The Stop the Trawler Alliance today (Thursday, Oct 29) launched their first action in a summer campaign targeting key coastal areas to get a ban on the Geelong Star and other factory freezer trawlers from Australia’s Small Pelagic Fishery.
“The Geelong Star continues to plague coastal communities, local fishing industries, and our beautiful marine life, and it’s time the Coalition Government stopped it. We will be organising events and activities in key coastal areas that are impacted by this industrial trawler from Queensland to WA,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator of Environment Tasmania.
“There has been consistent, widespread community outrage since the world’s second largest super trawler Margiris tried to plunder our fisheries three years ago. Since then community action from recreational fishers, conservationists and coastal communities has forced tripartite support for a ban on factory freezer trawlers by Tasmanian political parties in the lead up to the 2013 state election, and two partial bans by Labor and Liberal Federal Governments,” said Ms Hubbard.
“We fully support robust, science based fisheries management, but due to the total lack of commitment from this industry to fund research into fish stocks and the impacts of industrial scale fishing, we don’t support factory freezer trawlers in the Small Pelagic Fishery,” said Nobby Clark, of the Gamefish Tasmania Sports Fishing Club.
“This fishery is worth more left in the water as an important foundation to our high-value recreational and commercial fishing industries, to risk exploiting it by factory freezer trawlers for mass quantities of low value products. We will be mobilising key coastal communities and lobbying politicians around the country to remind the Federal Government of that fact, and we start today with Eden-Monaro on the south coast of NSW,” said Mr Clark.
The Turnbull Government has been reported to be debating factory trawlers in the Coalition party room next month, and Liberal MP’s Sarah Henderson and Bob Baldwin, have been calling for the banning of the Geelong Star.
“If the Coalition Government wants to look after Australia’s marine environment, our recreational fishing community and the reputation of our fishing industry, it will enact a permanent ban on the operation of factory freezer trawlers in the Small Pelagic Fishery,” concluded Ms Hubbard.
Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator of Environment Tasmania,
Nobby Clark, Gamefish Tasmania Sports Fishing Club
