Turn it away. Petition. Public meeting. Ravenous fleet. ‘No licence’. Seafish grant

TURN AWAY THE SUPER TRAWLER
Quota Increase About Profits Not ‘Science’

Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Thursday, 21 June 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Resources Minister Bryan Green to get off the fence and tell his Federal Labor counterparts to revoke the recent Commonwealth mackerel quota increase, to prevent the super trawler FV Margiris from exploiting Australia’s fish stocks.

Today the Greens brought on a debate in State Parliament, calling on Labor and Liberal parties to support local recreational and commercial fishing by joining the Greens’ campaign to turn away the super trawler.

Greens Leader Nick McKim said that, despite massive public concern, Labor and Liberal MPs refused to acknowledge the vessel’s potential to devastate already-fragile ocean ecosystems and the livelihood of Tasmanian fishing communities.

“During the debate there was not a single word of acknowledgement or concern from Labor and Liberal MPs about the impact of this floating vacuum cleaner on fish stocks and the fishing communities that rely on them,” Mr McKim said.

“The Margiris has just come from Africa, where it’s helped collapse fish stocks and destroy fishing communities, and now the company bringing it here is telling us that it will be good for our economy. All that means is that it will be good for their profits.”

“Despite the threat to species up the food chain, like the bluefin tuna, the Commonwealth recently increased the Total Allowable Catch for the Small Pelagic Fishery in Commonwealth waters, specifically to allow the super trawler to operate three miles off our coast.”

“Today Bryan Green tried to have a bet each way. On one hand he said he doesn’t support increasing the total allowable catch within state waters, but he’s happy for the Commonwealth to double their quota.”

“The doubling of the Commonwealth quota has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with freeing up the remaining fish for exploitation.”

“This quota increase was tailor-made for this ship, and the fact that the owner of the company sits on the board that decided the quota raises concerns over an apparent conflict of interest.”

“This quota increase should be immediately revoked, so that Australia does not have to face the same collapse in fish stocks that other places have already experienced.”

“This is about supporting sustainable human-scale fishing, as opposed to industrial-scale exploitation of the marine ecosystem at the expense of future fish stocks.”

“Senegal has already banned these super trawlers from their waters, after they learned the hard way what super trawlers can and do to collapse entire fisheries,” said Mr McKim.

The Greens have launched a new online campaign “Turn Away the Super Trawler – This Isn’t Fishing” to track the position of the super trawler as it approaches the state.
URL: https://www.facebook.com/TurnAwayTheSuperTrawler

AND

Sign the petition HERE:

• Media Release 22 June 2012

World Champion Surfer joins campaign to stop the super trawler

Eleven-times world champion surfer Kelly Slater has signed Environment Tasmania’s petition to stop the super trawler proposed for Tasmania.

In just four days, the petition has already gained over 6,000 signatories.

“The rapid success of the petition is a reflection of the enormous and widespread opposition to this super trawler,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator of Environment Tasmania responsible for the petition.

“After signing the petition, world champion surfer Kelly Slater tweeted his opposition to the trawler to his many supporters. But he’s not alone — I’ve had messages from fishers thanking me on behalf of their families and future generations.

“This super trawler poses too many risks for Tasmania’s marine environment and represents the opposite of a sustainable approach. We need better valued and sustainably caught seafood, science based fisheries management, no unwanted by-catch and sustainable employment for local fishermen.” said Ms Hubbard.

Notes:

The petition is hosted by the Australian organisation Community Run and can be viewed on this link:

http://www.communityrun.org/petitions/stop-giant-fishing-trawler-in-tasmania

• SUPER TRAWLER PUBLIC MEETING

Paul O’Halloran MP
Greens Member for Braddon
Sunday, 24 June 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today announced details of an upcoming community forum in Devonport aimed at increasing pressure on the Federal Government to stop the FV Margiris super trawler from decimating local fish stocks.

