The Supertrawler: So where did you get your opinion?
I know, i'm flogging a dead horse here, but after coming across this article I couldn't help wondering if anyone actually took the time to find some facts before forming an opinion. Practically everyone on here would had to have formed an opinion, posted comments about or, even signed some form of petition regarding the ol' supertrawler fiasco, i'm guilty too.
This isn't just about the supertrawler either, every time a controversial topic comes up, most poeple seem happy enough to just take as fact whatever they saw on Today Tonight, or read in The West, or heard from their mate Robbo, etc. Next minute everyones frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs, declaring minister/politicians/regulatory body is a (bunch of) useless imbecile(s) who should be sacked and given some concrete shoes.
So here's the link (if it doen't work, google 'trawling for trawler truths'). It's a whole 10 pages, and may take about 15 minutes. If you've commented on the topic, if you proclaim to give a sh**, then the least you can do is read it. It may not change your opinion at all, but at least you'll be better informed.
Final note of this rant: The bigger picture here is, if 'we' (rec fishers) want a voice, if we want to have some sway over the decisions that affect us and our interests, then we need to educate ourselves on the topic at hand, and present a coherent and valid argument. Knee-jerk reactions and uninformed opinions just give anyone else the licence to say "Oh, you don't know what you're talking about, your opinion doesn't matter then."
southcity104
Posts: 1659
Date Joined: 27/01/09
great read.
very informative.
"Its a life style job"
Rusty Balls
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 19/09/13
Cheers Versus ... an
Cheers Versus ... an interesting read indeed
especially the allowable distance from shore 3nm WTF !
Born A Fish
Forced To Walk
NORUN NOFUN
Posts: 1035
Date Joined: 15/08/11
Nope, didn't change my
Nope, didn't change my opinion !
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
We do need more people
to give us informed reasons. If this was the case we would be able to shoot and shout down ANY green or Pew arguement about our tightly, well regulated and fully sustainable fisheries.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
lame
Posts: 315
Date Joined: 20/01/10
2+2 still isn't =4
page1
and the cold Southern Ocean current has moved further offshore.
yet they want to fish half of australia now ?????????
page 6
Tassie waters constitute just a fraction of the vessel’s fishing grounds–these extend from WA up to NSW
if a certin fishery area collapses then they move to the next
page6
There is provision to immediately adopt spatial closures and other conservation measures if any undesirable impact is detected on the fished stocks.
too late when it's 10 years later and they whoops we thought it was thriving
think it might be more a paid campaign
jay_burgess
Posts: 4648
Date Joined: 18/08/05
Very informative, great read.
Very informative, great read.
Shark1
Posts: 1086
Date Joined: 21/05/12
calling dolphins rapist etc
calling dolphins rapist etc is putting the authors views into a quassi scientific paper
so what happens to the gamefish behind the school of pillies in our waters
no i dont want to see this in WA waters- no i havent changed my mind, the author has no standing in any part of the scientific community as far as i can see- searched her name in the ECU and world wide scientific community database -her husband most probably skippers this monster/own the company -stay out of wa waters
can u imagine the devastation this dragnet will cause around our reefs, this equals putting an underwater grader into our nearshore habitats
Rusty Balls
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 19/09/13
http://www.imas.utas.edu.au/p
http://www.imas.utas.edu.au/people/profiles/postgraduate/f/emma-flukes
Looks like she's studying for her phd, can only see one other publication ...
I also agree with the dolphin comment shark1 , I think she meant to get the reader onside by way of humour *FAIL* or she just hates Dolphins(way to boost your Credibility)
Towards the end a mention of the for and against argument is void as I only read about 'for' in the article. I maybe wrong (or had too much coffee today) but if she is ok with it fishing in Tas waters ..they can have it eh ?
Born A Fish
Forced To Walk
squidder
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 03/09/10
Great Read
but the continual take of the worlds sardines/baitfish will never get my vote!.
Sustainable my arse.
When they're gone so will be their main predators.
lame
Posts: 315
Date Joined: 20/01/10
another inconsistency refers
another inconsistency
refers to the
Small Pelagic FisheryThe elected representatives and leaders for recreational fisherman and conservationist groups were part of the group who voted in favour of the quota increase and sent the revised quotas onto AFMA for final approval. The minutes of these meetings are publicly available here
The Small Pelagic Fishery Management Advisory Committee (SPFMAC) no longer exists as a separate management advisory committee. It has now been incorporated into the larger South East MAC. South East MAC replaced SPFMAC from 1 July 2010.
take a look at the board of the current south east MAC
now thats a whole lot of conflict of intrest going on yet still involved in the decision making unfknblvable
http://www.afma.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Minutes_SEMAC_Teleconference_5_April_2013.pdf
DhuBoi
Posts: 896
Date Joined: 25/05/09
That article is informative
That article is informative but a load of shit. Only reason dutch wanna come here is therd is nothing left in the rest of the ocean. Clearly australia is the last fishery in the world in fairly good condition. Another to fuck over hard working australian out source jobs bring in forgien countries an sell the cstch to over seas . Poor form . An the quota suck me of its sustainable !!
living is fishing
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Trust?
