It was partly this that sparked the question from a
young bird enthusiast who is one of our moderators on
Envirotalk (have to make sure she knows about this
forum to). The government has made assurances on this
issue (saying it is a beat up - but I am afraid the
Journalist who broke the story had plenty to go on)and
the idea of super trawlers is not popular at all with
the fishing industry.
Anyway - below is a link to the Trawler Issue and lots
of info including the Trawler Companies own website
for the Veronica's even larger sister ship, the
Atlantic Dawn (apt name). And there is also me
getting cranky at how long it took to refute the
possibility that this ship was coming. I think the
strength of the reaction to the idea generally was
very healthy in playing a part to help ensure this
does not happen.
http://www.envirotalk.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=2457
http://www.envirotalk.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=2603
And shortened versions in case line wrapping recks the
links.
http://tinyurl.com/3ua45
http://tinyurl.com/582en
You can do this at, http://tinyurl.com/ by the way.
It is very handy and free.
- Stephen
--- Katie McCloskey <> wrote:
> This is actually a well-timed question. There is
> currently some controversy
> in Australia about an international super-trawler -
> the Veronika II - that
> has bought an Australian fishing license for
> catching the pelagic species
> used for mealing and feeding farm fish. Australia,
> to date, does not have
> these excessively large fishing 'ships' in its
> fishing fleet. These
> super-trawlers are capable of holding between
> 3000-5000T of (frozen) fish at
> a time, which means they can stay at sea and
> continually fish for up to 3
> months. It would be in Australia's best interests,
> both environmentally, and
> for the survival of our fisheries, that these
> 'factory boats' not be allowed
> in our waters.
>
> Certainly, I imagine if this boat - the Veronika II
> - were allowed to fish
> the GAB, which is where the license is primarily
> for, we may well see a
> decrease in seabird numbers. If you are concerned,
> it may be the right time
> to contact the appropriate ministers. The federal
> government has stopped the
> boat from coming temporarily while it decides the
> appropriate thing to do,
> but the license has been purchased. The more outcry,
> the better. Both the
> Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian have had
> recent articles about it.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Katie
>
>
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