Behind the Geelong Star, alias the Dirk Dirk, alias the Naeraberg, are Dirk Parlevliet and Dirk Van der Plas of the Dutch company Parleviet and Van der Plas.
This company owns some 16 large factory trawlers including the Margiris/Abel Tasman, the trawler that was to be used in a previous tilt in 2012, with the Gerry Geen-owned Seafish Tasmania at the Australian Pelagic Fishery. Their ships are continuously renamed to suit local markets so as to appeal to those simple and lazy locals who hide behind the broad brush that is Australian Press-Release journalism.
The Margiris/Abel Tasman is 142m long, having been cut and shut when extended by 25m to become the second largest fishing trawler in the world; an extension which allowed that vessel to store and refrigerate a larger quantity of frozen fish without having to enter port. It could process 250 tonnes of fish a day with a cargo capacity of 6200 tonnes of frozen fish.
To capture this volume of Jack Mackerel what was the weight of bycatch? How many stingrays, sharks, turtles and other marine creatures were caught in the gigantic nets?
In three voyages this enormous ship would have taken nearly the full quota of Australian Pelagic fish; some 15,000 tonnes out of 18,000 tonnes allocated to Geen/Seafish Tasmania.
It is believed that the cartons or blocks from the Margiris/Abel Tasman were to be sold to Nigeria at $1 a kg, a pathetic end for the potential implosion of Pelagic fish stocks in the Southern Oceans.
What was the proposed tax status of the intended Seafish Tasmania catch by a multi- national in Australian waters using an Australian registered company?
This has echoes of Ta Ann.
Was GST to be paid then claimed back when exported?
Was transfer-pricing about to take place with the profit made and declared in a tax haven – the fish/trees the property of Australians taken from Australian waters/forests to be processed offshore/abroad?
This seems to be a well-worn but unspoken track, never mentioned by corrupt and colluding pollies in Australia.
The Geelong Star/Dirk Dirk KG 142 IMO 8209171, now fitted with the world’s first Grassco Carbon Dioxide cascade refrigeration system, can deal with the enormous volume of 230,000kg of fish a day with a holding capacity of 91,000 cartons, each carton believed to weigh 20kg.
The size of the catch before returning to port is only controlled by the capacity of the freezer.
The Dutch owners have withdrawn the Dirk Dirk from the European Union Pelagic Freezer fleet of 34 factory trawlers, of which they own or control nearly half. The European Union keeps these trawlers on the high seas by the use of EU subsidies; they would otherwise be uneconomic. For example, to fish In Mauritanian and Moroccan waters, the EU taxpayer paid out 142 million Euros between 2006 and 2012 to secure fishing rights.
Fishing rights in Australia …
Fishing rights in Australia come free in the form of quotas virtually gifted to Gerry Geen, trading as Seafish Tasmania.
These quotas were established and acquired by Geen/Seafish Tasmania when granted by The Small Pelagic Fishery Resource Management Advisory Committee (SPFMAC), a Committee that Geen sat on from its inception in 2005. This Committee was dissolved in 2010, morphing into the Small Pelagic Fishery Resource Assessment Group (SPFRAG) when the Geen/Seafish Tasmania quota was doubled to 18,000 tonnes on application by Geen, who was present, or who had input, at two highly contentious meetings. (12th, SPFRAG meeting, November 2011 and 13th SPFRAG meeting, 28 Feb 2012.)
Mr Geen controls a large number of permits in the fishing area, readjusted after a Seafish application to the Australian Fisheries Management Association(AFMA) on 20th May 2008. ( John Hawkins,The Reconstruction of a Fishery, T.T. 23 – 8 –2012, Here ).
I have previously detailed how, apparently at the instigation of Mr Geen, Mr Per Pevik, a convicted criminal appeared before the SPFRAG to bolster his case as to why and how the fishing quotas should be revised upwards to accommodate a super trawler in Australian waters. ( John Hawkins, Super Trawler Failing the Canberra Times Test, T.T. 7 – 9 – 2012, Here ).
Supply contracts, or quotas, as gifted by Forestry in Tasmania to Gunns or Ta Ann, require access to those with the power in order to gift a public asset to non-government organizations.
In the case of public forests and fish in the sea, they cannot complain if the gifting is untoward, leading to corruption over due process.
The size and subsequent viability of fishing quotas needed similar access and it should be noted that these were established by consultation with Geen to the benefit of his company, Seafish Tasmania, and have now crystallised into profits taken by a Dutch trawler company that has gained Australian domain. ( The Reconstruction of a Fishery John Hawkins and Jon Sumby, T.T. 23 – 8 – 2012, Here )
The rebadged Geelong Star is presumably operated by PP Groep Katwijk B. V., the same holding company set up to run the Margiris/Abel Tasman.
Does this company still exist … ?