Greens Member for Braddon Paul O’Halloran MP, who is co-hosting the forum with Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP, said that the event at Reece High School on July 8th would include voices from Tasmanian industry, recreational fishing and environmental groups.

“The Greens stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the fishing community on this issue, and we will be fighting alongside them to turn back the super trawler, and ensure it isn’t allowed to come here and decimate our fish stocks,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“Anyone who owns a fishing rod should be up in arms about this ship coming here, and if the level of public concern is anything to go by, the Margiris should not expect a warm welcome.”

“This campaign is growing by the day, and it’s going to put Tasmania on the map as a place that cares for the future of our fish, and where the rights of fishing communities are respected.”

“It’s also great to see that surfing champion Kelly Slater and pop star Guy Sebastian have added their voices to the chorus of concern about the impact of this trawler on our ocean environment.”

“There are now serious questions regarding the science behind the recent doubling of the Commonwealth catch limit, and about the capacity of this ship to vacuum up massive amounts of fish from a small area.”

Further details, including the speaking list, will be revealed ahead of the forum. An event invitation has been set up on the “Turn Away the Super Trawler” Facebook page, HERE

Date: Sunday, 8 July 2012
Venue: Reece High School, Devonport
Time: 2pm – 4pm

First published: 2012-06-22 05:19 AM

iWatch: The Centre for Public Integrity: Nearly €6 billion in subsidies fuel Spain’s ravenous fleet

Decades of overfishing have left Europe’s fish stocks in peril and its fishermen in poverty. It’s an impasse paid for by EU taxpayers. Yet a proposed revision of the EU’s fishing law, hailed as sweeping reform, is rapidly losing momentum.

A look at the industry’s biggest player — Spain — shows what officials are up against. Billions of euros in subsidies built its bloated fleet and propped up a money-losing industry. All the while companies systematically flout the rules while officials overlook fraud and continue to fund offenders, an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found.

“Spain has earned its bad reputation,” said Ernesto Penas Lado, director of policy and enforcement at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. “The problem is others don’t have the reputation and deserve it just as much.”

Spain may not be alone. But as the EU’s most powerful fishing fleet, it is the starkest example of a failed EU policy, critics say.

The Spanish fishing industry has received more than €5.8 billion (more than $8 billion) in subsidies since 2000 for everything from building new vessels and breaking down old ships to payments for retiring fishermen and training for the next generation, an unprecedented analysis by ICIJ shows. Subsidies account for almost a third of the value of the industry. Simply put, nearly one in three fish caught on a Spanish hook or raised in a Spanish farm is paid for with public money.

ICIJ’s analysis is the first in-depth look at just how much public aid Spain has received for fishing — primarily from EU taxpayers, but also from Madrid and regional governments. The country has cornered a third of all the EU’s fishing aid since 2000, far more than any other member state. The central government doles out even more for things such as low interest loans and funding for its largest industry associations, which in turn lobby the EU for more industry subsidies, records show. Since 2000, the sector has avoided paying €2 billion ($2.7 billion) in taxes on fuel to the Spanish Treasury.

Public monies also fund a surprising range of services. More than €82 million ($114 million) has been spent to promote the fishing sector through advertising and at trade shows. After fishing vessels were hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, Spain in 2009 changed its law to allow vessels to hire private security forces onboard, and then it helped foot the bill to the tune of €2.8 million.

The root of the problem, regulators say, is that out-of-control subsidies encourage countries to build up already oversized fleets that are rapidly depleting the seas.

“Fish are not an unlimited resource,” said fisheries economist Andrew Dyck of the University of British Columbia. “When the public purse is the only thing propping this industry up, we are paying for resource degradation.”

The European Commission itself recently concluded that “too many boats continue to chase too few fish.” It blamed the situation, in large part, on subsidies.
Fish, not human rights

One of the most controversial forms of public aid pays for foreign fishing licenses. With its own waters increasingly empty of fish, the EU buys rights to the fishing grounds of developing countries such as Morocco, Mozambique and the Ivory Coast.

