Have your say on mulloway
Public submissions are invited on proposed management options to promote the recovery of mulloway in NSW.
NSW DPI Acting Commercial Fisheries Director, Doug Ferrell, said mulloway have been assessed as an overfished species and a recovery program is required to help rebuild the population to a sustainable level.
"Given the importance of mulloway to all fishers, the government is committed to providing an opportunity for everyone to have their say on the proposed management arrangements” Dr Ferrell said.
"Various options have been developed with input from recreational, commercial, conservation and Indigenous stakeholders, as well as fisheries scientists and managers who formed part of a mulloway resource planning group.
"This group of experts and key stakeholders came together to come up with a range of alternative management actions that would promote the recovery of mulloway stocks while minimising economic and social impacts."
Dr Ferrell said that a program to support mulloway is strongly supported by all parties involved and a public consultation period is an important step to ensure the best overall option is implemented.
"Reducing fishing pressure on mulloway stock is a challenge as the fish are caught throughout their lives in many habitats by many different fisheries," Dr Ferrell said.
"Targeted strategies are needed to address various methods used to catch the species, so input from a diverse group of stakeholders is vital to coming to the right solution.
"All of the options are outlined in a discussion paper available on the DPI website and I encourage anyone with an opinion on the management of this important species to have their say via the online submission form before 16 October 2012."
To find out more about the Mulloway Recovery Program or make an online submission go to the DPI Have your say on mulloway recovery web page
Win one of 24 free life jackets from the Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW
Enter the RFA's Rock Fishing Safety Life Jacket Competition and win one of our 24 free life jackets!
The Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW is giving away two lifejackets every month for 12 months from September 2012. All details are on the RFA's Safe Fishing website at www.safefishing.com.au
Working group to examine Pittwater fishery concerns
The NSW DPI has formed a working group to provide a forum for discussion of fisheries management information, issues and concerns by local representatives and users of Pittwater.
Director of Commercial Management, Andrew Goulstone, said DPI is pleased to support such discussions, and to examine local management arrangements and determine what management settings could be improved with the agreement of stakeholders.
"Pittwater is important to many fisheries sectors, with some relying on it to generate their income and others for recreation. It is important that DPI balances the needs of recreational fishers, the communities’ demand for fresh local seafood and environmental factors. There are many competing concerns and interests at Pittwater, making management of fisheries in that waterway extremely complex.
"Both the recreational and commercial fishing sectors at Pittwater have indicated their willingness to work together to improve management of the fisheries resource.
"Their goodwill has led to the formation of the Pittwater Working Group to get a better understanding of the different concerns of stakeholders, and examine and report on fisheries issues in Pittwater."
Mr Goulstone said the Working Group will consist of representatives from the recreational sector, commercial fishers, local government, community groups and DPI.
"Warren Martin, an independent consultant with extensive natural resource management expertise, will chair the Pittwater Working Group," Mr Goulstone said.
"The views of recreational fishers will be represented by chair of the Advisory Council on Recreational Fishing, Bruce Schumaker and Andrew Tiede from the local Anglers Action Group.
"Ted Allen and Brendan Schonkala join the group on behalf of local commercial fishers.
"Other members of the group include Pittwater Council General Manager Mark Ferguson, Scotland Island Residents Association member Paul Kinnison and Mackerel Beach Association representative Gavin Shennan.
"Rob Stokes, the State Member for Pittwater will attend as an observer."
The Pittwater Working Group will meet three times in coming months and provide a final report on its deliberations by the end of 2012.
RFA of NSW Rock Fishing Safety Workshops in October
On the 6th and 27th of October the RFA of NSW is expecting to host over 300 anglers from within the Asian community.
The event is being hosted by Willoughby Council and will involve NSW DPI, Surf Life Saving and the RFA of NSW. With a host of water safety activities planned it will be a great day out for many anglers who have English as a second language and a great opportunity for experienced rock anglers to pass on their knowledge on how to fish the rocks safely.
Sydney’s well known rock hopper, Alex Bellissimo will host the rock fishing safety classes on the day. For more details or if you wish to attend a workshop just let the RFA of NSW know at info@rfansw.com.au.
Anglers alarmed at rush to close ‘paper roads’
Freshwater anglers in NSW are alarmed that the NSW government intends to accelerate the disposal of ‘paper’ Crown roads.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional Infrastructure and Services Andrew Stoner recently admitted that a huge backlog of applications had built up, with over 6,500 road closure applications still awaiting processing, some dating back to 2006. At Mr Stoner’s direction, the NSW Government has accelerated the program.
‘Almost half of NSW Crown roads are “paper roads” that exist only on a map, or are little more than tracks, and are frequently contained within private property under a permit from the State. We can accelerate processing by centralising administration, reducing timeframes for consultation and objections, and processing applications in batches rather than one at a time,’ Mr Stoner said.
However Don Barton, President of peak recreational fishing body the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers, has expressed concern that ‘reducing timeframes for consultation and objections’ will make it impossible for recreational anglers and other outdoor groups to monitor and respond to closures which could restrict recreational fishing and public access.
Mr Barton called on the government to consult more openly and publicly about disposal of Crown roads in all parts of the State and to provide funds and resources for anglers and other community groups to monitor and respond to all applications which affect access to waterways.
‘These roads are publically owned land, they are Crown land and belong to the people of NSW. Mr Stoner’s claim that these are just “paper roads that exist only on a map, or are little more than tracks” is very misleading. These Crown roads provide access for the general public who have a legal right to do so. In many cases these roads provide access to waterways, reserves, private land and Crown land, and are used by many recreational users such as anglers, kayakers, birdwatchers and others’ Barton said.
‘The Minister’s proposal is directed at subverting the public interest in preserving Crown lands that allow public access to otherwise inaccessible public lands and waterways. He wants the time for objection to be reduced, which can only be intended to make it difficult for the public to identify the lands that should be retained. If the Government’s proposal involved allocating more resources to expedite the overall process, for example, providing funds to employ an additional public access officer to help identify lands that should be retained, that would be a different matter. In fact, the inside word is that most of the delay is due to inadequate resources being available to duly process applications for privatisation.