Does this company still exist, if so, does it have the same three directors, Geen, Parlivliet and Van der Plas. Did Geen contribute his allocated quotas and the newly-restructured zones created at his suggestion? The two Dutch partners contributing a trawler with its capacity to capture and remove using a satellite discovery system the allocated large quantities of fish then freeze them on board so as to keep the vessel out of port.
All this can be achieved by using a now naturalized Australian ship, renamed, re-flagged, but not re-crewed, out of Geelong?
The weight of fish to be extracted is still the same, the players are the same, only the vessel and the party in power appear to have changed.
Jon Sumby noted on Tasmanian Times, as above, the problems and the probability of bycatch. It should also be noted that Geen was apparently never prosecuted over the killing of 13 dolphins in his nets on the Ellida, the-then Seafish Tasmania Jack Mackerel fishing vessel.
I ask, is the netting on the Geelong Star filmed and, if not, why not?
I ask, is fishing conducted over a 24-hour period?
If so, how many observers are there on each vessel? If only one, how many hours does he work and who pays his wages?
Can we speak to the observer to discuss his hours of observation and the size and type of bycatch?
Finally, Richard Colbeck – Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture – can we haul you before a camera to justify any or all of the above? ( Richard Colbeck’s Media Release announcing the Geelong Star is here )
Gerry Geen is Tasmanian and in receipt, through Seafish Tasmania, of over $500,000 worth of cash grants from Governments, proving him and his company to be closely allied to our pollies.
How much, if anything, was donated to the Liberal Party by any of the above prior to, or after, the last election?
Have you been in contact with Gerry Geen and if so have you been pushing his barrow to the detriment of the Pelagic Fishery in Tasmania and Australia?
We the people are entitled to answers from our political masters.
Speak up or be damned.
• Andrew Wilkie: DÉJÀ VU; Huge question mark over Super Trawler quota setting … The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has revealed concerns about the legitimacy of the Geelong Star fishing in Australian waters that include allegations the freezer factory ship’s operator helped set its catch quota. Mr Wilkie has written to the Commonwealth Ombudsman with the concerns on the eve of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission meeting in Canberra tomorrow to decide the next Small Pelagic Fishery quota that starts this Friday 1 May. Mr Wilkie is aware of a serious complaint to AFMA that contains the conflict of interest allegation, as well as issues with process and possible instances of AFMA ignoring scientific advice from its sub committees. The source of this information is within AFMA and Mr Wilkie has seen a copy of the document this person has put to the Authority. “I’ve asked the Ombudsman to investigate the allegations that include that a director of Seafish Tasmania – the operator of the Geelong Star – was allowed to participate in the process of setting the recommended Total Allowable Catch for the fishery,’’ Mr Wilkie said. “If this is correct, it’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house and leaves a huge question mark hanging over the fishing quota and legitimacy of the Geelong Star fishing in Australian waters.’’ Mr Wilkie said the allegations about AFMA’s process in setting quotas were very concerning considering the authority’s recent history and would leave many Australians questioning the management of Australia’s precious fisheries.
• John Biggs, in Comments: Julian Amos’s talking point in today’s Mercury is arrogant and insulting, as if we who disbelieve “the science” are back in the Dark Ages. The science is done on modelling which may well be optimistic, deliberately so. In a complex system like the sea you can’t carry out one line of the modelling and say “there you are, the science is in, so just shut up you ignorant peasants.” I’d rather take real life experience: look what happened to fishing stocks in Africa and Asia after the supertrawlers had been there. Their length isn’t the question: their freezing capacity is.
• Kim Booth: Premier Exposed over Election Double-dealing on Super Trawlers • DOWNLOAD: Copy of pre-election email sent by Mr Hodgman’s Chief of Staff to Super Trawler campaigners, dated 21 February 2014, tabled in the house of Assembly today, Tuesday the 28th of April 2015 … “Clearly, if the Liberals were standing by the election campaign commitment issued by the Premier’s Chief of Staff, they would have voted in support of our motion to write to the Commonwealth objecting to the Geelong Star’s operation in the Small Pelagic fishery.” “Either Will Hodgman’s Chief of Staff sent that email with his knowledge and authorisation, in which case this is a blatant broken promise by Will Hodgman. Or does he actually want people to believe he is treated as a puppet by his own staff who enter into policy commitments without even bothering to inform him?” “The message to the Tasmanian public is clear, you cannot trust the Hodgman Liberals. This email is proof Will Hodgman has so little integrity he is prepared to promise the world when in Opposition, only to walk away from those commitments once the has gained power,” Mr Booth said.
• Dave Parsell, in Comments: Incredible how when “the science” supports our beliefs it must not be queried, but when “the science” doesn’t support our beliefs we say it is wrong. Gotta love human behaviour!
• Richard Colbeck: Just another Wilkie publicity stunt
• Richard Colbeck: Working with recreational fishers on fisheries management
• Kim Booth: Censure Moved in Premier Over Super Trawler Deceit
• Richard Colbeck: Seafood consumers being misled by campaign
• Bryan Green: Hodgman not off the hook over super trawler deception
