[russianstallian]

The oceans are being wiped clean of fish. So why, then, would a recreational fishing group be opposed to measures designed to help fish stocks recover?

More...

[Effopsytupt]

I know it gives some people the irrits, seeing blocks of texts on the forums, but sometimes people can't get to the links and sometimes the links disappear, taking away opportunities for discussion based on the OP.
So, without further apology, here it is.


"Fishy tactics block benefits For WA
Ian Kiernan ABC Environment 10 Apr 2012

TITANIC DIRECTOR JAMES CAMERON last week descended to the very deepest part of the ocean that for most of human history has been impossible to reach.
The rest of the sea floor is, however, now a well-trodden path as industrial fishing clean sweeps fish and marine life in nets kilometers wide and the desperate search for oil goes deeper, including off WA's coast.

On 24th March, WA Premier Colin Barnett stood on the shore at Yallingup and announced that marine life between Busselton and Augusta will be protected in the new Ngari Capes Marine Park.
Fifteen sanctuary areas will protect feeding and breeding areas previously vulnerable to over fishing, while the remaining 93 per cent of the coast will remain open to recreational fishers and other users.

The Premier's concern for the future of WA's marine life reflects a challenge that is taking place all over the world: to protect our oceans and marine life for the future, before the last fish is caught.

Sixty per cent of the Earth's fish stocks are suffering over fishing.
Western Australia is not exempt: the commercial fishing industry's own figures show catches in the southwest have fallen by 62 per cent since 2005.

The bottom line is that our oceans have been fished to dangerously low levels and some fish populations are at a tipping point, from which they might not recover.

In WA's southwest, gillnetting - which involves huge nets indiscriminately clean sweeping fish and marine life from the oceans - has devastated areas that for centuries have been the nurseries for our most prized marine life.

According to long term local fishers, gillnetting has decimated dhufish stocks in Geographe Bay.
Now, despite extensive efforts, both fishers and researchers have been unable to locate the huge aggregations of spawning dhuies that used to be there.

Gillnet fishing in South Australia has recently been found to be pushing Australian Sea Lions towards extinction and decimating dolphin populations.
Yet in WA the impacts remain unknown due to the Department of Fisheries refusing to undertake the necessary studies.

Of further concern is that despite the evidence of over fishing and the overwhelming weight of evidence showing that sanctuaries protect and improve marine life, self-interested industry lobby groups continue to hold on to the past and deny reality.

That sad fact is that without protected areas free from fishing pressure we will continue on a collision course with a point in our maritime history that is equivalent of the last buffalo hunt on land.

One of the industry lobby groups that continue to deny reality is RecFishWest.
It was set up to represent recreational fishers but does it really represent their concerns?

In a survey last year in WA by respected Patterson Market Research, 6 out of 10 West Australians who regularly fish said they believed fish stocks and marine life is in decline and an even greater number, 72 per cent, supported the creation of marine sanctuaries off the coast to protect fish stocks and other marine life.

When invited to make a submission in the recent Commonwealth consultation on marine parks adjoining the new Capes park, RecFishWest did not mention Geographe Bay.
In its media comments since then, RecFishWest has backed a marine park without sanctuaries, one that still allows oil drilling and destructive gillnet fishing.

RecFishWest has taken this position despite local recreational fishers raising their concerns about gill netting for more than a decade.

Last weekend, RecFishWest dragged out old and tired accusations about not being consulted, but the truth is it was.
The lobby group complained of decisions being based on old science, but there is so much recent research that the rest of us just want to move on to more relevant issues.

As a consequence of this overfishing, bag limits have been slashed and seasonal fishing bans have been introduced.
Despite the decline of dhufish numbers, RecFishWest now openly boasts that recreational fishers take over half of the catch of declining demersal fish like dhufish on the West Coast.

It is overdue for RecFishWest to stop simply saying no and take part in a discussion with all West Australians about how to say yes to a long term future for fish and marine life.
A future that involves sanctuaries to protect biodiversity working side by side with careful fisheries management to ensure people can keep fishing.

The Premier Colin Barnett has clearly realised the importance of using some of WA's economic good fortune to invest in a lasting legacy of protection for our marine environment.

The decisions both state and federal government make now to safeguard WA's marine life in sanctuaries will return benefits to West Australians for generations to come.

Ian Kiernan, AO, is the founder and Chairman of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World. Australian of the Year in 1994, Ian is also the recipient of the UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize."

Whis is recfish?
ie who funds them; who benefits from this position?
"wreckfish" would seem a more appropriate name .. someone else should register it and parody a twitter account for them.