'Geelong Star' to rip 16.5-million kilos of baitfish

The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF), the national organisation representing the interests of Australia’s angling community, is in discussions with the Small Pelagic Fishing Industry Association (SPFIA), the organisation representing the operators of the Geelong Star, in order to address concerns about the impacts of industrial exploitation of the small pelagic fishery (SPF) on recreational fishers and the broader community.

The renamed Dutch ship the Geelong Star, Seafish Tasmania's 95-metre freezer vessel, has been given  approval to access the SPF following the banning of so-called supertrawlers above 130 metres in length late last year.

The quota for the Geelong Star  has been set at 16,566 tonnes for jack mackerel, redbait and blue mackerel for the 2014-15 fishing season. Conservatively, if there were two fish to the kilo that would represent more than 33 million fish extracted each year.

JOINT STATEMENT
In a joint statement issued March 23, SPFIA and the ARFF have said they have met to discuss concerns that recreational fishers have about commercial fishing activities in the small pelagic fishery.

SPFIA and ARFF have agreed to work together on these concerns. Future discussions will explore whether the concerns raised by recreational fishers about the proximity of commercial fishing activities to recreational fishing activities can be addressed by adapting where and when commercial fishing activities occur.

The announcement comes as the Government moves to final approval of the 95m Geelong Star to operate in the fishery. It is likely that the industrial trawler will be fishing Australian waters within weeks.

NO PRECEDENCE
Though the Government has commissioned additional research to fill many of the knowledge gaps, the fact remains that commercially fishing the SPF at this scale and in this way is untried in Australia. The answers to many key questions ARFF have remained theoretical at this stage, or in the case of the cost/ benefit to the Australian community, unanswered.

That said, we understand that the Government is satisfied with the science on the fishery and the Geelong Star will access the SPF, regardless of ARFF’s legitimate concerns.  

WHY IT MATTERS
The SPF is a very important fishery for Australia’s recreational fishers.

What happens in the fishery can have impacts on Australia’s recreational fishers now and for the future.

Here are some key points to consider:
>> The SPF covers a large proportion of Australia’s coastline including all of our major capital cities and regional centres, from Brisbane, south to Sydney and Hobart, across to Melbourne and Adelaide and Perth. In addition, it covers some of Australia’s most iconic recreational fishing grounds.
>> Under legislation for this fishery, the Geelong Star can fish within three nautical miles of these population centres at any time of the year.
>> Small pelagic fish are a major food source within the marine-food web that includes key recreational species such as southern bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, marlin and kingfish.

COST BENEFITS?
Recreational fishing in Australia generates an estimated $10 billion a year and creates tens of thousands of jobs through out metropolitan and regional communities.

ARFF is rightly cautious about the impacts that any commercial activities in the SPF would or could have on Australia’s recreational fishers, the communities that support them, and the wider marine environment.

Discussions with SPFIA will focus on ways to minimise impacts by managing where and when the Geelong Star fishes and to develop research in order to understand more about the fishery and its place within the marine-food web.