‘As the matter stands, however, the Minister’s plan involves reducing the time frame for consultation and objections, thereby denying natural justice to the people of NSW and possibly allowing errors and inequitable decisions being made. This is totally unacceptable to the angling fraternity’ he said.
Mr Barton said that the government is obliged to publicise proposed paper road closures in local newspapers and he urged anglers and other users to constantly monitor the media for such notices, and to object if the proposed closures affected long-established public access.
New fishing and diving rules at Grey Nurse Shark aggregation sites
Following the review of Grey Nurse Shark protection, several changes have been made to recreational fishing and scuba diving arrangements at Grey Nurse Shark critical habitat and other aggregation sites. A summary of the changes is presented below. For further information please see the FAQ section of the NSW DPI website
Recreational Fishing
• The use of bait by recreational fishers in connection with line fishing methods is prohibited within Grey Nurse Shark critical habitat at:
- Fish Rock and Green Island and
- Magic Point
• In addition, the use of bait by recreational fishers in connection with line fishing methods is prohibited within 200 m of specified Grey Nurse Shark aggregation sites at:
- North Solitary Island
- South Solitary Island and
- Mermaid Reef
• Note that soft plastics, artificial baits and vegetable baits such as green weed may continue to be used.
• All remaining critical habitat sites occur within marine parks and the recreational fishing rules at these sites are set out in the relevant marine park zoning plans. This includes:
- Julian Rocks
- The Pinnacle
- Big and Little Seal Rocks
- Little Broughton Island
- Tollgate Islands
- Montague Island
• The Bass Point critical habitat site will be delisted in accordance with recommendations from NSW DPI scientists and consideration will be given to realigning the shape of the Magic Point critical habitat site to maintain consistency with other sites and further reduce impacts on shore based fishing. In addition the buffer-zone regulations that surrounded critical habitat sites will also be revoked. The regulation amendments will occur progressively over the ensuing months and will include public notification and consultation.
• All other recreational fishing activities will remain unaffected by the changes, including spinning and trolling with fly or artificial lure, use of soft plastics, jigging, crabbing, hand gathering and spearfishing (other than at Fish Rock – see below). However all other existing applicable regulatory controls continue to apply at each site.
• Penalties of up to $22,000 or 6 months imprisonment (or both) for a first offence or $44 000 or 12 months imprisonment (or both) for second and subsequent offences apply for non-compliance with the new recreational fishing rules.
• A 12 month compliance advisory period will operate following the introduction of the new rules. During this period formal cautions will be issued for first offences. Second and subsequent offences will be subject to standard compliance action.
Spearfishing
• Existing spearfishing rules will not change other than at Fish Rock.
• The existing regulations that have been in place since 31 July 1998 on the taking of fish within 500 m of the mean high water mark of Fish Rock will be reduced to align with the critical habitat of 200 m
• The taking of any fish by spear or speargun is prohibited within the critical habitat of Grey Nurse Shark at Fish Rock other than:
- Australian salmon
- Mahi Mahi
- Tailor
- Cobia
- Marlins and Sailfish (all species in the family Istiophoridae)
- Mackerels and Tunas (all species in the family Scombridae)
- Wahoo
- Trevallies, Yellowtail Kingfish and Rainbow Runner (all species in the family Carangidae)
• These rules predated the declaration of critical habitat and were implemented as part of resource allocation agreements between spearfishers and scuba divers, and were not related to Grey Nurse Shark protection.
• All other existing applicable regulatory controls continue to apply.
• Penalties of up to $11 000 apply for non-compliance with the spearfishing rules.
Commercial Fishing
• There are no changes to commercial fishing rules arising from the review of Grey Nurse Shark protection.
Commercial fisheries will continue to be managed in accordance with relevant Fishery Management Strategies, the Fisheries Management Act 1994, Fisheries Management (General) Regulation 2010, and relevant fisheries management share management plan regulation.
• The existing Ocean Trap and Line Export Approval notifications continue to apply at North Solitary Island, South Solitary Island, Fish Rock, Green Island and Magic Point.
SCUBA Diving
• The existing critical habitat diving regulations will be replaced by the national Code of Conduct for Diving with Grey Nurse Sharks.
• The Code of Conduct for Diving with Grey Nurse Sharks is voluntary however scuba divers should be aware that significant penalties exist for interfering with fish of a threatened species, including Grey Nurse Sharks.
• Interfering includes harassing, chasing, tagging, marking or engaging in any activity for the purposes of attracting or repelling Grey Nurse Shark, including activities such as hand-feeding and use of shark repelling devices.
• The penalties for interfering with Grey Nurse Sharks include fines of up to $110,000 or 2 years imprisonment (or both).
• The Code of Conduct for Diving with Grey Nurse Sharks applies at all Grey Nurse Shark aggregation sites in NSW waters, and applies to recreational and charter diving operators.
National Drowning Report 2012 finds inland drowning deaths are increasing
The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2012 reveals 284 people drowned in Australian waterways between July 1 2011 and June 30 2012. This is a reduction of just 1% (3 drowning deaths) on the 5 year average. The highest number of drowning deaths occurred in inland waterways (104), accounting for 37% of the total number of drowning deaths.
CEO of Royal Life Saving, Rob Bradley, said, " The number of drowning deaths in inland waterways is up 13% on the 5 year average. It's clear that more work needs to be done in reducing drowning in Australia."
The number of males drowning continues at a phenomenal rate. 82% (232) of the drowning deaths were males and 18% (52) were females.
The ratio of males drowning to females has increased on last year. Males are now drowning at 4.5 times the rate of females. Rob Bradley says 98 men aged 18-44 drowned last year and says it's highly likely many of the people in this age group missed out on an adequate water safety education during their younger years.
Rob Bradley says men clearly continue to put themselves at risk by frequently ignoring warnings and putting themselves in dangerous situations. He says greater awareness about water safety issues among men is desperately needed.
