Rebecca Hubbard marine@et.org.au via sendgrid.me
12:56 PM (2 hours ago)
to me
Dear friends,
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has responded to community concerns about the super trawler saying he is powerless to stop it, instead introducing a series of conditions to minimise the impact of the trawler on listed threatened species. Whilst it’s good to see Minister Burke using his powers to act, the conditions put in place will not stop this super trawler (or others) destroying our marine life and fisheries. Here’s why:
The conditions do nothing to address the concerns of conservationists and recreational or commercial fishers about local over exploitation of fish stocks
Most of the conditions are standard for all trawlers – such as management plans for sea birds – but this does not stop protected bird species being caught in the first place
The conditions allow up to 10 seals to be killed every day, if more are killed the a simple ‘review’ is triggered and the trawler is required to move 50 nautical miles. Trawlers can cover these distances in a few hours and given marine wildlife such as seals, dolphins and turtles are highly mobile this does nothing to protect them.
The conditions do not address the flow on effect of localised depletion of fish stocks on the marine environment or the flow on effects to other marine wildlife who may lose their food source such as penguins, tuna, seals, whales and dolphins.
It is now time for Joe Ludwig to use his powers as Fisheries Minister to stop super trawlers destroying our fisheries – he should use his powers under section 91 of the Fisheries Management Act, which allow him to take action in ‘exceptional circumstances’ like this to ban super trawlers from our waters.
Tell Joe Ludwig it’s time to protect Australia’s fisheries and marine life from super trawlers – email him here:
http://stopthetrawler.net/take-action/
The Margiris arrived in Port Lincoln in remote South Australia six days ago, and is undergoing a makeover (including an insulting name-change to the ‘Abel Tasman’) to try and secure final approval to fish in Australian waters. Minister Joe Ludwig is the one person with the power to stop the trawler and has yet to make a decision. He has the power, in exceptional circumstances, to direct the Australian Fisheries Management Authority what to do – but he won’t use that power unless he continues to hear from all of us.
Thanks to the generous contributions of 643 people, we can continue the campaign to stop the super trawler and ramp up the pressure on the Fisheries Minister. We are organising a huge ‘No Super Trawlers’ rally in Hobart on Saturday 15 September. We’ve chosen Hobart despite Seafish Tasmania changing the docking location of the super trawler a number of times (most recently to Queensland) – it is clear they want to avoid public events near the Margiris. This campaign is a national movement now, but began in Tasmania with a Tasmanian company at the centre of the debate. Stay tuned to www.stopthetrawler.net for more details on the event.
It has been a busy time since the trawler arrived in Australian waters.
Late last week Greenpeace activists attempted to stop the super trawler from docking in Port Lincoln, South Australia. It is clear that the company avoided original ports in Tasmania and Western Australia after hearing about significant public opposition there! Since that time, South Australian fishers and conservationists have been coming together to show their opposition with events being held throughout this week. This culminated yesterday in Parliament with the SA Environment Minister tabling a statement that calls on the Federal Minister for Fisheries Joe Ludwig to not allow the FV Margiris to operate in the Small Pelagic Fishery at all.
You may have seen that on Monday GetUp, Greenpeace and Environment Tasmania ran a full page ad in The Australian that highlighted the threat of the super trawler to protected species like dolphins, seals and seabirds and urged readers to contact the Fisheries Minister.
Let’s keep the momentum up – contact Joe Ludwig here.
Thanks for being a part of this incredible movement,
Rebecca