Super trawler
I'm surprised I haven't already seen anything on this forum about this, but this is one of the biggest threats to fish stocks in australian waters that anyone could imagine - a 140 metre "Super trawler" that is concentrating on redbait and jack mackeral, to sell to Africa. It will be based in Devonport Tasmania, but is operated by an international company and will fish the waters up both sides of the country, including WA waters.
The biggest opposition so far that I have seen has come from recreational fisho's chasing the big Southern Bluefin Tuna off the south east corner of Tas - this is an area that holds big numbers of some of the biggest SBT in the world, usually from March till around July, every year. The reason those fish are caught there is because of the amount of redbait in the water - SBT's natural food source. Considering SBT are approaching the "Endangered" list, ripping out the very thing that feeds them seems incredibly irresponsible to me.
I initially thought this thing was only going to be fishing up and down the east coast - which is bad enough in itself, but it is also going to be fishing right across the bite and up the west coast as well. Recreational fisho's have been blamed for just about everything that can go wrong in the oceans, and are facing ridiculous bag limits and more and more marine parks every year, yet a monstrocity like this is being given the go-ahead. I've attached a link, try googling it and be aware that this thing will be operating in the very waters that WA recreational fisho's are already being slowly but surely forced out of - to protect fish stocks
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-12/burke-weighs-into-super-trawler-debate/4193158
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Its in several threads if you
Its in several threads if you look.
Strata
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 26/11/11
Apologies if it's already
Apologies if it's already been covered - I haven't seen it, then again I haven't trawled through every post either. The main thing is that people know about it
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
just a question about super trawler
isn't it strange that( to my knowledge at least) that everybodys favourite group (PEW) have not had a big song and dance over the stationing of this vacume cleaner in australian waters.Are the favourite boys and girls only concerned about the plundering attributed to amature fishermen and not the big corporations,why is this.
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
Probably one of PEWs
Probably one of PEWs directors has a stakehold or has a friend or family member with an 'interest' in the Super Trawlers Company.
MattMiller
Posts: 4171
Date Joined: 15/06/09
I just typed
Margiris into the search and it came up with these results amoungst others.
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/fv-margiris
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/super-trawler-margiris-almost-here
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/phone-pollie-day
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/fish-thought-0
Strata
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 26/11/11
OK, didn't use search
OK, didn't use search function, sorry. I just looked through the political/environmental section. Hey, probably better put in here anyway ;)
Rick
Posts: 1104
Date Joined: 22/12/06
exposure
I dont think that this thing could have too much exposure on this or any other forum. the capabilities of a trawler of this size is not something we want in our waters
PGFC Member
groper down below
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 19/11/11
not saying that having this
not saying that having this super trawler is a good thing comming here but this is not a new thing either there have been other trawlers almost as big fishing in these waters before for an australian company, and its not like this is a new fishery they have just combined a couple of vessels licences to fish this big trawler so no more fish than usual is comming out of the water .
as for environmental damage im not sure so dont quote me but i believe the kind of trawling this vessel will do is midwater and not on the bottom
Rob H
Posts: 5742
Date Joined: 18/01/12
which trawlers?
If you are referring to the Austral Leader and Southern Champion (only factory trawlers I know of that worked here), they only really fished for Roughy on the hills off Albany and Leeuwin in between Southern Ocean trips AFAIK?
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
Strata
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 26/11/11
This thing is specifically
This thing is specifically targetting a main food source, that feeds a lot of species. Possibly surface feeding fish the most, but definitely not limited to them. Even if it doesn't affect bottom feeding species (Which would be a pretty optimistic assumption) I'm sure there are a lot of people who fish for tuna, tailor, salmon, mackeral, dolphin fish, etc, that should be at least a bit concerned. Numbers of SBT in Perth waters are quite low as it is - they would be even lower if this thing goes ahead
groper down below
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 19/11/11
hey Rob no sorry not
hey Rob no sorry not referring to those vessels i have actually worked on the champion and Austals have got rid of both of them and replaced them with 1 vessel the vessel i was referring to is a new zealand vessel a friend of mine worked on it off tassie a few years ago, the way he talked about his time on that vessel indicated to me that there was very little bycatch
Dan
Posts: 168
Date Joined: 23/02/06
as Groper stated - this
as Groper stated - this vessel is targeting fish that have already been set aside as quota for fishing - It will be utilising this EXISTING quota that has historically been caught by a bunch of smaller vessels.
All the hoo ha about it vacuuming the ocean, and taking away food sources is just hogwash - what a beat up !!
It's fishing within current rules, will have an observer on board to record catch/bycatch; and will probably have less impact than previous boats
The quota has been allocated (through research) to be set at a level that allows for sustainable harvest; and leaving a huge surplus to cater for species that feed on it/spawning stocks
It's the same as telling the big miners they can't use big dump trucks - they have to go back to picks & wheelbarrows !
and from recent observations; there's more SBT in Perth waters in the last few years than there has been recorded in a long time. we don't get big ones 'cos it's not part of their migratory route
Rod P
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 20/05/08
So Dan what is happening to
So Dan what is happening to the smaller fishing trawlers that woudl have fished instead? Are they no longer fishing?
These super trawlers in Africa went in a caught the same as what the smaller fishing vessels caught, rendering the local industry all but dead leaving the fisherman with nothing to do to raise money so they turned to pirating.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Research???
Heard a few comments about fisheries research and how they go about it, when the fishery collapses from over fishing they then close it down and wait for ot to recover then allow fishing again but not to the extent that it was before. In other words----drive it till it breaks , fix it then govern it at 80% at what it originally was.
They did this to the northern waters shark fishery in 2004 and to the blue manna crab fishery in Shark bay this year., the same thing happened with crabbing in Cockburn sound, Mandurah, Bunbury and Busselton
The super trawler has docked in Freo harbour to stock up before heading off to Tassie
squidder
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 03/09/10
Interesting
comments regards Research.
Governing the take or effort at 80% is what needs to be defined with daily monitoring by fisheries to make sure the take is on track.
I was on the fishermans wharf in Carnarvon on Tuesday having a chat to a couple of pro's about how many crabs were caught and why the fishery was closed. There was mention of 800 plus tons on Blue Swimmer being taken by crab fishers and trawlers combined, quite a large take in anyones book as one would say.
I also noticed a large number of trawlers tied up with all the windows clothed up and "For Sale".
Cheers
SUPER TRAWLERS can't be a good thing. Too many small operators get pushed aside. JMO.