Green groups, fishing experts and some EU politicians have criticized the agreements, saying European fishermen take advantage of poor countries that often lack knowledge and resources to protect their fish stocks. And key agreements cost more than they return on the value of fish; that is the case with Morocco, where each euro invested returns only €0.65 in value added, according to a study funded by the EU.

The Spanish industry has received more than €800 million ($1.15 billion) in foreign licenses over the past decade — about two-thirds of the EU licenses overall, according to the ICIJ analysis.

The agreements have the support of Carmen Fraga Estévez, the EU Parliament’s most powerful legislator on fisheries issues. A sharp-tongued politician with an encyclopedic knowledge of the industry, Fraga served as fishing secretary in Spain and has held a seat in the Parliament’s committee on fisheries — which she now chairs — for 17 years. Her loyalty to the industry appears to be so deep that when she had to choose between human rights and fish, she voted for the latter.

“The Fisheries Committee has to discuss fisheries issues, not human rights,” she was quoted in the press as saying when in 2009 the committee for the first time voted down a fishing agreement. Days before the vote, 157 civilians died after Guinea’s totalitarian regime opened fire on pro-democracy protesters. The agreement would have handed the Guinean government €450,000 ($639,000) a year for fishing licenses.

Fraga Estévez declined requests for interviews from ICIJ.

Spanish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Josefa Andrés Barea said the subsidized foreign fishing licenses are vital. When Spain entered the EU in 1986, very few Spanish vessels were allowed in the Union’s waters. So fishing in foreign waters was — and still is — the only way for many ship owners to make a living. And if Spain isn’t fishing, she said, less savory global players will scoop up the catch instead.

“There’s a fundamental problem here which is that major [fishing] powers like China will be there if we’re not. And they don’t have any rules,” Andrés said. “They’re much more predatory than we are.”

Fewer fish, poorer fishermen

EU waters are among the world’s most exploited. Scientists say three quarters of assessed fish stocks are overfished. Eels once served as a delicacy are so depleted scientists doubt they can recover despite a Europe-wide rescue plan. Irish Sea Cod, Baltic Sprat and West of Scotland herring are all on the downfall.

The trend stretches across the globe. In 2006, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 75 percent of the world fish stocks were fished to the very limit of — or beyond — sustainable levels. In its latest report, from last year, that figure had risen to 85 percent.

“Europe has a long and dark history of overfishing,” said Boris Worm, one of the world´s most renowned marine biologists, working at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. In a 2003 study, Worm showed that industrialized fishing has, since 1950, emptied the oceans of nine out of 10 fish longer than 20 inches such as salmon, cod and halibut.

Read the full article, with full links, here

• ANDREW WILKIE: SUPER TRAWLER NOT A DONE DEAL

The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has urged the Federal Government to not allow the super trawler Margiris to fish in Australian waters.

In response to a question from Mr Wilkie in Question Time, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, revealed Seafish Tasmania has still made no application to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority to operate the vessel in Australian waters.

Mr Wilkie said he had a number of concerns with the super trawler that is due to arrive in Tasmania in months.

“For a start, I’m told the fisheries data used in the approval process for Seafish Tasmania’s fishing quota is about a decade old and unreliable,’’ Mr Wilkie said.

“Moreover the approved quota is not broken down into smaller limits for specific areas, which means the trawler could plunder our richest fisheries.

“Contrary to popular belief the use of the Margiris is not a done deal. If the Federal Government has any sense it will not give the floating factory approval to fish near Tasmania.

“If approval to operate the vessel is granted, it must be accompanied by the most stringent safeguards.’’

• Peter Whish-Wilson: Greens seek answers on ‘supertrawler’ Margiris

The Australian Greens will continue to be vigilant about any activity that may have negative impacts on the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery on the eastern seaboard of Australia, Greens Senator for Tasmania Peter Whish-Wilson said today.

“Last Friday, on my first full day in the Senate, I requested a briefing from Minister for Fisheries Senator Ludwig regarding the proposed use of one of the world’s largest fishing vessels, the ‘supertrawler’ Margiris, in the SPF.

