Government to legislate to stop super trawlers

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Anger and elation over trawler decision (7pm TV News TAS)

The super trawler Abel Tasman will be prevented from fishing in Australian waters until new scientific research is carried out, in a bid to appease community concern about the ship.

Cabinet signed off on the plan last night in the face of growing unrest on the Labor backbench which would have culminated in a private member's bill being put forward to ban the trawler.

Seafish Tasmania brought the trawler to Australia to fish for a near 18,000-tonne quota of jack mackerel and redbait.

It has described the decision as extremely disappointing and it will be forced to sack 50 people, including 45 Tasmanians, who were hired to crew the ship.

Company director Gerry Geen says Seafish Tasmania has spent years working with relevant authorities to meet every rule and requirement.

He says the company is considering its options and will not comment further until it sees the legislation.

Environment Minister Tony Burke had already imposed restrictions on the trawler to try to limit the number of dolphins, seals and sea lions being caught.

But he has now introduced legislation to Parliament that will extend his legal powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, while also commissioning more scientific research to assess the impact of the trawler on Australia's oceans.

"There has never been a fishing vessel of this capacity in Australia before and the EPBC Act needs to be updated so that it can deal with it," Mr Burke said.

"If we get this wrong, there are risks to the environment, to commercial operators and to everyone who loves fishing and they are risks I am not prepared to take."

Mr Burke says the legislation will give him the power to stop the Abel Tasman fishing in Commonwealth waters while an expert panel is set up to assess the environmental impacts of the ship.

He says research will be undertaken in an "open and transparent" way to restore public confidence in the process, although it may end up allowing the trawler to operate.

Mr Burke says it was not the size of the ship's fishing quota that concerned him, but rather its ability to stay for an extended period of time in the same area which increases the risk of large-scale localised by-catch.

The Abel Tasman was seeking approval from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to operate in Australia.

AFMA chief executive James Findlay has previously defended the Abel Tasman's presence in Australia, arguing there was no reason to single out the ship.

"With catch limits in place, there is no evidence that larger boats pose a higher risk to either the fish stock or the broader marine ecosystem," Mr Findlay wrote last week.

"The net on this boat is similar in size to nets currently operating in the Australian fishing fleet - the only reason the boat is so much larger than other fishing boats is that it has the factory and freezer storage on board."

'Unprecedented campaign'

Destructive or sustainable?

The size of the Margiris, now named Abel Tasman, has sparked fears it will decimate fish stocks.



But Australia's fishing regulator says the trawler's quota is based on sound science.



So will the super trawler devastate a region, or will its catch be a drop in the ocean?



ABC News Online takes a look at both sides of the debate here.



The size of the Margiris, now named Abel Tasman, has sparked fears it will decimate fish stocks.But Australia's fishing regulator says the trawler's quota is based on sound science.So will the super trawler devastate a region, or will its catch be a drop in the ocean?

The ship's presence in Australia has sparked a fierce campaign from conservation and community groups, including GetUp!.

Its environmental campaign director, Paul Oosting, has welcomed the Government's intervention.

"This super trawler would not have just killed fish, it would also have killed a significant number of protected species," he said.

"For example, under the proposed conditions for fishing, the super trawler could have legally killed up to 10 seals a day."

The Greens have also welcomed the Government's about face but argue it needs to go further.

"The Government has effectively said the super trawler will be stalled until one year after the next federal election. That doesn't go far enough," Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters in Canberra.

"The community wants the super trawler stopped... and so the Greens will continue this campaign because we need to give Australians assurance that we're not going to have super trawlers in Australian waters acting as huge vacuum cleaners sucking the fish out of the sea."

But Neil MacKinnon from the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says populism has triumphed over science.

"Nobody seems to be standing up for those who are trying to create economic activity," he said.

'Stuff up'

Speaking before the Government's announcement, the Opposition said it supported the assessment process and warned that any further interference would introduce sovereign risk into the multi-billion-dollar fishing industry.

A spokesman said it would review the legislation before commenting further, but described the latest move as another "stuff up" by Labor.

The Abel Tasman is operated by a joint venture between Seafish Tasmania and a Dutch fishing company.

Seafish Tasmania has a quota of nearly 17,800 tonnes for the 2012-13 financial year which would have been utilised by the Abel Tasman.

It would have operated in the Small Pelagics Fishery, which stretches from Queensland to Western Australia.

Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig says the last time a scientific assessment was carried out on the fishery's harvest strategy was 2003-04 and that it needs to be updated.

However, the fishing industry regulator says it uses the "best available science" to set harvest limits.

"AFMA has received criticism from those unfamiliar with fisheries science for using old data in setting the catch limits for some species, however, in accordance with best-practice management, these catch limits take into account the age of the data by lowering the catch limits significantly," the AFMA website says.

Topics: fishing-aquaculture, environmental-impact, environmental-management, federal-government, australia, sa, tas

First posted