Image: All about Margiris here
The Tasmanian Greens today raised concerns about plans to base a mackerel fishing super-trawler at Devonport on Tasmania’s north-west coast.
Greens Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP said very little was known about what impact the Margiris’ operations would have on the marine environment, or on local recreational and commercial fishing in Bass Strait.
“The Greens support local commercial and recreational fishing, which is why we want to make sure our fish stocks are managed sustainably for the benefit of future generations,” Mr Booth said.
“These super trawlers are like giant ocean vacuum cleaners with the capacity to indiscriminately suck up thousands and thousands of tonnes of fish.”
“Tasmanians have a right to know what this mega-vessel will do to their ocean environment and to current and future recreational and commercial fishing opportunities in Bass Strait.”
“The claim that this will not impact on coastal fisheries because it operates more than three nautical miles off shore is pure nonsense, because the entire ocean ecosystem is interconnected.”
“International environmental agencies such as Greenpeace have been tracking this vessel for years, raising serious concerns about its capacity to lay waste to ocean ecosystems.”
“What studies have been done into the environmental consequences of this massive industrial operation on the local marine food chain?”
• ET, TCT: Factory Trawlers Not Good for Tasmania’s Marine Environment, Commercial Fishermen or Local Jobs
Thursday 31 May 2012
The proposed introduction of a factory trawler into Tasmanian waters is not good news for Tasmania’s marine environment or local jobs and fishermen said Environment Tasmania and the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.
“Small pelagic fishing around Tasmania already has a bad record. The huge surface schools of jack mackerel that were once common off southeast Tasmania have not returned after the collapse of that fishery over 20 years ago, and schools of the new target species, redbait, have disappeared just a few years after industrial fishing started up about 10 years ago,” said Jon Bryan of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.
“Factory trawlers are the opposite to the sustainable fishing activities we want to see flourish in Tasmania – they take massive quantities quickly with few workers, they throw away an enormous amount of unwanted marine life dead, and they under-value these important fish that form the basis of the food chain in our oceans. This is clear felling of our oceans, at a time in Tasmania’s history that we need to move away from such unsustainable models and ways of managing our natural resources,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator with Environment Tasmania.
“We understand that the proposed factory trawler is a foreign owned vessel that will be predominantly operated by foreign officers and crew, which just adds insult to injury, in that very few of our local workers will get anything out of it. Even the fish processing will occur at sea. There will be little economic benefit to Tasmania or Australia to balance against the major risk this ship poses to the marine environment and local fisheries,” said Ms Hubbard.
“Claims that the proposed factory ship will only operate far away from Tasmania in places like the Great Australian Bight or off Flinders Island are nonsense as there are no regulations to ensure that fishing will be limited to that area. This boat will be able to fish all around Tasmania and poses a direct threat to seals and dolphins. The small pelagic fish that this huge trawler will target form a vital part of the diet of marine mammals such as dolphins and seals, game fish like tuna, seabirds and other marine life. We can’t afford to put this at risk.”
“The public do not want their seafood to come at the demise of our oceans. Factory trawlers must prove their activities will minimise impacts on non-target marine life, prevent localised over-fishing, and undertake proper regular fisheries assessments of the pelagic stocks, before we would consider allowing them into Tasmania,” concluded Mr Bryan.
First published: 2012-05-30 05:51 PM
• ABC Online: Shellfish alert extended as algal bloom spreads
The Tasmanian Health Department is warning a toxic algal bloom is spreading in southern waters, making wild shellfish dangerous to eat.
The department says the algal bloom has spread from Huonville, Cygnet, Dover and Port Esperance across to Southport, the D’Entrecasteux Channel and the coast of South Bruny Island.
The Medical Director of Public and Environmental Health, Kelly Shaw, says eating cooked and raw shellfish could cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning.
Symptoms include tingling in the mouth and limbs, pins and needles, weakness and nausea.
The warning takes in wild oysters, mussels, clams and scallops as well as the guts of crabs and abalone.
Ten shellfish farms in the area have been shut down but commercial fish from other farms is safe to eat.
It is the second time the department has extended its alert for southern shellfish after discovering the algal bloom in April.
