Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson stated it was disappointing the Labor Party hadn’t supported his disallowance motion to stop the F.V. Margiris earlier today.
“They continue to talk about stopping this industrial trawler but when they are actually afforded an opportunity to do something they just sit on their hands.”
“It is very clear the arrival of this boat is deeply un-popular in Australia and its likely public anger and opposition to this trawler operating in our fisheries will continue to build.”
“Today was an opportunity to step back and take the time to address key stakeholder concerns, before allowing the vessel to operate.”
“The silence of Labor Senators today can only be taken as supporting the super trawler, and they have failed to heed the legitimate concerns of recreational fishers, conservationists and the many concerned members of the public.”
“Today Tasmanian Senators Lin Thorpe, Carol Brown and Catryna Bilyk went against the wishes of their constituency, and remain foul-hooked on the Labor Party line.”
Senator Whish-Wilson stated that there were still other avenues for halting the Margiris and was presently taking advice with regard to AFMA’s 2005 intervention to halt the Irish super trawler F.V. Veronica II from entering the Commonwealth pelagic fishery to see if a precedent had been set.
“It’s astounds me that former Liberal minister’s Ian Campbell and Senator Mac Donald , along with AFMA, were instrumental in stopping the Veronica II in her wake, citing insufficient scientific data, among other issues.”
“Now the Liberals have done a complete about face and are backing a vessel 36 meters longer than the Veronica II, yet the same scientific questions remain.”
“Today the major parties have effectively given the green light to industrial scale fishing in Commonwealth waters, rolling out the red carpet for other super trawlers to operate here.”
“What effect is this going to have on small regional fishing fleets adjacent to Commonwealth waters?”
“My commitment to the Australian people is to not rest until we have exhausted every avenue to stop this industrial trawler.’’
• Yesterday on Tasmanian Times: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
• Dr Andrew Wadsley, in Comments 17, 18 on … Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics, HERE I have received confirmation that my analysis is statistically correct from an independent analyst from UWA. There has been a complete absence of comment from AFMA, SARDI, CSIRO or IMAS with respect to the use of the precautionary and recommended technique published by SARDI which leads to the significantly lower estimates of jack mackerel spawning biomass presented in the spreadsheet. I would welcome Nancy Lo’s comments on the analysis presented in the spreadsheet given here … This notwithstanding, Dr Lo does confirm that the author of the Neira 2011 report (which references an earlier paper, Lo et al. 1996) “may not [have realized] that the age-category method was discontinued since 2001 for the spawning biomass estimation for Pacific sardine due to a simulation study in 2001 (Lo 2001, Lo et al. 2005)”. Thus the AFMA reply (to my first review) which cites this non-linear least squares method as that used by Neira 2011 is incorrect, this method was not that implemented in Neira 2011. Her comment implies that Neira (the author) didn’t realise this; apparently, neither did the 7 scientists who strongly supported the conclusions of the study in the “background to the scientific issues”. My apologies for the convoluted response here, but it is becoming quite clear that none of the scientists who have bagged my and others’ genuine concerns, have the slightest idea of what the literature actually says.
• Lenore Taylor, The Age: Last ditch bid to stop super trawler
• Andrew Wilkie: Super Trawler sinking fast
The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, will detail concerns the Federal Government is misleading the community on conditions imposed on the super trawler Abel Tasman, nee Margiris, and call on the ALP Caucus to decide today to ban the factory ship.
Earlier this month the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, announced conditions on the super trawler including the requirement for an independent “onboard observer at all times’’.
But Mr Wilkie has found the Federal Government is moving to replace fishing observers with electronic monitoring to save money with The Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2012. The Bill passed the House of Representatives in August and is now before the Senate.
“The Government variously described the conditions imposed on the super trawler as `tough’, `stringent’ and `best practice’, but the reality is that the key condition of an onboard observer is nothing more than a façade,’’ Mr Wilkie said.
“That the Government would apparently mislead the community like this surely raises questions over all of the other promises.
“It’s no wonder the proponent for the super trawler has welcomed these conditions because it turns out that at least one of them is just a cynical PR exercise to lull the community into thinking the Government is getting tough.’’
Introducing the Bill, Parliamentary Secretary Sid Sidebottom told Parliament “trials and cost-benefit analyses have shown that the more data that is required for a fishery, the cheaper it will become to use e-monitoring systems, rather than observers.’’
Mr Wilkie said on the one hand the Government was planning on doing away with onboard observers while on the other hand promising an observer onboard the super trawler at all times.
“This apparent deception is surely the final nail in the coffin of the super trawler,’’ Mr Wilkie said.
“The ALP Caucus must respond to the overwhelming public opposition to the vessel when it meets this morning and move to ban this super trawler, and factory ships in Australian waters more generally.
“This is another big test for the Government – is it an environmentally and economically-competent government mindful of the strong concerns in the community with the super trawler, or just another bunch of political hacks beholden to commercial interests?’’
To progress this issue Mr Wilkie will ask the Acting Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, the following question in Question Time today.
“Acting Prime Minister, how do you reconcile the promise that an observer will be on the super trawler to ensure compliance with the Government’s so-called safeguards, with the fact the Government has a bill before the Senate which would replace observers with remote sensors? In other words, isn’t it the case the promise of an observer on the factory ship is simply misleading?’’
More broadly Mr Wilkie is yet to be advised of the results of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s enquiry into the apparent misconduct of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority when it set the quota relevant to the super trawler. The Ombudsman is conducting the enquiry in response to concerns raised by Mr Wilkie in recent months.
• Rebecca Hubbard: Seafish Reveals 7-yr Calculated Plan To Bring Super trawler Down Under
11 September, 2012
A last minute advertising blitz by Seafish Tasmania to try and salvage its super trawler plans ahead of Federal Cabinet meeting to decide its fate today has backfired as it has revealed a calculated seven-year plan to bring the ship down under.
In advertising run in The Australian today targeting MPs in Canberra, Seafish revealed its planning to bring the super trawler Margiris to Australia started straight after the last attempt to bring a factory fishing boat to Australia was dumped.
Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator at Environment Tasmania said the advertising has backfired on Seafish and further entrenched community opposition to its plans.
“Seafish has revealed that it has been working on bringing a super trawler into Australia for seven years, yet the first the public heard about it was 3 months ago.
“Another super trawler, the Veronica, was knocked back just over seven years ago, so Seafish have been secretly trying to bring this huge factory ship into Australia since then, rather than learning that the community do not want factory fishing on their doorsteps.
“This revelation demonstrates that unless we ban super trawlers in Australian waters, there will be an ongoing push to threaten our marine life and fisheries with these huge factory ships,” said Ms Hubbard.
“Environment and fishing groups support science-based management – yet the science does not exist to demonstrate that the same problems caused by super trawlers in other parts of the world, will not occur here.
“This advert is the fishing industry on the back foot. The fact is that over 93,000 people have now signed a petition to the Government calling on them to stop this super trawler from threatening our marine life and fisheries. Not only does history tell us this is not the right way forward for fishing in Australia, but public opinion is demanding it,” concluded Ms Hubbard.
