Derek_Bullock
26-01-2006, 06:39 PM
Fish scare spreads to open ocean
By PETER TRUTE and DAVID FISHER
January 26, 2006
FISH caught outside Sydney Harbour may still carry dioxin, authorities admitted yesterday.
The State Government has banned commercial fishing in Sydney Harbour following the discovery of high levels of dioxin in bream.
But yesterday the Department of Primary Industries chief scientist Steve Kennelly confirmed there was still a risk of fish from the Harbour making their way on to dinner plates.
"The fish are moving around the Harbour, some will be moving outside and up the coast," he said.
Bream and several other potentially toxic species move out of the Harbour into the ocean annually on spawning migrations.
It is possible recreational anglers catching a bream on an ocean beach, or a commercial fisher netting bream in open ocean could find their catch poisoned with dioxins.
The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday bream from the Harbour contained up to 100 times the accepted World Health Organisation levels of dioxin.
However, Dr Kennelly said the chance of eating a contaminated fish was minimal.
"What it comes down to is a risk assessment of the numbers of fish out there with a bit of poison in them (compared to the larger fish population)," he said.
University of NSW marine ecologist Iain Suthers said not a lot was known about the movement of bream along the coast, despite the fish being a major recreational and commercial species for more than a century.
The Government's expert panel met yesterday to plan the next stage of testing during the three-month ban.
Dr Kennelly said the plan was not finalised, but about 10 species of Harbour fish would be tested for dioxin.
"We will test such species as mullet, flathead, squid, luderick, tailor and blue swimmer crabs," he said.
The number of fish tested would be in the hundreds.
A plan should be finalised within three days and authorities will meet with recreational and commercial fishermen, possibly next Monday, to discuss it.
Premier Morris Iemma refused to guarantee compensation for commercial fisherman now banned from Sydney Harbour.
By PETER TRUTE and DAVID FISHER
January 26, 2006
FISH caught outside Sydney Harbour may still carry dioxin, authorities admitted yesterday.
The State Government has banned commercial fishing in Sydney Harbour following the discovery of high levels of dioxin in bream.
But yesterday the Department of Primary Industries chief scientist Steve Kennelly confirmed there was still a risk of fish from the Harbour making their way on to dinner plates.
"The fish are moving around the Harbour, some will be moving outside and up the coast," he said.
Bream and several other potentially toxic species move out of the Harbour into the ocean annually on spawning migrations.
It is possible recreational anglers catching a bream on an ocean beach, or a commercial fisher netting bream in open ocean could find their catch poisoned with dioxins.
The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday bream from the Harbour contained up to 100 times the accepted World Health Organisation levels of dioxin.
However, Dr Kennelly said the chance of eating a contaminated fish was minimal.
"What it comes down to is a risk assessment of the numbers of fish out there with a bit of poison in them (compared to the larger fish population)," he said.
University of NSW marine ecologist Iain Suthers said not a lot was known about the movement of bream along the coast, despite the fish being a major recreational and commercial species for more than a century.
The Government's expert panel met yesterday to plan the next stage of testing during the three-month ban.
Dr Kennelly said the plan was not finalised, but about 10 species of Harbour fish would be tested for dioxin.
"We will test such species as mullet, flathead, squid, luderick, tailor and blue swimmer crabs," he said.
The number of fish tested would be in the hundreds.
A plan should be finalised within three days and authorities will meet with recreational and commercial fishermen, possibly next Monday, to discuss it.
Premier Morris Iemma refused to guarantee compensation for commercial fisherman now banned from Sydney Harbour.