Burke's Oceanic Compromise

[Gad]

Taken from todays (14-6-12) Fishing Worlds Email Newsletter

14 Jun 2012

By Jim Harnwell

IN what can only be seen as an ironic twist, Tony Burke's announcement today about the formation of the world's biggest marine park system comes as news a foreign-owned "super-trawler" named the FV Margiris has been given the green light to rape and pillage across most of the southern half of the country.

WTF? Does the federal Government seriously expect any sort of environmental kudos for its marine parks plans when it allows industrial fishing operations like this free rein to exploit our waters?

The seemingly senseless juxtaposition involved with spruiking giant new marine parks while at the same time permitting a ship that drags a net 600m long to decimate our waters – not to mention also allowing gas and oil mining, plus intensive shipping, near sensitive oceanic habitats - highlights an essential flaw in the Government's marine parks policies. The fact is the Government currently lumps recreational fishing in as being the same as industrial operations. Minister Burke today said on ABC radio that the commercial trawlers and long-liners currently operating in areas earmarked to be gazetted as federal marine parks stand to get up to $100 million in "compensation". Although anglers are classified by Mr Burke and his Government colleagues as being essentially the same as the trawlermen and long-liners, we will get zero compensation for getting locked out. How the hell does that work?

Apart from the "super trawler" bombshell, Burke's marine reserves announcement held no real surprises. As expected, the various zones making up the new 3.1 million square kilometre series of interconnected marine reserves are based on compromise and expediency. In other words, it's a typical political decision.

It's been clear for some years now that the Rudd/Gillard Government has been committed to continuing the national marine protection agenda initially started by John Howard. The big question was how far it would go. Anti-fishing groups led by the US-based Pew organisation were pushing hard for mega reserves that completely closed all waters to all fishing. Anglers and moderate environment groups presented more rational plans, with the sportfishing lobby advocating "gold" zones which removed destructive commercial operations in favour of eco-friendly C&R fishing.

The announcement today clearly shows the Government has pretty big ambitions relating to marine protection. Thankfully those ambitions don't resemble the no-compromise lockouts advocated by Pew and its extremist cohorts. But Tony Burke obviously wants to go down in history as a serious environmental reformer. It has to be said, however, that the reformist zeal today demonstrated by our erstwhile Environment Minister has been tempered to a degree by his inherent political pragmatism. Tony Burke has released a politically savvy plan that mollifies the moderate environmentalists while not completely alienating the angling sector. Well, at least it aims to not alienate those of us who live in the major population centres along the east coast. Anglers living in these areas will be fundamentally unaffected by the federal marine parks. We won't be spared the loving attention of the FV Margiris, though ...

If you're unfortunate enough to live in north Queensland or in southern WA you will have to adapt to large areas of your waters now being closed to you. The poor old Sandgropers will get a double-whammy in that they'll get slapped with big marine parks while also having the FV Margiris drag its enormous net through the waters still left open.

In fairness to Minister Burke, he has for the past year or so worked diligently with angling groups in an attempt to assuage the impacts of his plans on our activities. The zoning maps he released today have small "gold" areas which allow for rec-only fishing and in the Coral Sea the maps indicate that at least some productive reef edges and drop-offs, where fish like marlin, GTs, dogtooth and so on tend to hang around, will be open for sportfishing.

While Burke should be given due credit for at least trying to work with us, the fact is there was no need for him to ban responsible rec fishing in his marine national parks in the first place. Fishing isn't banned in terrestrial national parks, federal or state, so why should it be banned in these new marine versions?

So, where do we go from here? Most of the pundits I've spoken to today say the key now is to push hard to ensure the management plans – ie, the rules which will affect what can actually occur in the various zones within the new reserves – are as fisho friendly as possible. Tony Burke wants these management plans to be finalised before the next federal election, due in 2013. That will be a tight deadline.

As the peak body representing anglers, the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation is now taking the line that the Government desist from classifying recreational fishing as being the same as commercial operations. ARFF is right when it says that it's obvious that what we do out on the water is completely different to what industrial trawlers or long-liners do.

In effect, the way forward is quite straightforward: If the Government insists fishing is fishing, regardless of whether it's commercial or recreational, then it should compensate Australia's 5 million recreational anglers for the areas we stand to lose under its federal marine parks plans. If it can't or won't do that, then the Government should immediately reverse its decision to lock us out. If Tony Burke is fair dinkum about wanting to work with fishos, then he should do the right thing by us. So don't lock us out, Tony! And ban that bloody "super-trawler"!

Jim Harnwell is the publisher and editor of Fishing World. He has been reporting and commenting on marine parks and fisheries issues for the past several years.

Petition against Coral Sea closures

14 Jun 2012

IN the wake of today's release of the federal Government's final draft plan for a series of marine parks around Australia, one world renowned charter fishing company stands to have its operations affected, unless Environment Minister Tony Burke modifies the zones in the Coral Sea now earmarked to be closed to fishing.

Damon Olsen, head of world renowned Nomad Sportfishing Adventures is calling upon anglers from around the world to help this cause by signing an online petition which will be forwarded directly to the Environment Minister.

The petition is a plea to have the remote Marion, Kenn and Osprey Reefs listed as "pelagic-only" fishing zones so recreational fishermen can continue to access and enjoy the unique sportfishing these reefs offer for years to come.

You can help by signing the Nomad Sportfishing Adventures petition HERE.....

The link for the above petition was down. If I remember I`ll check it out tomorrow in case some want to peruse and use it. Cheers Gad

[Gad]

Mention of this in the post above,and update from earlier post regarding this trawler

Taken from todays (14-6-12) Fishing Worlds Email Newsletter

European super trawler set to plunder Australian waters

14 Jun 2012

CONTROVERSIAL super trawler, the FV Margiris, a giant vessel measuring 143 metres long, with a net 600 metres long and a capacity of 9500 tonnes is set to target baitfish in Australian waters.

The super trawler that has caused controversy for its role in fishing off Europe and West Africa is now coming to Australia, courtesy of SeaFish Tasmania in a joint venture with its Lithuanian owners.

According to a report in Tasmania's Examiner, the massive trawler will be based in Devonport from where it will target slimy (blue) mackerel baitfish along the Eastern seaboard in Commonwealth waters, from Queensland down to Tasmania and across to Western Australia.

The vessel has a total allowable catch of 18,000 tonnes a year, freezes its catch on-board, and can stay at sea for six to eight weeks at a time. The frozen mackerel blocks will reportedly be cold stored in Devonport, and shipped out to West Africa and Asia.

The move is understandably causing widespread uproar among recreational and commercial fishers and environmental groups, due to valid concerns over the long term impact such large scale harvesting will have on the marine food chain.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the organisation had confronted the Margiris off the coast of Mauritania in March, for its role in what it says is overfishing in the North Sea and South Pacific ''to the point of plunder''.

The environmental group claims the industrial super-trawler is part of the European Association of pelagic freezer trawlers (PFA), responsible for "some of the worst fishing excesses on the planet.''

It said PFA vessels had been reponsible for jack mackerel stocks off Chile plummeting by 90 per cent.

"There has never been a trawler of this scale in Australian waters to my understanding before and that is a serious concern that we just don't know what effect it will have on the food chain," Greens MP Kim Booth said.

However, Australian unions are supporting the trawler because the majority of crew will be from Tasmania and the Federal Government says vigorous checks will be applied to its catch rates.