15,000 people from across Australia have emailed Senators and Federal Members of Parliament in the last 24 hours urging them to reinstate the night fishing ban on the Geelong Star in the Senate this afternoon.
“In just 24 hours over 15,000 emails have been sent to federal politicians to stop the factory trawler Geelong Star from night fishing. It’s clear the community does not accept the deaths of dolphins and seals or depletion of local fisheries,” said Rebecca Hubbard from Environment Tasmania.
“The Stop the Trawler Alliance and our supporters are urging Senators to support this motion. A ban on night fishing is the best way to prevent the deaths of our protected dolphins and seals from freezer factory trawlers operating in the Small Pelagic Fishery.”
“Night trawling is another way to keep the Geelong Star out of the public’s view. Recreational fishers around the country are already concerned about the secrecy that surrounds the operations of this super trawler,” said Nobby Clark from the Game Fish Tasmania Sports Fishing Club.
“We don’t know where they’re going, what they’re catching and how that is impacting on local fishing. This needs to stop.”
“The removal of the night ban is likely to result in more dolphins and seals being killed. The exclusion devices on the trawl nets that are supposed to protect seals and dolphins have not been properly tested, and the lack of underwater monitoring means that large numbers of dolphins and seals may be killed and we won’t even know about it”, said Jon Bryan from the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.
“We saw the horrific toll on dolphins and seals, caused by the Geelong Star when it first started fishing,” said Tooni Mahto from the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
“Backtracking on efforts to protect dolphins in the interests of opening up fishing operations defies logic, and has been a deeply unpopular move in the community.”
The Geelong Star was banned from night fishing following the death of eight dolphins on it’s first two fishing trips. The night fishing ban was then removed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) after the operators of the Geelong Star said they couldn’t catch enough fish and make enough money without fishing at night, despite this being the best protection for avoiding killing dolphins and seals. A disallowance motion is being tabled in the Senate to prevent the night fishng ban from being lifted.
SPECIAL BRIEFING: WHY THE GEELONG STAR NIGHT FISHING BAN MUST BE REINSTATED
Freezer factory trawlers pose an enormous risk to seals and dolphins at any time, but fishing at night guarantees that even more will be killed because this is the prime time for feeding by dolphins and seals, and they cannot be avoided in the dark.
Why the AFMA measurements do not work
Nine dolphins and twelve seals were killed in the first three fishing trips of the Geelong Star, and the great majority were at night. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has established rules to avoid killing dolphins and seals however these are ineffective because:
– The AFMA applied rule to avoid fishing where marine mammals are seen cannot be applied at night because it is extremely difficult to see dolphins and seals at night.
– It is understood the Geelong Star is currently using a barrier net, but there are indications the net is ineffective as seal mortalities have occurred since it has been in operation. Most importantly, there is no requirement for underwater video monitoring to ensure that this net or any other excluder device is actually working and not just dumping dead and injured animals back into the ocean before they can be seen by onboard observers.
Claims from the industry and AFMA that there have been no dolphin deaths since the night fishing ban was removed cannot be substantiated because the video footage does not exist to prove it.
Recreational fishing and conservation opposition to night fishing ban removal
Recreational fishers, conservationists and the Australian public have consistently opposed the use of factory freezer trawlers in the Small Pelagic Fishery due to concerns with the potential to cause localised depletion, the potential to undermine high value recreational fisheries in coastal communities, and the drastically increased threats to dolphins, seals and protected species.
The Stop the Trawler Alliance represents over 25 recreational fishing, conservation and tourism groups from across Australia and has mobilised over 230,000 people to sign petitions against factory trawlers in Australia in the last three years, as well as 21 fishing rallies and events across Australia, over 37,000 emails and hundreds of calls to Members of Parliament.
The ban on night fishing would reassure recreational fishing and community groups that Senators are responding to this issue with the appropriate diligence it requires.
We understand that the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) has been encouraged to re-enter negotiations with the Small Pelagic Fishing Industry byt the Coalition. There are very low expectations that these negotiations will address our longheld concerns, because the industry will not agree to measures that impact on their profit-making capacity and they have made this clear on numerous occasions. Furthermore, the ARFF publicly supported the night time fishing bans on 24 September 2015 when they called for urgent Ministerial action on the Geelong Star due to numerous events, including “The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has ignored the warnings from the ARFF and have removed the night time fishing ban on the Geelong Star, increasing the probability of further dolphin and seal deaths and the localised depletion of fish stocks”.
Rebecca Hubbard, Environment Tasmania, Jon Bryan, Tasmanian Conservation Trust . Tooni Mahto, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Nobby Clark, Game Fish Tasmania Sports Fishng Club