Rob Bradley said, "There are just too few resources being devoted to stop drowning deaths in inland waterways. The overall drowning toll is unacceptable. We want to see the number of people drowning halved by the year 2020. With these sorts of figures it is hard to see that happening."
The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2012 aims to dispel some misconceptions about drowning in Australia. Few realise that more drowning deaths occur in rivers and lakes than at the beach, 60% of drowning deaths occur outside of major cities, smaller states such as the Northern Territory and Tasmania experience a greater burden of drowning, and that parents can rely on the school system to teach their kids to swim, but this is no longer the case.
To read the full report and see further information on water safety and drowning prevention strategies visit www.royallifesaving.com.au.
Fish habitat improved in Wallamba River
Fish in the Wallamba River and Wallis Lake on the NSW mid-north coast will enjoy improved habitat and better water quality following the completion of a $40,000 Habitat Action Grant project to reduce bank erosion.
"The successful Wallmba River project was implemented by Great Lakes Council with funding from the Recreational Fishing Trust funded Habitat Action Grant program," Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Conservation Manager, David Cordina, said.
Great Lakes Council Manager Natural Systems, Gerard Tuckerman, said past vegetation clearance, ongoing cattle grazing and wash from boats had caused severe bank erosion along a 12 kilometre stretch of the Wallamba River, causing downstream sedimentation.
"This impacts on the health of the Wallis Lake oyster and fishing industries, and degrades important fish habitat such as seagrass beds," Mr Tuckerman said.
"The funding allowed Great Lakes Council to implement a suite of initiatives to reduce erosion and provide bank protection in a priority area through the installation of rock fillets, revegetation with suitable native plant species and the promotion of mangrove regeneration through seed bank enhancement.
"A 200 metre stretch of previously eroding bank was repaired and this built on previous habitat restoration of four kilometres of the river, which forms part of the Great Lakes Council’s award winning Water Quality Improvement Program."
Four drowned in boating tragedies
Three men drowned at St George’s Basin after their small boat capsized soon after midnight on Monday 17 September. The emergency followed another capsize at around 2 am on the previous day in Lake Macquarie when a dinghy carrying a man and his wife tipped over as they attempted to board their moored boat.
In both cases lifejackets were not in use, and according to media reports in the St George’s Basin tragedy alcohol was involved and boat had no motor, just paddles.
Marine Rescue NSW urges everyone who goes boating to wear a lifejacket. Statistics from NSW Roads and Maritime Services show that between mid 1999 and December 2011, 206 out of 221 people killed in boating accidents in NSW were not wearing lifejackets. Many of these people could have survived if they had been wearing one.
Just a reminder of what is required in these sort of situations: Under NSW regulations lifejackets must be worn by all the occupants of a vessel less than 4.8m in length when the vessel is being operated in any of the following situations:
•at night
•on open (ocean) waters;
•on alpine lakes;
•when boating alone;
•as a tender more than 400 metres from shore.
Angler Access Project update
The good news is that Back Lake at Merimbula has now been gazetted and is under the trusteeship of the NSW Angler Access Trust. This process has been greatly assisted by the staff at the Nowra office of the DPI, Catchment and Lands who have been very helpful throughout the whole procedure. I must also give thanks to the Bega Aboriginal Land Council who supported the process and who will be involved in the local management of the reserve, which we recognise has special cultural and environmental significance for them.
At this stage reserves under the care of the Trust are:
Lake Macquarie AR
Gazetted 18/11/2011
Artificial reef, saltwater
Narara Creek
Gazetted 16/3/2012
Gosford, saltwater
Jocks Water
Gazetted 1/6/2012
Ebor district, trout
Guy Fawkes River
Gazetted 7/4/2012
Ebor district, trout
Mushroom Flat
Gazetted 18/5/2012
Rylstone/Kandos area, freshwater, natives
Lake Conjola AR
Gazetted 13/7/2012
Artificial Reef
St Georges Basin AR
Gazetted 13/7/2012
Artificial Reef
Merimbula lake AR
Gazetted 13/7/2012
Artificial Reef
Back Lake Merimbula
Gazetted 7/9/2012
Bed of Back lake at Merimbula
On 30 August, Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner announced the accelerated disposal of “paper roads” by the Crown. It is a disservice to call them “paper roads” because in many instances these Crown roads, to give them their proper name, are the only legal public access we have to places of public interest. They provide access to waterways for kayakers, canoeist, anglers, picnickers, environmental observers; to reserves for many different user groups; access through National Parks; to tracks for 4WD users, mountain bikers, and bushwalkers. The government wants to sell off as many of these roads as they can and the end result will be that the legal access we have to places for our varied recreational pursuits will be gone forever, places we have fished for generations will no longer be accessible; once sold off there is no going back, they are lost forever.
This matter is not insignificant, you only need to see the of complaints from anglers about public land where adjoining landholders have erected signs, fenced off public access and threaten legal action. The complaints from anglers are constant and they are of major concern because of the limited resources that anglers have to address them; these complaints are mostly about Crown roads (others include fenced waterways, forestry land, TSRs etc.). If Crown roads are sold off our access will go with them.
The disposal of Crown roads is on top of the review of Travelling Stock reserves/Routes and the parliamentary Standing Committee 5 review of Public Lands. All of these involve the serious possibility of the sale of public land which will directly impact on the availability to anglers and recreational users of access to waterways and reserves.
You can read Andrew Stoner’s media release here.
You can support the work we are doing with the NSW Angler Access Project by asking Deputy Premier Stoner (office@deputypremier.nsw.gov.au) and your local Member of Parliament (look up the contact details at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au) to continue to allow a reasonable amount of time for the public to object to road closures, and ask for better advertising of road closure details, with more details, better maps and centralisation on a DPI web page with access to lodging objections on line. Most importantly, request that roads that provide access to recreational waterways be retained as Crown roads.
See NCW CFA media release for further information elsewhere in this newsletter.
