Coalition pitches to recreational fishers: COMMENT

The Coalition has just come out with a pre-election press release saying it applauds Labor’s recent announcement (made on June 2, 2016), that it is committed to stopping super trawlers from entering Australian waters.

In April 2015, the Coalition says it banned all super trawlers (boats over 130 metres) from entering Australian waters.

We now interrupt this pre-election press release to present some facts on factory trawlers...

COMMENT: SOME FACTS ON FACTORY TRAWLERS
But the Coalition's Senator Richard Colbeck and his cronies sure struck up a deal to introduce factory scale fishing to Australia's small pelagic fishery (SPF) in 2015.

What's more, in 2012, it was Labor's Senator Joe Ludwig who supported the introduction of the super trawler FV Margiris into Australia in 2012.

So who can you trust here?

Yes, we need to interrupt this pre-election position statement before it even kicks off, because factory trawlers of any size are exactly the issue here.

The death ship Geelong Star, which has caused so much angst among offshore anglers along the Eastern Seaboard, measures 95 metres long. It's the catch that is the issue not the size of the ship.

What is needed here, at very least, is a clear policy regarding factory trawlers, the small-pelagic fishery and how these extractive ships working our critical bait resource and biomass need to keep clear of recreational sport and game fisheries. That needs to be a condition of the licence.

What is needed here, at very least, is some firm ruling about separating the two fishing groups by a big margin and not hollow promises centred on semantics. Insulting statements about no supertrawlers while allowing factory trawlers just take anglers for fools.

And what is needed here is greater transparency with the modus operandi, targeted fishing areas and by-catch of factory trawlers so all of Australia can have some faith in the commercial fishery, if that is at all possible now and must continue.

To date, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has been anything but forthcoming and honest about seal deaths, albatross deaths, dolphin deaths and the possible death of a whale shark winched aboard.

To date, AFMA and the operators of the Geelong Star have snubbed any kind of gentleman's agreement made in Canberra between them and anglers that they wouldn't fish near recreational fisheries and that they would keep away at tournament time. It's all been a string of lies from the very first mention of the word supertrawler aka factory trawler...

We now resume our normal election politicking transmission with the remaining press release that includes some better news about recreational fishing representation at Federal Governemnt level...

COALITION AND REC FISHING
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Senator Anne Ruston said the Coalition was committed to managing Australia’s fisheries to ensure that both commercial and recreational fishers can co-exist and share the resource.

"That’s why a re-elected Turnbull Coalition will amend the Fisheries Management Act 1991 to ensure AFMA takes into account the interests of all fisheries users – commercial, recreational and indigenous fishers," Minister Ruston said.

"We also propose amending legislation to increase the size of a number of Management Advisory Committees (MACs) for specific fisheries to enable the appointment of a recreational fishing sector representative, and move to have recreational fishing sector representatives appointed to Resource Assessment Groups.

"We are committed to a balanced and science-based approach to all decisions regarding access to Commonwealth fisheries.

"The Commonwealth’s strict commercial quota system caps the tonnage of fish that can be caught, regardless of the number or size of fishing boats," Minister Ruston said.

"Commonwealth fisheries are an important and precious resource owned by the entire Australian community and shared by a range of stakeholders.

"Recreational fishing is a significant contributor to the national economy, particularly in regional areas and through local, interstate and international tourism.

"The Coalition respects the voice of the recreational fishing sector and wants to ensure it’s always consulted on relevant fisheries management decisions.

"Monitoring of our fisheries' health has demonstrated that no solely-managed Commonwealth fishery is subject to overfishing.

"We took an important step in 2013 by committing $550,000 over four years to support the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) to improve the capacity of the recreational fishing sector to constructively engage with government on national policy issues, as well as better communicate with fishers and the community and promote sustainable fishing methods through a revised National Recreational Fishing Code of Practice.

"Unlike Labor, the Coalition are serious about consultation with the more than five million recreational fishers in Australia."