Government accused of opening the door to trawling of the Bass strait by making ban dependent on vessel length rather than fishing capacity

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The federal government’s ban on supertrawlers is inadequate because it defines ships only by size and not by industrial fishing capacity, environmental and recreational fishing groups have said.

The parliamentary secretary for agriculture, Richard Colbeck, released a statement on Christmas Eve saying supertrawlers would be permanently banned from Australian waters. The ban defined a supertrawler as a vessel longer than 130 metres.

Environmental and fishing groups making up the Stop the Trawler Alliance have criticised the decision because it allows smaller vessels with large industrial fishing capacity to fish in restricted areas.

The co-ordinator of the alliance, Rebecca Hubbard, said: “There is a fleet of supertrawlers sitting on Australia’s doorstep that are shorter than 130m that could have an equally devastating impact on our marine life, our fisheries and our local fishing. What is Senator Colbeck going to do to stop these industrial freezer trawlers destroying our marine environment and recreational fisheries?”

Dean Logan from the Australian Marine Alliance said the decision would squeeze out smaller, cottage-industry fishermen. “New South Wales has lost 600 small cottage fishermen in five years,” Logan said.

He said the decision would allow foreign-owned and operated vessels to fish in Australian waters without paying tax.

Logan pointed to the 4,400-tonne Ukrainian-owned Meridian 1, which is sitting off the coast of New Zealand, as an example of a vessel that will be allowed to operate in Australia under the new regulation. The Meridian is 104 metres long and therefore not classified as a supertrawler under the government’s definition.

“This is a pre-emptive strike by the government,” Logan said. “It’s pretty clear that this announcement is a Trojan horse.” The government was opening the door to let vessels trawl the Bass strait, Logan said.

Guardian Australia has contacted Colbeck’s office for a response, but none has been forthcoming.

Colbeck adopted the definition of supertrawler used by the Labor government in 2012 to keep the 143m Margiris out of Australian waters, following massive public outcry about the ship operating off the Tasmanian coast.

The previous government imposed two bans on supertrawlers. One ran out in November, the other was up for review in April.

Hubbard has raised concerns about the damage these vessels can do to Australia’s unique ecosystem.

Logan said the recreational fishing industry would sit down with environmental groups such as Hubbard’s to put pressure on the government to change the definition of supertrawler.

“The recreational fishing sector will come out against this,” Logan said. “The environmental lobby will come out just as hard against this.”