“The Minister’s office told me that although the Australian Fisheries Management Association was aware that Australian company Seafish Tasmania has publicly proposed the use of a large boat in the SPF, no application for a fisheries quota has actually been received,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“I will be seeking a further briefing from AFMA and the Minister on this issue before it develops further. We will continue to monitor the federal quota allocation process closely to ensure community concerns are addressed.”

“As a keen and passionate surfer, and someone who is devoted to protecting our oceans, I’ve made this issue my first priority.”

• GILLARD REVEALS NO LICENCE FOR SUPER TRAWLER TO FISH IN AUS
Fisheries Minister Ludwig Obliged to Refuse Licence

Kim Booth MP
Greens Primary Industries spokesperson
Monday 25 June 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today said that Federal Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig MP had no excuse but to take action against the FV Margiris ‘supertrawler’, now that Prime Minister Julia Gillard MP has confirmed no application has been made for it to operate in Australian waters.

Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP said Federal and State ministers were already acting as if the prospect of the Margiris destroying Australian fish stocks and Tasmanian fishing communities was a done deal.

“This supertrawler coming here will destroy fish stocks and harm local fishing communities, yet it is far from a done deal, which is good news for both of them,” said Mr Booth.

“As the Prime Minister has made clear, what could be the largest fishing trawler to operate in Australian waters still hasn’t even applied for a licence to operate in Australian waters.”

“State and Federal ministers are acting as if this is a done deal when, in reality, it’s still wide open, which is good news for our local human-scale fishing fleet and the fish stocks they depend on.”

“The fact that the owners of the Margiris still haven’t applied for the vessel to operate in Australia obliges Minister Ludwig to step in and act.”

“Given the Margiris still doesn’t have a licence allowing it to plunder Australian fish stocks, Mr Ludwig simply needs to refuse the licence and send the Margiris packing.”

“Tasmania’s Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green MP also needs to accept that the Margiris’s Commonwealth fishing quota will devastate marine ecosystems and food chains in a way that Tasmania’s smaller fishing vessels don’t. Fish don’t observe jurisdictional boundaries between State and Federal waters.”

“The fish which the Margiris would take by the thousand are the prey which feed the fish caught by Tasmania’s fishing fleets.”

“If Minister Ludwig refuses the licence to the Margiris which the Prime Minister has flagged is still to be applied for, he will be preserving our fishing communities and Tasmania’s fish stocks for years to come,” said Mr Booth.

• LIB/LAB MUST TAKE THIS TO CANBERRA: TURN BACK THE TRAWLER
AFMA Confirms Old Data Used to Increase Limit

Kim Booth MP
Greens Primary Industries Spokesperson
Tuesday, 26 June 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today said that if State Labor and Liberal MPs engaged with the facts they would oppose the FV Margiris and lobby their federal counterparts to oppose any application to licence the trawler to harvest fish in Australian waters.

Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that serious questions remained over the reliability of data used to increase the Total Allowable Catch for jack mackerel in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery.

“The Australian Fisheries Management Authority has now confirmed that the data used to increase the Total Allowable Catch for the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery is not up to date,” Mr Booth said. [1]

“Mid-water trawlers take vast amounts of fish in huge nets. Because of their enormous capacity, they can decimate species of fish in a very short time. For this reason, we need to be sure that the science AFMA is using is the up to date and robust.”

“The fact that this ship still needs a licence to operate in Australian waters is an opportunity for state Labor and Liberal politicians to join the Greens in standing up for sustainable local fishing.”

“Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck is not known for informed debate, nor business acumen, but even he should be able to grasp the serious nature of granting a licence to plunder without the facts and must now change his position of pathological support for the Margiris to one of opposing it.”

“Labor’s Member for Braddon Sid Sidebottom is supposed to be the Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries, but instead of standing up for Tasmania’s fish and fishing communities, he’s gone underground.”

