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NEWS
Humane Society condemns Australian anglers
Despite rebounding stocks as confirmed by aerial surveillance, the ill-informed Humane Society has condemned Aussie anglers fishing to regulationsHumane Society International (HSI) issued an ill-informed press release today (July 25) condemning the stunning capture of a 143.7kg potential world and Australian record southern bluefin tuna (SBT) caught on 15kg tackle by Sydney Game Fishing Club President, Karen Wright, off Sydney on Wednesday (July 23).
The SBT is recognised internationally as a critically endangered species and listed as an endangered species in NSW. Recreational anglers in all states fish to regulations as prescribed by fisheries management, based on science not emotion or lack of education, as the following comments appears to suggest.
"Around the world many countries and individuals are working hard to conserve Southern Bluefin Tuna. It is therefore appalling to see the pictures today of an individual bragging about the large Southern Bluefin Tuna they caught and ate," said HSI’s Senior Program Manager Alexia Wellbelove.
"This is a fish that would no doubt be vital to the breeding population of Southern Bluefin Tuna. With so many catch and release programs in place we question the rationale behind needing to kill such a magnificent animal, when instead it could have been left in the ocean to continue to contribute to future generations," concluded Ms Wellbelove.
Besides taking a swipe at Australian anglers, HSI believes that recreational fishing limits for SBT's should count towards the Australian total allowable catches, as allocated by the international body regulating the catching of the species, the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. HSI in essence wants to prevent recreational SBT fishing.
Meantime, aerial surveillance has shown a booming SBT stock in Australian waters, officially well up on previous years, as anglers improving catches attest. And if we aren't to eat the fish we catch, Ms Wellbelove, who will? John West or the big export markets? What about the commercial bluefin industry in SA? Does Ms Wellbelove oppose that, too?
These comments says everything about an ill-informed and terribly small-minded Humane Society that gets its back up over a mainstream media photo of one record fish being weighed, after it was caught, and before it was eaten, while hundreds of thousands of SBTs are landed for commercial gain and exported elsewhere. We can draw no other conclusion that this is anti-angling at its worst.
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Written byBoatsales Staff
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