Fishing Australia

The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF), the national peak body representing the interests of Australia’s 5 million anglers, is delaying its final policy statement on the Dutch-owned super trawler, FV Margiris, due to a lack of science regarding possible localised depletion issues with baitfish stocks off eastern Australia.

ARFF representatives this week met with Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) officials in Canberra and were given a detailed briefing on the current science on the Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF), which the 142m super trawler proposes to target.

“We are committed to examining this issue in the light of the best available science, as is appropriate with all fisheries management and conservation issues.

“At present the science on the stocks and movement of baitfish to give us the confidence that the Margiris will not have a detrimental effect on local bait stocks, the marine food chain or local communities that rely on recreational fishing, does not seem to exist.

“Unless new information or processes come to hand that can convince us otherwise, we cannot support the arrival of this super trawler into Australian waters.” ARFF spokesperson Allan Hansard said today.

ARFF will release a final policy statement on the super trawler issue following assessment of any new information or processes. The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) is the newly formed national peak body representing Australia’s Recreational Fishing Community and is supported by the Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA), Recfish Australia, Game Fishing Association Australia (GFAA), Sunfish Queensland, Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the Northern Territory (AFANT), Recfishwest, Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW (RFANSW), Underwater Skindivers and Fishermen’s Association (USFA); Australian National Sportfishing Association (ANSA), and the Professional Fishing Instructors and Guides Association (PFIGA).

Daughterless carp program axed
The ABC’s ‘Landline’ reported on 22 June that the MDBA’s daughterless carp program has been axed. The timing couldn’t be worse, with scientists predicting that several years of above-average rainfall in southern Australia have provided perfect conditions for European carp leading in some areas to a 4,000 per cent increase in numbers.

The daughterless carp project was federally funded through the Murray Darling Basin Authority and was touted as offering a future means of carp control. According to the ABC report, the MDBA decided that progress has been too slow and there were doubts that it would ever really be effective. The authority has stated "Whilst we believe the daughterless technology for carp has merit, it is a potentially long term an expensive investment with no guarantee of success."

Funding for the project has been stopped since 1 July although the MDBA will continue to fund research into the effectiveness and safety of koi herpes virus. Koi herpes virus emerged in the late 1990s and caused havoc to carp populations in the Northern Hemisphere. The risks it poses to Australian native fish is currently being researched and that work will take years to complete.

The daughterless carp program was looking at genetic technology that induces carp to produce only male offspring, leading to the eventual demise of the population. Scientists working on the program claim they had succeeded with the method in laboratory tests on zebra fish and were about two years away from being able to prove that the same method worked on carp. This would have taken only a few hundred thousand dollars to complete, compared to the $4 million already spent. There was also hope that the technology could be applied to other pest species including tilapia and cane toads.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos