IN a related story on the recreational fishing policies of the various political parties running in the NSW state election this Saturday March 26 – read here – we mentioned Fisho was yet to receive a formal reply from the Greens in relation to their policy.
Yesterday we received the following response from the Greens’ campaign coordinator Tony Hickey which we have reprinted below in full:
RESPONSE TO FISHING WORLD:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide your readers with information on our position regarding recreational fishing. The following is taken from the Greens NSW Marine Policy (Updated February 2011).
The Greens NSW support ecologically sustainable recreational and commercial fishing in NSW state waters, including within general use zones of MPAs as per management plans.
The Greens NSW will work towards:
- The protection of marine resources of NSW, in terms of ecosystems, habitat types, and species;
- Recognising that recreational fishing competitions are highly regulated and supporting the presence of relevant marine authorities to carry out educational activities;
- Ensuring no further loss of aquatic habitat, such as mangrove, saltmarsh and seagrass occurs;
- Ensuring there is no further loss of marine habitats, such as rocky reef, deep ocean reef, and island reef through fishing practices such as trawling;
- Ensuring a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of Intertidal Protection Zones along the coastline;
- Supporting the resourcing of the rapid introduction of recovery plans and threat abatement plans for all marine threatened species with priority given to those that are listed “critically endangered” under State Legislation or under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;
- Rapid phase out of targeted shark fishing, particularly for shark fins, unless it can be demonstrated that a targeted shark species can be harvested at sustainable levels.
Sincerely
Tony Hickey
Lower House Campaign Coordinator