Kids and boats
Having kids on board and catching fish is a great way to spend some time with the family and putting a feed of fresh fish on the table. Teaching them the basics of boating safety is the first step to keeping them safe. Correct fitting and appropriate lifejackets are the most essential part, but in an emergency have you taught your young crew what to do if something happens to you?
The RFA is reminding skippers out there that have kids fishing with them on a regular basis that they are never too young to be taught how to work a radio and how to stop an outboard motor. Having seen kids today work mobile phones, laptops, tablets and remote controls it is a walk in the park to show them how an marine radio works or how to turn the motor. Running through a regular safety induction will instil some good habits on your young crews!
Queensland recfishing body loses government funding
THE Queensland state Government has cut funding to Sunfish, the key recreational fishing group. It is the latest victim of the Queensland government's cost-cutting regime. In the past week Sunfish has been advised by Fisheries Queensland that the $4.6m of the monies levied on boat owners for special purpose recreational initiatives would be cut by $2m and reallocated to employ fisheries staff and fund government business.
Among these current fisheries activities being axed are fish stocking, research, tagging programs, Fishcare volunteers and kids fishing days. All were previously funded by the recreational levy.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh confirmed the budget cuts.
"As part of these changes, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) will no longer fund the administration of industry bodies such as Sunfish and Suntag. This is the responsibility of the industry members" he said.
Minor funding to ensure that anglers had a voice through their independent body Sunfish has been withdrawn and Sunfish says it can only assume it is an attempt to silence any criticism of poorly devised legislation affecting recreational fishing.
Mr. John Crone OAM Chairman of Sunfish said that he was disappointed in the Government’s stance to deliberately reduce recreational fishing support. Announcements and verbal discussions prior to the election seem to be just electioneering to enlist angler support especially in coastal seats.
Educational programs operated by Sunfish will disappear, as will Suntag, the organisation's fish monitoring and record keeping off-shoot. Suntag has been operating since the 1970s and amassed an extraordinarily valuable database containing records of almost 700,000 fish movements.
Sunfish chairwoman Judy Lynne said the government funding was only a small amount of money.
"But that money runs our angler education unit," she said. "It will hit the angler education events hard." Mrs Lynne said among Sunfish's key programs were the annual Take a Kid Fishing days.
"We are trying to get kids into good clean activities, get them out of the house," she said. "We show them the responsible way to get into recreational fishing."
Fish Festival
Saturday 20 October
NSW DPI Narrandera Fisheries Centre
The Fish Festival at Narrandera on 20 Oct will celebrate the importance of fish, and also the Centre’s 50th birthday with many past staff returning to join in the festivities. There will be a fishing competition, fish cooking demonstrations by Paul Mercurio, a game fishing simulator, free kids rides, the Taronga Park Zoomobile and the Australian Travelling Fish show as additional attractions on the day.
The free event is supported by major sponsors NSW DPI, Norm Wettenhall Foundation, Narrandera Shire Council, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Bendigo Bank and the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust.
Paul Mercurio is appearing courtesy of Live Well Narrandera (a healthy lifestyle program being undertaken by Narrandera Shire Council). More than 30 local tackle shops, businesses and conservation groups will also set up exhibits.
The day will run from 10am to 4pm. Lunch and refreshments will be available. For further information contact Narrandera Fisheries Centre on (02) 6958 8200.
Abalone trafficker lands record fisheries sentence
A Mogo man has received the toughest sentence ever handed down in NSW for fisheries offences – four years gaol for abalone trafficking.
NSW DPI Fisheries Compliance Director, Glenn Tritton, said the sentencing in Moruya Local Court concludes a long running case that began during an extensive joint operation by DPI and the NSW Police Force in 2010.
"A 55 year old man was sentenced to four years imprisonment with a three year non-parole period and fined $1000 after being convicted of four counts of abalone trafficking and one count of threatening a fisheries officer. The man has lodged an appeal against his conviction. Mr Tritton said.
“His 28 year old son was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine months after being convicted of two counts of trafficking abalone. This offender is appealing the severity of his sentence. Two other offenders in this case had earlier been sentenced to gaol terms, one receiving three months and the other four months."
Acting NSW Police Marine Area Command Superintendent, Joe McNulty, said the two men in the most recent sentencing were identified as the alleged syndicate ringleaders during an investigation in Sydney and on the South Coast.
During this investigation, police seized 380 kilograms of illegal abalone meat. It was allegedly supplied on the black market for $20,000; on the legitimate market, it would have been valued at around $40,000.
"On the day of the arrest, the alleged syndicate ring leader was found in possession of 429 abalone, of which 388 were undersize," Acting Supt McNulty said.
Mr Tritton said the tough penalties imposed on members of the trafficking syndicate demonstrate that abalone theft will not be tolerated.
"If you are found breaching the regulations, you will face the full force of the law, which could mean up to ten years in gaol for trafficking in abalone," he said.
International visitors for Narrandera Fisheries Centre
Two international scientists, Dr Anna Navarro Cuenca from Spain and Dr Phousavanh Phouvin from Lao PDR, will be temporarily assisting with freshwater fish research at NSW DPI’s Narrandera Fisheries Centre.
NSW DPI Freshwater Fish Ecologist, Dr Lee Baumgartner, said both scientists would be working on experiments assisting with the development of fish-friendly hydro plants for potential application in the Murray-Darling Basin.
"The aim of the experiments will be to determine the critical tolerances of fish to passage through hydro electric facilities. Fish are known to be injured during passage through turbines and the work being done at Narrandera (and also at Port Stephens) will be trying to find a solution to help fish pass safely.
"Hydro electricity is the fastest growing renewable energy industry in the world with more than 1500 per cent growth in the past year alone. There are plans to develop mini hydro electric systems for wider application in the Murray-Darling Basin, but researchers, managers and developers want to ensure it is done with minimal impact on fish."
Dr Baumgartner said the work was jointly funded by NSW DPI, Office of Environment and Heritage and the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy as a joint collaboration between NSW DPI, Charles Sturt University and Waratah Power.
He said Dr Navarro Cuenca was being employed by Charles Sturt University as a post-doctoral scientist to help run the project and has previous experience determining critical tolerances of fish in her home country of Spain.
"A lot of her work focused on critical levels of toxicants on fish, but her experience can be directly transferred to hydro plant passage as the experimental design is similar. Anna comes from Barcelona, and the posting will be her first trip to Australia."
Dr Phouvin is from the National University of Lao where he is responsible for implementing the Fish Research curriculum and participating in fish research.
"Hydro development is a major issue in the Mekong River catchment and Dr Phouvin hopes his time at Narrandera will help him to work on techniques that can be applied in his home country," Dr Baumgartner said.
"Dr Phouvin was awarded the prestigious Crawford Fund Fellowship, which is an annual award to provide further training of an agricultural scientist whose work has shown significant potential. He is the first fisheries scientist to have been awarded that honour.
"His fellowship application was assessed favourably because of the importance of fish as a source of income and food in the Lower Mekong Basin.”
Dr Navarro Cuenca will be at Narrandera for 15 months while Dr Phousavanh Phouvin will be there for three months.
RFA videos now on YouTube channel
The RFA of NSW now has a YouTube channel where all our safe fishing videos can be viewed. Go to www.youtube.com/safefishing to see the channel in its early form...we'll be adding more content shortly.
New promotional video for Gaden Trout Hatchery
Gaden Trout Hatchery has a new promotional video explaining the history of the hatchery, its role in stocking NSW trout streams and the processes involved in raising trout, from collecting wild trout for eggs through to rearing and release and streams and lakes.
The video will be shown to visitors to the hatchery and also used to promote the hatchery on Government tourism websites. Fishing clubs are encouraged to link to the video from their websites.
You can view the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBqbhlDpsT8&feature=youtu.be
Anglers united as legislation to stop super trawler passed by Parliament
On 11 September, after a storm of protest from recreational fishers, conservationists and parts of the commercial fishing industry, Environment Minister Tony Burke announced plans to legislate to extend his legal powers over the super trawler FV Abel Tasman, (formerly FV Margiris), to prevent the vessel fishing in Australian waters. Burke was reacting to widespread concerns that the super trawler would decimate fish stocks and endanger dolphins, seals and other animals in its by-catch. Recreational anglers were especially concerned about the potential impact on localised bait stocks. The ship was previously approved by the Australian Government to fish for a quota of 18,000 tonnes of jack mackerel and redbait, approximately 5% of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s (AFMA) estimates of fish stock in that fishery.
Burke initially tried to hose down these concerns by acting under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) to tighten constraints on the super trawler to limit its impact on any listed species. He said that there were no general powers in the EPBC Act to prevent new fishing vessels like the FV Abel Tasman from fishing. But within days public pressure forced him to reconsider his powers. Opposition to the super trawler had been steadily growing in the weeks leading up to its arrival and its eventual arrival in South Australia caused an eruption of protests and intense coverage by the media.
The Government’s apparent inability to control what happened in Australian waters was widely ridiculed and Burke realised that the steps he had taken didn’t go far enough. “Once it was clear that my legal powers under the EPBC Act were constrained I commenced working with my department on these changes. That is why I directed that urgent legislation be drafted to amend the EPBC Act to stop the FV Abel Tasman,” he said.
The amendments, known as the EPBC Amendment (Declared Fishing Activities) Bill 2012 were intended to prohibit the super trawler engaging in a declared fishing activity in Commonwealth waters until a further assessment is undertaken by an expert panel that will report directly to the Minister.
“If the amendment I am proposing is passed by the Parliament I will be able to work with the Fisheries Minister to set up an expert panel to conduct an assessment of all of the potential impacts of the FV Abel Tasman before it can be given approval to fish in Commonwealth waters” he said.
ARFF applauded the decision, with conditions
The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF), the peak body representing the recreational fishing sector, said the Government had made the right decision. ARFF Director Allan Hansard said “We told the Government that they needed to do the proper scientific research before even contemplating allowing this super trawler into our waters. We are pleased to see that the Government has listened to our advice. The unified and intense actions by recreational anglers played a key role in getting the super trawler banned.”
However the same day the bill was announced concerns were immediately raised that the proposed legislation gave the Minister too much power to override scientific advice and intervene in other recreational fishing activities, and ARFF called for the legislation to be amended to exclude recreational fishing.
Under the bill, the Government could ban particular vessels or methods of fishing for up to two years if there was “uncertainty about the environmental, social or economic impacts of the fishing activity”. ARFF realised that this was a potential ticking bomb in the legislation and called on the Federal Government to amend the changes to the bill so that a declared fishing activity under the amendment to the legislation would be a commercial fishing activity only, and not cover recreational fishing.
Anyone opposed to recreational fishing in Australia per se must have thought all their Christmases had come at once when they saw that under the bill the Government could ban particular vessels or methods of fishing for up to two years if there was “uncertainty about the environmental, social or economic impacts of the fishing activity”. This would have been disastrous for recreational anglers—it would have given the Minister the power to intervene with little regard to science in other fishing bans and lockouts if enough anti-fishing pressure was brought to bear on him by the public. Fortunately this was averted, thanks in part to ARFF’s intervention and the concerns of other politicians that it was giving the Minister unaccountable powers.
Allan Hansard, CEO of ARRFF said “this legislation should be about stopping industrial fishing activities, where there is uncertainty about the sustainability or the environmental, social and economic impacts, particularly where it is not under pinned by appropriate science. It should not be about stopping mums, dads and kids from going and catching a fish in Australian waters. We call on the Government to amend this legislation immediately so that the activities of the super trawler can be stopped, we also call on the Coalition to support this amendment.”
But support from the Coalition Opposition was not forthcoming and it declared it would vote against the legislation.
Manager of Opposition business Christopher Pyne said "It allows the Minister to ban any fishing in Australia of any kind—recreational fishing, charter fishing, commercial fishing—on the basis of the minister deciding it has a "social impact".
"So this bill...is the Greens fantasy writ large, where if they can create any kind of campaign...a Labor minister will buckle and close down the fishing industry."
