The Australian government has banned supertrawlers – vessels of more than 130m in length – from fishing in Australian waters.
The ban comes after political parties, Labour and Green, opposed commercial fishing in the Small Pelagic Fishery, which Senator Richard Colbeck, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture described as a thinly veiled attack on the entire Australian fishing industry.
“The latest science clearly shows the Small Pelagic Fishery can be fished sustainably, but Labour and the Greens appear hell-bent on destroying the fishing industry in Australia and will say absolutely anything in the process,” Senator Colbeck said.
During the previous debate, Labour and the Greens defined supertrawlers as vessels more than 130m in length. Senator Colbeck said SeaFish Tasmania’s Geelong Star, which fishes in the fishery and initially prompted the parties’ complaint, is not a supertrawler and falls under every threshold put forward during the previous debate.
“The Geelong Star is less than 100m in length and has a storage capacity under 1,100 tonnes – significantly less than the Greens definition of a supertrawler as a vessel with a storage capacity greater than 2,000 tonnes,” Mr Colbeck explained.
“The goalposts keep being moved in this debate and it’s clear that some people just don’t want commercial fishing in Australia, which is frustrating as it is a legitimate and sustainable industry,” he said.
Senator Colbeck said the Coalition is doing as promised by continuing to seek updated science for the Small Pelagic Fishery. “The latest science shows that the Small Pelagic Fishery can be fished sustainably – revealing continued opposition by Labour and the Greens is completely unjustified,” Mr Colbeck added. “It is clear they are not interested in the science and will say anything that fits their anti-fishing industry campaign.”
“This Government is committed to a balanced and informed approach to fisheries management. We will continue to make any decisions regarding access to all Australian fisheries based on sound science,” he concluded.
