AUSTRALIAN anglers are set to benefit from the proposed creation of what is essentially a massive sportfishing-only zone, following the release today of the federal Government’s long awaited draft plans for the Coral Sea.
However, political pundits are warning that anti-fishing groups will stage a last ditch effort to ban angling in the Coral Sea as well in other areas around the nation.
The proposed Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve covers almost a million square kilometres of ocean. Under the draft plan, significant areas of the outer Coral Sea will be closed to all fishing, providing important protection for iconic species and habitats. However, sportfishing opportunities will be enhanced across the western half of the zone with major reductions in commercial effort and the creation of Catch & Release zones around key reefs. (SEE MAP HERE)
“Australia’s vast oceans provide a source of food and resources, and are a place of recreation. But we cannot afford to be complacent,” federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said when he launched the draft plans this morning. “In the space of one lifetime, the world’s oceans have gone from being relatively pristine to being under increasing pressure.”
Anglers and angling groups have welcomed Burke’s Coral Sea announcement, saying it provides high-level protection for vast swathes of ocean while recognising the socio-economic importance of recreational fishing.
“This plan demonstrates that the Government has listened to anglers and is willing to work with us,” Australian Fishing Trade Association CEO Allan Hansard told Fisho.
“Tony Burke has produced a plan for the Coral Sea that recognises and protects its unique environmental heritage but which takes into account the important role sportfishing plays in our economy and society.”
However, the Government’s plans for the Coral Sea will likely face stiff opposition from environmental groups which for the past two years have pushed for the entire area to be closed to all fishing. Fisho today contacted Imogen Zethoven, the campaign director for the US-funded Pew organisation, which has been leading the anti-fishing push, for comments on the draft plans but received no reply.
Angling activists are concerned that anti-fishing groups will now unite to put pressure on the Government to place more restrictions on the Coral Sea.
“It seems that extremist groups like Pew have been rightly ignored by the federal Government in favour of the balanced approach put forward by sensible mainstream voices in both the recreational fishing sector and the grown up environmental movement,” said Martin Salter, the former British MP who this year produced the landmark Keep Australia Fishing report.
“The plans released today seek to protect a fragile and important ecosystem whilst recognising the very real differences between the impact of commercial and recreational fishing. This is something we argued for in our Keep Australia Fishing report along with the designation of special rec-only Catch & Release areas to facilitate responsible and sustainable sportsfishing.
“They will be spewing in their muesli at the Pew canteen as they realise that their oil money has bought them nothing like the total lockout they wanted in the Coral Sea. Aussie anglers should not sit back but redouble their efforts to persuade the Government to stand firm against any attempts by green extremists to unravel these proposals. The signs are we are winning in the South-West but it is only at halftime in the battle for the right to fish sustainably in the Coral Sea. There is still much to be done.”
Salter’s concerns about a rearguard action by environmental extremists over the Coral Sea are supported by Coalition Senator Richard Colbeck, the federal Opposition’s fisheries spokesman.
“Pew and the other lock-up merchants will certainly campaign hard to influence the proposals,” Senator Colbeck told Fisho.
“They conceded they lost the argument at the last election and have been working the halls in Canberra very hard in recent days to further their cause.
“The fishing sector needs to remain very vigilant. As we have seen in other sectors, the (environmental groups) rarely concede any ground and are always looking for creeping acquisitions.”
While there seems to be no doubt that the next three months of public consultations will see robust debate about the future of the Coral Sea, sportfishing leaders Fisho spoke with today reveal that Tony Burke’s plans for our federal fisheries are regarded as “innovative” and “positive”.
Damon Olsen, the owner of Nomad Sport Fishing, the internationally regarded charter operation which for the past decade has pioneered C&R sportfishing in the Coral Sea, describes the Burke plan as “the best” he’s seen.
“I think the draft plan is a major success for recreational and charter fishing interests, and shows the global significance of this area from a sportfishing perspective,” Olsen said.
“This is quite likely the best proposal for any marine reserve I have ever seen tabled in Australia, including the 2004 rezoning of the GBR, and shows a lot of serious thought, effort and understanding from the team behind it. I particularly think that the proposal of a catch & release, or sportfishing, zone in the Coral Sea is a significant step forward for fisheries and marine area managers in Australia.
“These type of C&R zones are implemented with massive success in other parts of the world. I have the highest praise for the people behind this sportfishing zone, and I think it shows a very forward thinking approach from the managers of this area. The planned catch & release zones need a little more detail put into them in terms of what can and cannot be done, but the initial proposal is a massive leap forwards in terms of fisheries and marine reserve management.”
The Nomad operation has vast experience fishing the Coral Sea and its various reef systems and Olsen’s opinion is that the draft plan released today will have a largely positive impact on recreational fishing opportunities.
“The areas that have been marked as no fishing zones (most of which are significant distances offshore) will have nearly no impact on recreational fishermen, except for the proposed closure of Kenn Reef, which I firmly believe should be made into another C&R reef. There’s no good reason for this reef to be a green zone, given the establishment of the C&R zones, and this is something that will be able to be reviewed in this next round of submissions.”
Olsen told Fisho that he believed “the severe limits placed on potential longline fishing in most of the Coral Sea is also a massive environmental leap forward in regards to protection of all pelagic fish in the Coral Sea”.
“This is sure to see improvements in yellowfin tuna stocks locally. The overall summary of the plan is that it effectively provides access for non-damaging or non-extractive activities, while still protecting huge areas of the Coral Sea. It offers a solution that not only protects the Coral Sea, but one that allows (recreational fishing) to be actively promoted and to benefit from the new zoning.”
Details of the public consultation process can be found at www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/coralsea.
Read Tony Burke’s media release HERE and Public Consultation paper HERE.