Labor subsequently amended the proposed legislation so that it wouldn’t apply to recreational fishing and introduced a 12 month sunset clause on the Minister’s powers to restrict fishing activities. The Greens also attempted to amend the legislation to ban all super trawlers, permanently, but this motion was lost.
The amended bill was eventually passed in the House of Representatives on 13 September with the support of most cross-bench MPs, including Rob Oakeshott, who had initially expressed concerns that the legislation had the potential to override scientific advice from bodies such as AFMA, which researches, sets and manages the catch quotas for fisheries. Tony Windsor voted against the bill, saying he thought it set a bad precedent for Government intervention in future issues.
The bill then went to the Senate, where on 13 September it was passed after several days of debate. The bill was supported by Labor and the Greens—the Liberals voted against it. Now that it has passed the Abel Tasman (but not other trawlers) will be banned from fishing in Australian waters for two years while extra scientific research is carried out.
So where does this leave the major players?
The Federal Government
The Federal Government has been left looking inept and a number of problems caused by the legislation are still unresolved. At first glance the issues surrounding the Abel Tasman look like they could all have been dealt with earlier. The Government looked slow to act, had to bow to considerable public pressure, had to significantly alter its first versions of the legislation, and now seems likely to have to deal with claims for compensation by the company and complaints from the Dutch Government and EU. The whole affair may have also damaged Australia’s reputation as a place to invest.
Joe Ludwig, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, initially defended the decision to allow the super trawler to operate, but then seemed to become ineffectual in a debate that, if it had followed the science rather than emotional hysteria, should have been more focused on fisheries than on environmental management and legislation.
The fact that Seafish Tasmania’s initial negotiations and plans to bring the ship to Australia apparently ticked all the right boxes seems to indicate that at some stage the legislation was adequate and the administration of that legislation had been rigorous.
So why was the Government caught on the hop? It could simply be that public expectations of how this sort of activity is controlled have changed, and legislation just needed to catch up with those expectations. That sort of “on-the-run” response to public opinion happens all the time in politics, it’s just a shame that in this case it seemed to have happened dangerously, embarrassingly and—for Seafish Australia and its employees—expensively late.
AFMA
AFMA hasn’t come out of the mess smelling of roses. There has been much debate about the rigour of the science and its administrative processes, but AFMA has many defenders within the scientific community who are concerned that scientific advice is being pushed aside by emotional media campaigns. AFMA has admitted that it now has legal advice that some of its recent practices have not been in accordance with the Federal Act it operates under, supposedly because of possible conflicts of interest with the resource assessment group which sets catch limits. AFMA disputes this—it says catch limits are not set by resource assessment groups but by the independent AFMA Commission, an independent statutory body. This makes one wonder what other decisions may have to be reviewed or unwound.
Tony Burke stated that he didn’t think AFMA had been precautionary enough and the Greens also said they will scrutinise AFMA’s handling of the process. It almost seems a case of ‘shoot the messenger’ but the review announced by Minister Joe Ludwig (see more on that below) will probably be beneficial in the long run.
And after all this, we still don’t know if AFMA’s science is right. There are claims and counter-claims about the data used and the interpretation of the data. AFMA needs to clarify the science and all the other parties need to get their head around that science and decide whether or not it is right, because decisions about super trawlers will still need to be made in the future, they need to be science based and the science that AFMA used is still the best information we have. It’s either right, or it needs fixing...it can’t be left on the shelf to misguide future management decisions.
Overall, AFMA either hasn’t been very good at making decisions, or hasn’t been very good at explaining those decisions and standing up for them. It seems to be the same loss of mojo that is plaguing many Australian scientific institutions these days in debates ranging from public health to water resource management and climate change.
Seafish Tasmania
Abel Tasman's operator, Seafish Tasmania, an Australian owned company, negotiated with AFMA to bring the trawler to Australia and says it understood that during the several years of that process it met every regulatory requirement. Its plans to introduce a super trawler in Australian waters were based on AFMA’s 2008 document Harvest Strategy for the Small Pelagic Fishery which stated that a key attribute of the fishery is that “there are considerable economies of scale in the fishery and the most efficient way to fish may include large scale factory freezer vessels.”
Following the 2008 document, AFMA’s Statutory Management Plan for the fishery was subsequently passed by Federal Parliament in 2009 without any size restrictions on vessels. Seafish Tasmania says that since then there have been numerous discussions in AFMA Resource Assessment Group meetings and in Management Advisory Committee meetings regarding the need to use a large scale freezer trawler to viably develop the fishery. No one seems to dispute that it is currently uneconomical for smaller vessels to operate in this fishery.
So, based on these discussions and negotiations, Seafish Tasmania brought its prospective foreign partners to meet AFMA in mid November 2011 and again in February 2012. They say they received assurances that there were no size restrictions and that if the boat was flagged Australian it would be treated the same as any other Australian boat.
The quota for the fishery was finally bedded down by AFMA on 1 May 2012 and Seafish Tasmania set in motion bringing the Margiris to Australia and gave a detailed briefing to the office of the Fisheries Minister in that same month of their intentions to use the ship.
Those preparations must have cost a fortune and in the meantime the company would also have lost opportunities elsewhere. Not surprisingly it is reported to be considering its legal options but Environment Minister Tony Burke says the Government had a strong case to avoid paying compensation to the company or to the 45 or so people who will lose jobs because of the decision. Seafish Tasmania’s director Gerry Green has accused the Government of being discriminatory and has vowed to fight on, saying “If the Government thinks we’ll just walk away they are wrong”.
Recreational anglers
Recreational anglers have been screaming for years that Government should ‘show us the science’ when it came to fishing closures in marine parks, but when faced with AFMA’s science on the Small Pelagic Fishery they mostly didn’t like it. A lot of the campaigning by anglers and conservationists against the super trawler was quite emotional and riddled with misinformation. It was also very political—for example many of the comments in the press, online forums and talkback radio attacked Labor in general without referring to the specific issues and often focused on the fact that the ship is foreign owned. But the recreational and commercial fishers were probably well ahead of the Government on one issue: they did attack AFMA’s possible conflict of interest problems long before AFMA and the Government admitted to it.
