishing."

Fishing World understands the main sticking points from WA's rec fishing sector include areas of the Rottnest Trench and Geographe Bay to the south of Perth.

The Minister made it clear he was aware of angler concerns about these areas and reiterated that he was keen to achieve an outcome that would defuse the situation.

He would not give a precise timeline on when the final version of the SW park would be announced, other than saying it would be "soon".

After the SW announcement, the Minister said he would turn his focus on the north and northwest before heading east to work on the Coral Sea and also begin formulating a new plan for a federal marine park on the east coast.

This park would encompass parts of southern Queensland and NSW, although the Minister would not specify any details. It is unclear at this stage if federal plans for the east coast would take shape before the next election, due in 2013.

Fishing World plans to interview federal Opposition fisheries spokesman Richard Colbeck and shadow environment minister Greg Hunt to get the lowdown on their plans for federal fisheries management and rec fishing. Stay tuned for details on when those interviews will be conducted.

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Taken from todays Fishing World Email Newsletter 27-10-11

COMMENT: Burke Talks The Talk, Will He Walk The Walk?

By Jim Harnwell

THERE are some pretty positive vibes coming from federal Environment Minister Tony Burke in relation to recreational fishing issues. The take-home points so far are that:

1) He has categorically rejected the anti-fishing agenda of extremist Green groups;

2) He seems willing to work with anglers to minimise the impact of his marine park plans;

3) He is prepared to put his money where his mouth is in relation to helping fund a much-needed national peak body; and

4) He seems to be following the script – intentionally or otherwise – as outlined in Martin Salter's landmark Keep Australia Fishing report.

If Burke maintains his seeming interest in working proactively with rec anglers – and there's no reason why he shouldn't – it seems more than likely that we will achieve much more positive outcomes on a whole range of issues that we might have otherwise hoped for.

It is important, however, to realise that we are only at the early stages of our rapprochement with the feds. So far I think it's fair to say that we have impressed the Minister with our sincerity and our willingness to engage with him and his department but we have probably also frustrated the hell out of him with our lack of organisation and continuing inability to present a focused national message.

The fact that the Minister is keen to help fund a peak national body presents a unique opportunity to finally get our act together and start playing the game like grown ups.

If this peak body comes about – and I'm betting that it will – we need to make sure it's run by professionals who know how to deal with government and the bureaucracy. The time for well meaning amateurs trying to run the show is long gone.

The Salter report clearly outlines what we need to do here and I reckon we need to knuckle down and get it done. Stay tuned to this space for what I reckon will be some interesting developments that will hopefully take us forward to a brighter future.

But before we get ahead of ourselves the fact is that significant challenges still face us. Burke is likely to cop a flogging from environmentalists over his stated commitments supporting rec fishing.

They will doubtless put significant pressure on him and the Government to ban fishing in as many places as they possibly can. We need to work with Burke – and his counterparts in the Opposition – in presenting the positive benefits of a vibrant rec-fishing sector.

That is a big job – the environmental groups have some heavy hitters at their disposal – and again it's important that we get seasoned professionals on our team. These people don't come cheap – but they get the job done. I can't overstate the importance of getting this right.

After meeting with the Minister and also interviewing him I get the impression that he's genuinely interested in helping develop a sustainable rec fishing future. He has definite environmental goals that he wants to attain – as he should, he is the Environment Minister, after all - but I think he's beginning to understanding that meeting those goals doesn't mean that Australia's four or five million keen anglers need to be unfairly disadvantaged.

Hence his interest in developing exclusive sportfishing zones, large areas in federal parks where C&R and other low impact angling can occur but destructive commercial fishing can't. These "wilderness conservation areas" are a bloody ripper idea, as far as I can see, and present opportunities for some really exciting and visionary developments. See RecFish West's policy ideas HERE for a more detailed examination of this concept.

The strategy by our rec fishing leaders of presenting rec fishing as an environmentally responsible and family friendly activity has also been a good one. And it's a strategy based on fact – rec fishing is completely sustainable and, if managed properly, need have no adverse environmental impacts.

However open he is to working with us, the Minister isn't backing away from his marine park plans. His comments in our news story today about wanting to establish a big park on the east coast was a bit of a surprise, for me anyway.

The lack of detail about this east coast park – the Minister wasn't at all keen to discuss his plans in depth - makes it hard to draw any conclusions about its potential formation or structure.

While I might be flying in the dark, I predict here and now that any no-fishing zones in this area would likely have minimal impact on rec fishing activities. Why do I make this seemingly rash statement?

Well, the fact is that the federal Government is well aware that the east coast is protected by a comprehensive network of state marine parks, all of which have already placed significant restrictions on anglers and their families. Any move by the federal Government to further unfairly restrict angling opportunities would likely unleash some fairly wild voter backlash, especially in Queensland.

The willingness shown by Burke in the past weeks to work co-operatively with the angling sector indicates he is aware of the level of political disquiet the marine parks issue has created.

My gut feeling is that the Government would most likely prefer not to alienate millions of anglers by creating even more no-go zones along the heavily populated east coast, especially if there's no pressing environmental reason to do. Time will tell.

Jim Harnwell is the editor of Fishing World.