“The two old parties in Tasmania need to listen to the community and take the clear message up to Canberra: turn back the trawler,” Mr Booth said.

[1] ABC Statewide Mornings with Leon Comption, 26 June 2012

• GREENPEACE SUPER TRAWLER STOPPED EN ROUTE

Kim Booth MP
Greens Primary Industries Spokesperson
Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed the support shown by international activists opposed to the depletion of the world’s fish resources by voracious pelagic freezer trawlers like the FV Margiris.

Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP was responding to reports today that Greenpeace had stopped the super trawler leaving the Netherlands en route to Australia.

“The Greens welcome the support and concern shown by Greenpeace in attempting to protect Australia from this voracious super trawler, which is on its way here to plunder our oceans,” Mr Booth said.

“It’s really heart warming that a group of people on the other side of the world would be just as concerned about Australia’s marine resources as their own.”

“It might be because Europeans have witnessed firsthand what the EU subsidised fleet of freezer trawlers has done to collapse fish stocks in their region.”

“It just highlights the importance of community groups and nongovernmental organisations being prepared to stand up and defend our community and our oceans when governments fail.”

“Given the extraordinary passion of the people who’ve contacted my office about this issue, this looks like just a taste of the level of opposition Margiris can expect if it comes to Tasmania,” Mr Booth said.

• Seafish Tasmania gets grant to make fish oil. ABC Radio report, 27-06-12: In other news, the company planning to operate a massive trawler off Tasmania has been given funding to make Australia’s first locally-produced fish oil. Seafish Tasmania received the $420,000 grant under the federally-funded Tasmanian Innovation and Investment Fund. The Triabunna-based company will use the money to produce food-grade fish oil from salmon waste. Director Gerry Geen says to date all fish oil sold in Australia comes mainly from South America and Norway. “This market’s growing amazingly quickly. Over the last few years, it’s been growing at about 30% per year, so we see a lot of opportunity and we’re partnering with a pharmaceutical marketing company to try to get the product on the shelves as quickly as we can.”

•SENATOR THE HON RICHARD COLBECK

Senator for Tasmania

Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation, Industry and Science

M E D I A R E L E A S E

29 June 2012

Greenpeace wrong about Australian fisheries management

Greenpeace’s sabotage of the FV Margiris in a Dutch port this week denigrates the entire Australian fishing industry and Australia’s fisheries management.

“To claim publicity for itself and to attract funding to its coffers Greenpeace continues to misrepresent the circumstances in Australian fisheries,” Coalition Fisheries Spokesman Senator Richard Colbeck said.

“Australia’s fisheries are globally benchmarked and recognised as among the best in the world. Conservative catch limits have resulted in healthy fish stocks in Australian waters, as demonstrated by the annual Fisheries Status report.

“Australia, through AFMA’s work, has stringent harvest policies for all commercially caught species and our fisheries management also includes other controls and surveillance measures like onboard AFMA observers, sea bird management plans, bycatch reporting, and seal and dolphin excluders.

“It is mischievous and just plain wrong of Greenpeace – and of Tasmanian Greens’ MPs like Kim Booth and Paul O’Halloran – to compare Australia’s world-class sustainable fisheries management with practice in other regions.

“It really concerns me that AFMA’s sound research and globally-recognised credentials as a fisheries manager are being deliberately disregarded as individuals like Mr Booth and Mr O’Halloran whip up the hysteria for cheap political point-scoring.

“We might be debating fisheries, but there are parallels to the unfounded attacks on Tasmania’s forestry industry by groups including the Tasmanian Greens and Greenpeace which cannot be ignored. I hope Tasmanians will realise this and see through the negative campaign against the Margiris.

“Greenpeace’s latest activity strengthens the arguments for environmental activist groups that act unlawfully to lose the charitable status allocated by the Australian Tax Office.

“I think Australians have very firm views about what a charity does and I don’t think they consider an enviro-political activist group like Greenpeace which acts outside the law to be in the same category as groups like Red Cross or Make-A-Wish Foundation,” Senator Colbeck said.