THE FV MARGIRIS SUPER TRAWLER

jeff-schmucker's picture
jeff-schmucker started the topic in Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 11:14am

This big hulk is in pt lincoln today and is heading to tassy and going to fish the southern OZ waters...what do ya think?

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zenagain Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 11:24am

It would make a good artificial reef.

Craig's picture
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Craig Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 11:26am

Hi Jeff, I'm totally against it.

This thing just goes through the ocean indiscriminately collecting and killing everything in its path.

It cleared out the local fisheries off West Africa and ironically will sell the fish it catches back to West Africa!!

Have a short think about my last sentence, not good at all.

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stunet Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 12:34pm

Email sent to me by Get Up!

It's here.

At 2.34pm yesterday the world's second largest super trawler docked in Australia, despite having no license to fish in our waters and facing massive community opposition. It can fish with nets whose mouth stretches up to 100 meters high, 200m meters wide and 600m long - that's longer than the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It vacuums up everthing in its way killing dolphins, seals, migratory sea birds and other protected species.

But, there's one person who has the power and authority to stop the super trawler from plundering our seas: Federal Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig. Despite this issue being on the agenda for weeks, he's been dragging his heels and advised media on Tuesday that he was yet to make a decision one way or another on the super trawler. Let's help him decide!

With your help an ad which shows the shocking by-catch of a super trawler can be run on Monday in The Australian, to show Joe Ludwig that Australians will not accept the super trawler's impact on our marine life:

www.getup.org.au/stop-the-super-trawler

Almost 78,000 people have signed the petition to stop the super trawler, begun by GetUp member Rebecca Hubbard on GetUp's new community campaigning tool, CommunityRun.org. As people come to understand the incredible damage the super trawler will do in Australian seas, they are moved to action.

The shocking photo in this ad, provided by our friends at Greenpeace, was taken by a fisheries researcher whilst on board another Dutch-owned super trawler fishing off Mauritania in 2006. It's a stark and shocking reminder that super trawlers, with their enormous nets, are designed to catch everything it their path.

The target species the ship wants are mackrel and redbait but there is no proven way to stop seals, dolphins and other marine life getting trapped and crushed in the enoroumous net. Scientists also say that the 18,000 tonnes of fish the trawler could be allowed to catch is far too high and based on outdated information - concluding there is not a scientific case to allow the trawler to fish in Australian waters.

The person who has responsibility to stop the super trawel is the Fisheries Minister, Joe Ludwig.

Each of us can help make Joe Ludwig's decison a lot easier by making sure the implications of his decison are widely known. Can you chip in to get this ad in The Australian?

www.getup.org.au/stop-the-super-trawler

This issue is at a tipping point: it could go either way. But we know that when, as a community movement, we get behind great campaigns like this one started by Rebecca on CommunityRun.org we have the people power to win!

jeff-schmucker's picture
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jeff-schmucker Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 2:46pm

78000 people tricked into signing sumthn they know little about......guys this 18000 ton quota of combined mackeral and redbait has been established /caught each year for the last 15years and quota issued for it a few months back to AUSTRALIAN fisherman......the aussies couldnt make it pay using 4-5 trawlers so this is the solution to keep taking this amount of fish....very sustainable operation...targetting these two species uniquely. bycatch issues should be low..midwatertrawl is no impact on the benthic zone...we got fisheries in oz operated by aussies that are much more dodgey.

U brought anything in the last 24 hrs that benefit overseas corporations??

buy aussie today all day if you wanna real protest.

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zenagain Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 4:12pm

Jeff, you asked what people thought.

Informed or not.

I personally think it would make a wonderful internationally funded research vessel, studying the depletion of fish stocks around the globe.

That's just my thoughts though.

indo-dreaming's picture
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indo-dreaming Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 4:37pm

I signed the petition some time ago, and admit I didn't, do much research into it, but have been following the story since reading what I can, which is often hard because often you just get two views, one view from radical groups and one view from the company's that want to make the money, both hard to trust IMO?

I have also noticed some people in the commercial fishing industry here in Victoria are against it as a recreational fishing groups in Tasmania and Victoria, so when these guys start siding with green groups like green peace and sea shepard, I think there has to be something in it.

One article I did read an ABC one, so not from green peace website or something had some info a quote that was pretty crazy that stood out.

"Seafish Tasmania admits it needs to catch 15,000 tonnes of its 18,000 tonnes quota to break even"

That seems pretty crazy in itself, but spells out to me that they intend to somehow get that quota increased?

Interstingly the jack mackerel quota has been doubled from 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes in recent times and that red bait hasn't been fished for comercially since 2008.

Personally I think they should keep commercial fishing of all bait fish sp to a bare minimum and let it feed the larger species of fish that we prefer to eat, I just thought this would be common sence?

What would you rather eat the chook food or the chicken and the egg?

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 5:40pm

hey indo....do you realise there is a 55000 ton pilly fishery in lincoln....this 18k macky and red bait fishery is from a biomass of many times the size of the lincoln fishery.....tassy boats couldnt make it pay...ie 15k to break even....from the info i have seen this is not a disatrous thing about to unfold....i'm not that partial to AFMA myself i might add....they have taken our gillnet fishery from us here at streaky and western SA in general....i should be mad at them but they are relitivley well informed and there science isnt non existent!!....they are the guys that manage our fisherys dont forget.........on the other hand if you were suspect this could all reek of a political campaign/excersise....

the recs dontwant it because they think it
ll upset this new tuna game fishery that has evovled over the last couple years....portland boatramp...300 trailers in one day....lot o southern bluefin getn smashed outa the quota of 5k or so tons for oz eh?

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 5:41pm

hey zen...i know i asked what people thought....i wanna see what they think....please gv me lil break bruz..xx

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zenagain Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 6:01pm

No worries mate, you would be much more informed than me spending a lifetime on the water.

