The Australian Fisheries Management Authority and industry association have defended the fishing activity of the factory trawler Geelong Star in the face of growing outrage from recreational and commercial fishers on the Far South Coast of NSW.
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John Moore of Narooma Fishing Charters encountered 95-metre super trawler off Tuross last week and posted: “Initially I didn't have a problem with the G.S. taking under-utilised species of fish, but it has been a joke that most of the effort has been on the NSW South Coast.”
There is concern the vessel’s continued concentrated effort will impact on local fish stocks all the way up the food chain, while the factory trawler has been known to kill seals, albatrosses and even snagged a whale shark in its nets off Bermagui.
The Stop the Super Trawler group had claimed the Geelong Star was only allowed to work three specific areas and so would cause localised depletion of fish stocks off Bermagui, NSW; Portland, Victoria and St Helens, Tasmania.
But a spokesman for the Small Pelagic Fishing Industry Association said Stop the Super Trawler’s post was not accurate and that it was a hypothetical argument about what could be taken from a grid in a 12-month period but it ignored a couple of key points.
“AFMA has imposed a fish and move on rule which means a maximum of only 4 per cent of the small pelagic fishery quota can be caught in a month in any grid. After that, a vessel has to move on and not return to that grid for a month,” the spokesman said.
“Small pelagic species are highly mobile and seasonal movement in fish populations is significant. No quota holder in the small pelagic fishery would be able to concentrate their efforts in a single grid as the species move further south in summer and north again in winter.”
Regarding the regional catch limits map, the SPFIA spokesman said a catch limit of 2000 tonnes applied to the combined catch of quota species within the grids numbered G1 to G120 (see attached map) over a 30-day period.
“The Geelong Star can fish across all of those grids, not just three,” he said. “Furthermore, there has been a voluntary offer made by the operators of the Geelong Star to recreational fishing groups in the 2016-17 season that is being monitored by AFMA for compliance.
“Finally, according to AFMA and based on the huge amount of science that has gone into assessing the fishery, there is no evidence of localised depletion in the small pelagic fishery and there is low risk of it occurring in the future.”
A Bermagui hook, line and trap fisherman who writes his blog under the pseudonym “Trapman Bermagui” also vented his frustration with the large trawler, claiming it is just too efficient.
“If you look at the graph of the areas fished and the kilos caught, you can see why the Geelong star works off here. The numbers that are being caught off Bermagui are insane and we won't know for years to come of what impact this could have.
“Especially if the boat continues to work. The facts are, this kind of net fishing is the cleanest fishery, as by catch goes. I know, seals, dolphins, whale shark were caught but as for target species goes this fishery does well. The problem is it does it too well!!! The net is towed at 5knots. Normal Australian trawlers do 2knots at best. The boats a factory trawler... Super trawler. It's all the same bloody thing!
“People, don't hate the workers, they’re hard working honest people. Don't hate the boat, it's built to kill and it does it well. Hate the government that lets it be here. That's the only way to stop it. It's a political world and the only thing that matters are numbers. Votes…
“We need to get the numbers to get rid of this boat before it does anymore damage to this beautiful place. That's just my opinion.. A true Australian commercial fisherman’s opinion.”
AFMA has also weighed in on the debate with a spokeswoman noting that while the general public can’t follow the location of the Geelong Star on the AIS system, the vessel is monitored 24/7 by an AFMA approved GPS tracking system known as a vessel monitoring system or VMS. All Commonwealth fishing vessels are required to have an AFMA approved VMS fitted and operating at all times.
She said the difference between an automatic identification system and VMS is covered in the SPF FAQs up on the AFMA website at http://www.afma.gov.au/fisheries/small-pelagic-fishery/small-pelagic-fishery-faqs/
Also in these FAQs, she said the was more information about localised depletion, specifically, that there was no evidence of localised depletion in the Small Pelagic Fishery and there is low risk of it occurring in the future.
“The risk of localised depletion in the Small Pelagic Fishery is low because the total allowable catches only allow the harvesting of a small percentage of the total fish stocks and the species are highly mobile,” the AFMA spokeswoman said. “Also, research indicates that fishing for Small Pelagic Fishery species in Australian waters has only minor impacts on other parts of the ecosystem, as alternative food sources exist for large predator species like tunas.
AFMA has maps outlining the area where the Geelong Star can fish, and these are at: http://www.afma.gov.au/fisheries/small-pelagic-fishery/ under Fishery map).
“As you may also be aware, on 6 May 2016 a voluntary offer was made by Seafish Tasmania regarding the operations of the Geelong Star in the 2016-17 fishing season,” she said. “This is an industry voluntary agreement. This offer is not regulated by AFMA and is outside AFMA’s usual reporting framework for commercial fishers.
“Finally, just on all things SPF related, in case it is of interest, the Commonwealth Ombudsman has now released the report into their investigation of AFMA’s administration of the Small Pelagic Fish Resource Assessment Group (SPFRAG).”
The report is available on their website at http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/publications/investigation-reports