The size of the ship and its methods of fishing have been misunderstood by many, including many recreational fishers who should have known better. It would not have been using the biggest trawl net in Australian waters and the ship’s overall size is not really relevant—it is due to the onboard processing plant. Claims that the ship’s past activities in fisheries on the other side of the world, many years ago and under different management regimes are still relevant in Australia in 2012 are questionable. In much public commentary there was a lack of understanding that the species targeted and the quota for that species is a very specific fishery—it is not every fish in the sea. Complaints by anglers and conservationists about by-catch of dolphins and seals conveniently ignore the fact the Australian commercial fishing fleet does the same every day of the year and with less scrutiny.
The fact that a lot of anglers got carried away by the emotional side of the argument rather than the scientific could come back to bite recreational fishers one day when the science is on our side, but the hysterical voice of a misinformed public is not.
The Abel Tasman issue has not brought conservationists and recreational anglers any closer together. Both groups are opposed to the super trawler but for very different reasons—the recreational anglers are mainly concerned about sustaining fish stocks, and the conservationists are more concerned about by-catch, dolphins and seals. Indeed the more extreme end of the ‘green’ movement would like to see recreational fishing banned altogether.
Despite a few hiccups and occasional hysteria, the recreational fishing sector has shown the government and the media that it is becoming more unified, active and effective. This demonstration of power means that it’s far more likely to get listened to in the future. It seems that many individual anglers got off their bums and actually write to or emailed the Government, made a phone call or attended a rally. Some of these coalesced into informal but effective pressure groups such as the Facebook page “Stop The Supertrawler”, which constantly and accurately tracked the issue and by the time the bill was passed in Parliament had attracted nearly 10,000 Facebook followers.
The angling advocacy groups can also feel proud of what has been achieved. The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (of which the RFA of NSW is a member) and various State fishing groups such as TARFish, VRFish, RecFish SA and Recfishwest spent many weeks lobbying on this issue. Their efforts might have been largely invisible to the average recreational angler, but this had involved strong, constant and well coordinated lobbying behind the scenes, numerous meetings with politicians, Government agencies and consultative bodies, mostly, as usual, by unpaid volunteers.
We now know that it is possible in Australia to motivate a lot of anglers to take an interest in an issue and get them to rallies, and onto the web, social media, email and phone to lobby their politicians. In the case of the Abel Tasman they had a great big ship and lots of photos of dolphins and seals to focus on; whether or not they pay the same attention to the pale and complicated blotches on a map that show marine park boundaries is uncertain, but on recent experience, unlikely.
Anglers are fighting a losing battle on marine parks, loss of fishing access roads, sales of Crown land and other issues that in the short to medium term have a greater impact on our recreational anglers, but it’s been hard to get to be as vocal as they have been about the Abel Tasman. Let us hope that this might be a turning point for future angler involvement.
Debate triggered major review of Australian fisheries policy and legislation
On the same day as the first announcement about intended legislation to stop the super trawler’s operations, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig announced a major review of Australian fisheries policy and legislation, the first of its kind in over twenty years. Minister Ludwig said the root and branch review of Australia’s world leading fishery system would identify what, if any, improvements are needed to ensure community and industry expectations can be met into the future.
“My responsibility is to make sure our fisheries remain some of the most sustainable and best managed in the world, and that they are served by the best system possible,” Minister Ludwig said.
“There’s no doubt that our fisheries management is world class, but in the years since it was introduced there have been changes to the expectations of industry and the community. This review will ensure those expectations are being met.”
The review will look at the entire fisheries management regime, including its legislation, penalties, Ministerial oversight, socio-economic and environmental considerations.
Minister Ludwig said the review would not be about how the independent regulator AFMA or the fisheries science upon which it bases its decisions – but would focus on how the management system operates and how to apply the science most effectively.
This review will happen at the same time as the currently running Harvest Strategy Policy and By-catch Policy reviews.
Federal fisheries review details announced
Fisheries Minister Senator Joe Ludwig has released the Terms of Reference for the first major review of Australia’s fisheries management system in two decades. The scope of the review has now been broadened to include the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and Fisheries Administration Act 1991.
“There has been a broad range of views expressed by stakeholders, community and Government about the fisheries management system and the adequacy of the regulator under current legislation,” Minister Ludwig said.
“This root and branch review will examine current fisheries legislation, including penalty provisions, licence cancellations, modern technology and co-management arrangements.
“The review will recommend changes to Australia’s fisheries legislation in order to reflect environmental, economic and social considerations as part of a modern fisheries management system.
“The review will also examine any required changes to the fisheries management legislation to reflect the objective of a precautionary principle.”
David Borthwick AO PSM, a former Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities; Deputy Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Health and Treasury, and former Australian Ambassador to the OECD, will conduct the review.
“I have said from the beginning that I want industry to have a say in the future of our fisheries management system. Broad stakeholder consultation will play an important role in the review process,” Minister Ludwig said.
“It’s my role as Fisheries Minister to ensure we have the best possible fisheries management system in operation.”
The review will be conducted within three months.
The review will only apply to fishing operations within commercial Commonwealth fisheries.
Review of Fisheries Management Act 1991 and Fisheries Administration Act 1991
Terms of Reference
The relevant legislation for fisheries management in Australia today is the Commonwealth Fisheries Management Act 1991 and Fisheries Administration Act 1991. The precautionary principle is an objective of the Fisheries Management Act 1991.
However, the ability of the Minister for Fisheries to enact the precautionary principle is limited due to gaps in scientific knowledge, limits on the scope of the precautionary principle considerations, limits on how quotas are determined, limits on the considerations that apply in quota management, cross-agency considerations such as the relationship with the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, and interactions with other legislation such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Act 1999.