How can you trust any WA or Australian dept to manage a fishery properly, past experience shows that they shouldn't be in control of a goldfish bowl with nothing in it.
For about 2 years we gave warnings to WA fisheries that the shark numbers were dropping rapidly in the area we fished from Exmouth nearly through to Broome, their response was to keep fishing , the numbers will come back. Through other reasons we got out of it and another vessel started fishing the area, 9 months later it collapsed completely and is still closed, this was some ten years ago.
Son worked on a crab boat out of Carnarvon, they warned fisheries that the numbers were dropping in a big way, 3 months later and out of 300 pots they got 80 odd crabs, no where near the 800kg average they had been sitting on 6 months before. The fishery is still closed 2 years later and no one knows when it will re open.
Cockburn sound crab fishery is another example and you are still paying for it with the rec fisherman closure each year.
I'm afraid that I don't trust them enough to allow them to start then 12 months later find out there is nothing left, same as what has happened to the fisheries they have plundered overseas.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
+1 on trust
I've been alive too long to trust fisheries and C A L M they have created disasters on problems to often by misguided notions of what is doing ok and not listening to those who make a living of the oceans (yes I know there is a lot of self interest in the industry) however not all are rapists and pillages.
Let he super trawler stay away from Australian shores thank you.
DhuBoi
Posts: 896
Date Joined: 25/05/09
Based on your knowledgd an
Based on your knowledgd an experience carnarvonnite it is scary to think of the fools in charge of making such decisions. What fools do not listen to those who know the ecosystem an its inhabitants the best . Great examples with the sharks an crabs . All for the money the world goes :/ a sad state of affairs.
living is fishing
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
I dont personally want the
I dont personally want the super trawler in our waters, but I would welcome the return of pro shark fishing in Northern waters. F$#% I hate sharks!!!!
Lastchance
Posts: 1273
Date Joined: 02/02/09
+1!
+1!
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
Still don't
want the super trawler, NO to the super trawler.
Ginger Tablets Rock
Doooma
Posts: 791
Date Joined: 05/12/09
Id love to see the super
Id love to see the super trawler over here.......
That would make an excellent artificial reef!!!
Versus
Posts: 918
Date Joined: 06/03/09
Guys (and girls) the
Guys (and girls) the supertrawler is just an example, one of several issues (i.e Marine Parks). The point is to make informed decisions/opinions so you can have a proper conversation/debate about an issue instead of just sayin "nup, don't like it, piss off." If you ever get into a conversation with freinds/colleagues/etc about one of these topics, your essentially a representative of the rec fishing community (might sound like bullsh** but you know what i mean). For example the recent 'cats at hillaries' topic, if any green group wanted some "ammo" to label us a bunch of rednecks etc, they'd have plenty of meterial there (no i don't want to go over that topic again).
It is also a little ironic that the same 'greeny tree huggers' etc that want the Marine Parks are probably also very much involved in the 'Stop the supertrawler' campaigns that went around. When it suits us, they're a bunch of hippies, when it suits them, we're a bunch of rednecks. It's in our best interest to convince the wider public that we are not.
As crasny said (i think), one of the best arguments against the Marine Parks is our fisheries management track record (which for the most part is pretty good, i think, but i don't have any actual eveidence to back that view). Imagine you were elected to represent all fishers (rec and pro) in a televised debate about Marine Parks/Supertrawler/Demersal closures etc, with one week to prepare. What would you do to prepare?
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
You got it
We need more information to make "educated" decisions. And I strongly believe that our fisheries are very well managed and sustainable (now), and there is NO BLOODY need for Green Groups to stick their noses into this. The rules are pretty strict as we all know.
I Just hate it when foreign Environmental Activist Groups like Pew stick their Yankie funded noses into Australian fishing (and other) issues.
The information provided, albeit not very scientific coming from a scientist is trying to balance the polarisation caused by the Margilis. Even though I dont believe in the Supertrawler idea, if it is shown scientifically to be no more harmful to the fishery than conventional vessels, then I for one would not band together with the Greens and Pew trying to stop it. But I am not convinced that evidence is sound yet.
So what we need is proper, not funded by Pew etc, scientific evidence.
If the science says ban fishing for a certain species for a few years I would support that. Remeber it happened to Marron some years back when the season was closed for 2 years when science showed the stocks was close to collapsing. I fished the years since when I could and it has recovered compared to the pre-ban era. But we had evidence, and that is what is lacking often, especially balanced evidence.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
COASTALJOY
Posts: 79
Date Joined: 11/05/12
here or not
Does not matter if the super trawler is here or not the fish are still going to be caught by nets and used for other means than for eating.
The fishing company can purchase 6 90ft trawlers line them up accross the fish and trawl away because they already have a licence{quota ] which is what they are probably doing now.
People should be more up in arms about oil rigs within 15 miles of the ningaloo reef, if there was an accident like in the timor sea or the USA the whole reef system and prawn fishery could be destroyed, there goes a big percentage of peoples holidays from this forum for years to come.
Sorry to the people that work on those rigs
He fishes, He fishes, He fishes, its the only thing in life. All he ever gets is hell from his fed up wife