Dear all
The announcement was made yesterday that the Australian Senate will back
a recommendation of the Lower House of Parliament to ban the "Super
Trawler" from Australian waters for two years while its potential
impacts are studied. However it remains unclear if the 18000 ton
fishing quota for the Red Bait/Jack Mackerel fishery still stands and if
it does, the problem of environmental impact on marine wildlife
continues and has serious implications for seabirds.
From this saga emerge two major environmental issues that require
resolution. 1 The use of trawlers with a capacity to rapidly cause fish
depletion. 2. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA)
procedures to establish the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and their
science used to assess environmental impact.
During spring and summer, Short-tailed Shearwater occur along the east
coast of Tasmania in huge numbers from Flinders Island south to Schuten
Island often forming massive rafts of swimming, diving and flying birds
feeding vigorously in the vicinity of vast schools of fish found at
depths from near surface to 100 metres or more below. Sometimes these
shearwater flocks are so large and dense; their mass creates a local
wind break where surface winds approaching 25 knots are reduced to
velocities of not much more than 10 knots with almost calm seas
immediately to the lee of the birds. On a single day voyage it is not
uncommon to locate three or more swarming flocks of Short-tailed
Shearwater following the directional movement of the fish and sometimes
there are a few Hutton's and Buller's Shearwater, Albatross, Gannets and
other seabirds mixed with them.
When feeding in this manner the water is teeming with activity. The
shearwaters frequently swim en mass to depths of 70 metres and more,
feeding on small baitfish, plankton and the shredded remains of larger
fish including mackerel that are also being hunted by even larger
pelagic fish, seals and dolphins. Birds depart the scene rapidly when
approached by a boat however more than two minutes later; some birds are
still popping up from their deep diving exploits. We can observe this
using high resolution colour sonar.
After returning to Australia in late August from their long migration,
many Short-tailed Shearwaters die of starvation and exhaustion
particularly when their arrival coincides with severe weather events
common during this period. At about this time the "Roaring Forties"
kick in and severe westerly winds prevail usually from September to
January. This is when emaciated shearwaters are often found dead and
dying along beaches sometimes in hundreds and even thousands.
Over the past four or five years, there have been a more noticeable
number of large deep sea trawlers working off shore from the east coast
of Tasmania. There appears to be a correlation between this increased
trawling activity and the most severe wrecks of shearwater observed here
over the same period. It should be noted that pelagic fish targeted by
trawlers are likely to be the same food source that sustains shearwaters
after their return to Australian waters.
We have been informed recently that the Australian Fisheries Management
Authority (AFMA) has allocated a catch quota of 18,000 tons of the Red
Bait/Jack Mackerel to a Tasmanian commercial fishing company, Seafish
Tasmania. To harvest their quota, the company has brought to Australia
the 142 metre "Super Trawler", F.V. Margiris now renamed Abel Tasman, a
ship built to harvest vast quantities of fish. To help understand the
magnitude of 18000 tons of fish, it is the equivalent of approximately
800 fully laden semi trailers. The commercial fish value of 18000 tons
of fish? The catch is worth 18 million dollars for every dollar per
kilo obtained from the sale of the fish. The actual value of the
product has not been confirmed but some commercial fisherman say that a
conservative estimate of Red bait/jack mackerel worth is @ $5 kg = 90
million dollars to the fishing company. About the lowest benchmark for
fish value is the price of commercial crayfish bait which currently
sells for approx. $2 kg.
When the roaring forties prevail, the east coast of Tasmanian provides
off shore shelter to marine wildlife. But the shelter of this coast
also offers an attraction to pelagic fishing operations. Fish
depletion from trawling is a real threat to the ecological process.
Localised fish stock depletion is very likely in this fishery and will
be exacerbated by use of a "Super Trawler" that has capacity to catch so
much fish in a small area of available sheltered waters.
Of equal concern are suggestions that the AFMA assessed TAC for this
fishery is much greater than 18000 tons. There is information
circulating here (St Helens, Commercial fishing centre of eastern
Tasmania) that additional quotas have been allocated to other fishing
companies. It appears that the significant depletion of marine
wildlife food sources are a likely outcome and has not been adequately
considered during the AFMA environmental assessment process relating to
the Red Bait/Jack Mackerel trawl fishery. If this is so, existing
science is inadequate and should be redone.
Commercial fishing in Tasmania follows best practice. It is a
legitimate respected industry essential to the economy of the State
however pelagic fish management in Australia is a different issue and
its impacts on seabirds have crept under the radar. A more transparent
system needs to be adopted We need publicly available relevant
information that can inform us about the historical and annual TAC and
also the current methodology used by AMFA to measure ecological impacts
on affected marine wildlife so that we can have confidence in the system.
Please note I am not an anti commercial fishing activist. My point
here is to highlight the urgent need to develop an adequate ecological
assessment procedure for pelagic fisheries that not only considers
direct impact such as non targeted by-catch including seabirds but also
considers equally important ecological impacts especially food
competition for marine wildlife. The risks of catching seabirds from
deep sea trawling are probably minimal but the risk of locally depleting
fish stocks that would cause mass starvation of seabirds is immense.
Ian May
St Helens Marine Services
1 Tasman Hwy (PO Box 110)
St Helens, Tasmania. 7216
Mob: 0428 337956
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