It is therefore considered that the advice from the lead agency, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority to the Minister for Fisheries is limited in delivering on the expectations sought from the precautionary principle objective of the Fisheries Management Act 1991. As a consequence, the powers of the Minister to make decisions based on the precautionary principle are therefore equally limited in their scope, and the community is exposed to a less than sustainable model of fisheries management.
In light of new challenges within Australian fisheries management, the full objectives of the precautionary principle are now sought.
The review of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and Fisheries Administration Act 1991 will;
Recommend changes to the Acts that clearly establish the Fisheries Management Act 1991 as the lead document in fisheries management, and that all aspects of environmental, economic, and social consideration, and the relevant planning processes required be incorporated into the Acts, in a co-ordinated way.
Recommend any necessary changes to the Acts that affirm the powers of a Minister to take advice, and make decisions, with the full scope of the precautionary principle available within the Fisheries Management Act 1991, and that same definition of the precautionary principle apply in both the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment 1999.
Consider the need for modernising Commonwealth fisheries resource management legislation and approaches including penalty provisions, licence cancellations, the use of modern technology and co-management. Consideration of cost recovery arrangements will include consideration of the degree to which cost recovery might impact on the management of fisheries including investment in research and stock assessment.
This review starts immediately and will be completed within the next three months. Once completed, and once passage of the Fisheries Management (Amendment) Act 2012 occurs, changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment that provide environmental discretionary powers to the Minister will be revoked, with any new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment 1999 to only be made to make clear the relationship between the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Act 1999 itself.
Central Tablelands angler elected president of peak freshwater fishing organisation
Central Tablelands angler Don Barton has been elected President of the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers.
Don, a Katoomba based solicitor, started out as an estuary fisherman, particularly enjoying fishing for blackfish, whiting and flathead. His first freshwater fishing experiences were in pursuit of bass and he subsequently discovered the pursuit of trout. Early forays after trout involved regular pilgrimages to the Snowy Mountains, but in the late sixties he discovered the potential of the Central West, where he has since mostly fished certain tributaries of Wyangala Dam and the Coxs River, and for a while his favourite sporting fish included Macquarie perch as well as trout and bass, until the decline in stream quality began taking its toll on the Macquarie perch.
Don has lived near Katoomba since 1975, having identified the area as being sufficiently convenient to good bass and trout waters while remaining within striking distance of the coast, permitting the occasional salt water fishing expedition as well as business trips to Sydney. He is married with four children, all of whom acquired the fishing bug and now out-fish their father, who claims that he owes his angling success to finding really dumb fish, leaving it to his angling betters to land the educated ones.
He has seen much degradation of fish habitat and loss of access since he commenced fishing. At the same time, recreational anglers have never contributed more towards the environmental aspects of their sport, yet this gets little recognition by the environmental lobby.
“We need to understand and mitigate the impact of European settlement on water resources and riparian habitat if future generations are going to have the same freshwater angling opportunities as we have enjoyed” he says.
“We also need greater unity of purpose amongst anglers. Few recreational anglers are aware that catch and release fishing has been criminalised in Switzerland and Germany, despite strong local angling traditions. It may only be a matter of time before similar moves are made in Australia, and we have already had calls from some green groups to have angling banned in national parks.”
Don believes that freshwater anglers should join local angling clubs and that clubs should affiliate with the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers, so that they have a unified voice and can bring greater influence to bear on government decision-makers in respect of environmental and regulatory freshwater angling issues and angling access rights.
Fashion advice for trout fishers
Knowing how quickly alpine Lakes can turn nasty (yes, that is a surfer on Lake Jindabyne) anglers need to be aware that extra layers of clothes to keep you warm, waders and freezing waters are not a good mix for anglers...it can make it impossible to swim to save yourself. Huge submerged rocks and floating logs are a result of rising dam levels and as it is often months between visits for most of us, the landscape both above and below the water always changes, so extra caution and preparedness is needed.
Always wear a lifejacket, especially when the waters are cold and make sure you have extra clothing on board and carrying a working torch and a personal EPIRB. Not many anglers realise that a broken prop or busted gearbox courtesy of a submerged rock may see you 20 km from the ramp and in the middle of nowhere with snow, sleet and rain as your only companion…what would you do?
Coastal residents warned of excavation consequences
NSW DPI is warning residents of coastal communities that excavating the entrances of lakes, lagoons and intermittently opening creeks can have long lasting and severe consequences for fish and fish habitat.
DPI Director of Fisheries Compliance, Glenn Tritton, said the warning comes after a channel was recently dug out at the mouth of Bonville Creek in an attempt to open up the creek.
"A number of Sawtell residents used shovels to dredge a channel from the mouth of Bonville Creek to the ocean, which has been closed in recent months," he said.
"Many people wrongly believe that opening creeks and lagoons can improve water quality or enhance fish recruitment, however, this is not the case. Similar openings of lakes, lagoons and creeks in the past have resulted in severe environmental damage. Opening closed creeks and lagoons to the ocean in the wrong way can lead to low dissolved oxygen levels, increased exposure, death of aquatic vegetation and large fish kills.
"In late August this occurred on Sydney’s northern beaches when a large number of fish and eels died after the entrance to Curl Curl Lagoon was opened without approval."
Over the long term, more frequent openings can increase the rate of sand movement and lead to shifts in the structure of fringing riparian vegetation communities.
"Many of our closed creeks and lagoons maintain good water quality and are not only home to a range of aquatic life but are frequently used for swimming, water sports and fishing," Mr Tritton said.
"It is important that there is minimal interference with these entrance barriers and that we allow the natural processes to operate where possible. A combination of onshore weather patterns and recent dry weather caused the Bonville creek entrance to build up with sand and the creek should re-open naturally once higher rainfalls return."
Mr Tritton said it was illegal to harm or disturb key fish habitats along the NSW coastline without authorisation.
"Tough penalties apply of up to $110,000 for an individual or $220,000 for a corporation for the illegal dredging of waterland without a permit. People who witness illegal creek, lake or lagoon openings or fishing should immediately contact their local fisheries office."
Don't forget....
