Super Trawler, Margiris, Able Tasman

’’There has been no problem with the science in this instance, there is no deficiency in that regard … AFMA continues to have my confidence for the way it manages and assesses fisheries,’’ he said.

‎"Senator Ludwig was responding to revelations that two disaffected members of the fisheries management committee that paved the way for the super trawler to come to Australia had written to him in June pleading that he investigate approval processes to make sure fish stocks were protected.

Senator Ludwig replied in July, writing that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority had advised him the Margiris’ allowable catch had been ’’based on research’’ and declined to hold an inquiry.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/labor-tying-itself-in-knots-over-super-trawler-ban-20120913-25tuk.html

and the letters

Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines, September 2007. by the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation

in 2007 Tony Burke was Fisheries Minister

“there are considerable economies of scale in the fishery and the most efficient way to fish may include large scale factory freezer vessels. “


http://www.afma.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/16.-SEMAC-Attachment-2-SPF-Harvest-Strategy-October-2009.pdf

This issue appears to be out of our hands now, this super trawler issue has now become the proverbial football in the big house of parliament, where they will play there games. Although we will now have little influence on what is happing, and we can sit and wait to see the outcome then deal with the consequences whatever they happen to be, or we can make some more noise.

Let’s be very clear this Super Trawler arrived in Australia on the watch of the Australian Labor party, the same Labor party locking Australian anglers and our kids out of our ocean. Only a few days ago there was no problem with the trawler or the science, today they all agree there is a problem. Minster Burke then attempted to stich us up by including in the EPBC act conditions that could have threatened every single recreational commonwealth fishery, yet the Greens and the green groups that so happily embraced recreational fishers when they needed the numbers, quickly turned their back on the anglers of Australia by refusing to even acknowledge that the amendments to the EPBC act as it stood could be detrimental to recreational fishing if it was passed? Instead attacking the very politician that stood up to protect our interests. As the bill stands, as I write this, it is still a threat to local commercial fishers that operate in commonwealth waters. While at the same time does nothing to address the issue of the quota of this fishery, or stopping this quota being taken from one location.

The Labor party commissioned a review of the EPBC act in 2008, known as the Hawke review, the final report of this review was delivered in 2009. In this review were critical changes to stop what happened with the Mako shark ban happening again, the Mako ban was sorted out with an exemption to the EPBC act, so the conditions that allowed the situation of the Mako ban to occur are still in the current EPBC act, basically internationally they have separate conditions to manage species that there is some concern about, but in our EPBC act we only have one level of protection, so a species is either fully protected or not protected at all.

The environment Minister hasn’t been able to find the time to make the changes to the EPBC act that were recommended in the Hawke review way back in 2009, but magically can add what he likes to it almost overnight when he needs to save his skin and to cover the incompetency of this government.

So while we should be very clear on who is, and who are not the friends of recreational fishing. We must make a last stand to insist that this must be sorted out and that we are sick of being that political football that everyone is currently kicking around.

Contact all of them from all sides and ask them to find a suitable solution to this issue 
NOW


Oakeshott said until today, he had been planning to vote against the government's bill as he saw no reason to question the science on super trawlers provided by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).
But he changed his mind after Mr Burke told parliament some "serious'' questions had been raised since AFMA had told the government of new legal advice that it had not been correctly implementing some aspects of the Fisheries Act.

http://www.news.com.au/national/super-trawler-banned-from-fishing-in-australian-waters-by-federal-government/story-fndo4eg9-1226473643263