Reply With Quotei guess this is where recreational anglers and greenies see eye to eye ....................................... supertrawlers = bad
Media Statement released on 24th August 2012
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Significant Questions Remain Unanswered
Federal Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig established a Working Group in late July comprising the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Recreational Fishing representatives and Super Trawler proponent Seafish Tasmania.
The purpose of the Working Group was to try to find a way forward in addressing recreational fishers concerns about the risks on local fish stocks of industrial scale fishing operations in the Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) announced by Seafish Tasmania in May.
TARFish entered the Working Group in good faith, representing the interests of state and national recreational fishers as the delegated representative for the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) and Recfish Australia. The Working Group were provided with an independent scientific reference source from CSIRO to assist with questions surrounding the science used within the Small Pelagic Fishery. Recreational fisher representatives decided to exit Minister Ludwig’s Working Group due to a lack of detailed scientific knowledge surrounding;
1. The extent and rates of movement of each species of small pelagic fish.
2. The amount of time it would take for local populations of small pelagic fish to recover from intensive localized fishing.
3. The size of the resident population of Jack Mackerel on the East Coast of Tasmania.
TARFish CEO, Mark Nikolai, said “upon exiting the Working Group on the 17th August we presented Minister Ludwig with the attached detailed listing of questions that could not be answered through the Working Group process. It is most disappointing that we have yet to receive a response to our detailed case submitted to Minister Ludwig considering the MV Margiris is, according to the proponent Seafish Tasmania, due to arrive in Tasmanian waters by the end of August”.
Recreational fishers call on Minister Ludwig to not allow industrial scale fishing operations to occur in the Small Pelagic Fishery and address the significant public concerns surrounding the risks of local area depletion on fish stocks.
Contact Mark Nikolai, Chief Executive Officer on 0403 868 004 for further information.
TARFish is the independent, government recognised peak body looking after the interests
of recreational marine fishers in Tasmania.
Questions extracted from the report “Management zones from small pelagic fish species stock structure in southern Australian waters”, CSIRO March 2008.
In the western region, from west of Tasmania, through the Great Australian Bight to Western Australia, there is insufficient data to determine how many stocks of any of the Small Pelagic Fishery species might occur. Page vi
Has this lack of knowledge on stocks been addressed?
There is an urgent need to ensure that the spatial structure of the management arrangements in the Commonwealth-managed Small Pelagics Fishery matches the ecology of the species taken. Present fishery zoning is essentially jurisdictional, whereas spatial management arrangements need to be both based on whatever biological information exists, and reflect appropriate precaution for uncertainties. Consequently, there is a need to gather the best information about the spatial structure of small pelagic fish species taken in the fishery to both inform a precautionary approach to spatial management and identify the most appropriate research for improving spatial management and reducing the reliance on precaution.
Page 3
Other than East/West Zones what spatial management measures are available?
There are no stock structure studies on Redbait.
Page79
Has this been addressed?
Jack Mackerel
Jack mackerel are serial spawners although neither the spawning frequency nor the number of batches spawned per season has been determined.
Page 38
Do we know the spawning frequency and number of batches spawned per season?
Annual fecundity has also proven indeterminable.
Page 38
Do we know the annual fecundity (fertility) of Jack Mackerel?
Jack mackerel are known to spawn around the whole coast of Tasmania and in the Great Australian Bight (GAB). These separate spawning locations represent what is thought to be distinct stocks. In the GAB, jack mackerel spawn in summer.
Page 38
Whether there is a distinction between NSW and Tasmanian stocks is unclear.
Page38
Overall, the catch data and associated environmental data strongly suggests that the core distribution of jack mackerel lies in Tasmanian and Victorian waters, but it is not limited to those areas Page 74.
Without more definitive studies on jack mackerel from western Tasmania and western Victoria, at times when they occur there, we cannot be sure of stock affiliation, i.e. whether the fish belong to a GAB population or an eastern population.
Page 80
Have there been any updated studies undertaken to determine stock affiliation?
TARFish is the independent, government recognised peak body looking after the interests
of recreational marine fishers in Tasmania.
Maxwell presumed that jack mackerel migrated south from NSW in summer following the 17 °C isotherm. However, Jordan et al. noted that there is resident winter population of jack mackerel on the east coast of Tasmanian and that it might only be boosted by a spring migration from the north.
Page 38
Do we know the size of the winter population on the East Coast of Tasmania?
What tonnage can be taken from the Jack Mackerel winter population on the East Coast of Tasmania without having a detrimental effect on the local population/ecosystem?
Food Web – page 57
From the proposed food web, the dependencies on the Small Pelagic Fishery species by other commercial species are obvious. Tunas and billfishes are probably the most valuable species. Bluefin tuna eats both redbait and jack mackerel in high proportions i.e. between 30–45% respectively and yellowfin tuna eats yellowtail scad, jack mackerel, blue mackerel and redbait although Engraulidae is the most important prey by volume.
Page 57
The Australian fur seal feed heavily on redbait and jack mackerel (25 and 31% respectively) and some seabirds such as shy albatross and the Australasian gannet also feed predominantly on redbait and jack mackerel.
Page 58
What is the effect on these predators stocks/movement if the SPF TAC’s are caught?
Stock structure of the populations and their management play a role in ecosystem structure and function. Small pelagics have been found to be significant controlling influences within other ecosystems… The implications for ecosystems from fishing pressures then become significant particularly if “fishing down the food web”. Fishing in the middle of the food web, on small pelagics, obviously has potentially large consequences for dependent fisheries such as tuna.
Page 58
What management measures have been implemented to counter the “potentially large consequences for dependent fisheries such as Tuna” as noted by CSIRO?
The very significant role of the small pelagics in the food webs of most Australian fin-fisheries emphasizes the importance of careful and appropriate management of this fishery for the benefit of all fisheries.
Page 84
What management measures have been implemented for the benefit of fisheries other than the SPF fishery?
Recent model-based research into alternative management strategies has suggested that it is unlikely that large fisheries for both demersal and small pelagic fishes would be simultaneously economically viable in southern Australia. This finding was subject to model uncertainty and other relevant factors, such as the realised level of effort compared to potential effort in each fishery, but it highlighted a very real issue within Australian waters. This is the lack of definition of a system level goal state, and consequently, the associated acceptable levels of impact on that system and subsystems and sectors to be supported in the future. An accurate understanding of the stock structures of the small pelagic species and the dynamics of the roles they play within the relevant systems is
TARFish is the independent, government recognised peak body looking after the interests
of recreational marine fishers in Tasmania.
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i guess this is where recreational anglers and greenies see eye to eye ....................................... supertrawlers = bad
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/s...-1226464395873
too much heat in tassie ....................... let's just go to brissie .........................
The minister said last night on Q&A, the trawler would only be fishing for what has already been allocated to the Seafish Tasmania, and this was just another way of harvesting the catch. The same quoter system would apply if they used a number of smaller boats.
So my question is; when was this quoter allocated to Seafish Tasmania, this year, last year when and who allocated it ???. I assume it was only recently and I also assume it was a federal government decision, based on science they requested from there researchers.
Maturity is not when we start speaking BIG things,it is when we start understanding small things
And we all know how many stuff ups this government has made since they have been in power.Originally Posted by tropicrows
Cheers, Doug.
Love to use Preditek or Kingfisher lures or Viva Lures when I am out fishing.
If our government is unwilling to remove this ship from our waters we should call on boaties to form a blockade on this ship. 200 meters of boats in every direction would make a fairly clear message.
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