I live in a land where the ocean is treated with contempt, raped and pillaged at any cost. It is a fish desert here and my hosts seem to go further and further afield to get their catch. They've virtually stripped everything out of here.

No worries about sharks here, there's nothing for them to feed on. I saw a Tsunomeri (finless dolphin) once, extremely rare and it was a real treat.

Contrasts to where I'm from- surfing with pods of dolphins, schools of dart, tailor, rays cruising on the bottom. None of that here. Just can't seem to think that a boat that can take several thousand tonnes in one go is a good thing.

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indo-dreaming Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 6:26pm

I have to admit I didn't realize they took that much pilchards, where do they all go? Cant be all for bait so must go OS?

I do understand the smaller these fish are the faster they grow and shorter life span, so makes it more sustainable..but still.

I just think it sucks that recreational fishermen have all these things put on them,size limits min and max and amounts and areas are closed down for recreational fishing like marine national parks, while recreational fishing provides so much in the way of stoke and spreads money into local community's on so many levels.

While on the other hand the super trawler seems like the exact opposite, just one huge company taking huge amounts of fish out of the ocean, just to make a few rich, then most of the fish gets sent OS and imagine most of the money also, seems crazy.

BTW I once went for a job on a prawn trawler in morton bay off brisbane, i was totally blown away by the whole deal it was practically raping the sea floor just the method of fishing and then the bi catch was crazy, we picked out the prawns that took some time, then the bi catch went back out, all kinds of living things but the worse was seeing lots of tiny whiting and flathead and other fish by that time truelly dead just wasted it was crazy, it was early season so expect I saw worse of it, but it was just so sad knowing most recreational fisherman do there best to do the right thing..but it seemed pointless after what I saw.

I know the super trawlers bi catch is nothing like that and there nets are much higher in the water.

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sunbay76 Friday, 31 Aug 2012 at 9:24pm

I think all the scrutiny regarding the size of this vessel is ill-directed. If the public want to get engaged in a debate about commercial fishing it should be about the fisheries management science and the policies arising from that science. I think you will find the stock assessments made by our fisheries researchers are some of the most rigorous in the world and the total allowable catch is a very very small percentage of the total biomass. The west african fishery did not fail because big boats caught the fish, it failed because of the amount of fish the boats were allowed to catch. The midwater trawl technique is very species specific with much lower bycatch than a lot of the demersal trawl fisheries that already exist in Australia.

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jeff-schmucker Saturday, 1 Sep 2012 at 4:05am

nice sunbay....we talkn minimal impact at 18thousand ton on the biomass.....did you know that the pilchard kill 5-6 years ago wheneva it was is the largest death of any species in the recorded history of this ol planet.!!

most of the pillys in lincoln fishery are for bait...some go for human consumpt

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zephatalien Sunday, 2 Sep 2012 at 7:44am

Should be sunk.

I've done time on trawlers and it aint pretty. The by-catch of tertiary species is simply unacceptable, no matter the dough it brings a few or the feed it brings a few more.

Our fisheries may be better off than others on this planet, yet they're not even close to what they were 200 years ago.

*gets off high horse*

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reecen Sunday, 2 Sep 2012 at 4:24pm

Don't know much about the super trawler or what it is chasing but one thing is for sure is that the Australian Fisheries certainly aren't as amazing as they think they are.
The people that generally know the most about a fisherie are the fisherman and also have the biggest investment in making sure the fisherie is sustainable, to listen to them goes along way.
Something they have been guilty of neglecting in the past (maybe present?).
The Fisheries deprtment was established by fisherman who understood that they needed to regulate the catch and now they are a law unto themselves with very little direct involvement from the people who make their livleyhoods from the ocean.
Gotta say trawlers (in some cases) are maybe the exception to the rule as there investment depends on taking as much as they can when they can and is in a lot of cases totally indescrimanant as to what gets dragged up or in the case of the bottom draggers what they destroy in the process.
Heres hoping they have the science right in this case.

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reecen Sunday, 2 Sep 2012 at 4:29pm

And zephatalien, got to agree they arent even close in Australia anyway to what they were 50 years ago. Catches might be stable in some fisheries but what the statistics fail to show is the technology and "smarts" of the fisherman who when catches dwindle have just got better and better at catching which skews the "science".
No fisherman 50 years ago had access to all of the fish finding technology and fish pillaging hardware that they have today, and if catches are "stable" that has to sign warning bells I reckon.

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del Monday, 3 Sep 2012 at 10:30am

http://tasmaniantimesnorth.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/the-magiris-and-seafi...

"We can reveal the supertrawler the Magiris and the company 'Seafish Tasmania' are owned by the same Dutch company Parlevliet & Van der Plas.
Thanks to an ASIC document on Seafish Tasmania available here it's obvious both entities are owned by Parlevliet and van der Plas.
Given an employee of Seafish Tasmania managed to become an advisor to the regulator that manages Australia's fishing industry AFMA, Tasmanian Times North believes this is more than just another 'conflict of interest'. Dirk and Jan Parlevliet and Dirk van der Plas have obviously put in a lot of thought and planning into removing Tasmania's fish stocks."

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westcoasteagle Monday, 3 Sep 2012 at 8:31pm

Afma claim to have 100 % observor coverage for this vessel while fishing in Australian waters. After the hardline stance they have taken on the bicatch taken in the nets of the commonwealth shark industry it will be interesting to see what the big bitch trawls up and how it is policed.

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benski Tuesday, 4 Sep 2012 at 2:50pm

reecen, I don't know anything about this super trawler but I do know that fisheries biologists do take into account the ongoing improvement in fishing gear, when using fishery data for stock assessments. It's a whole sub-field of work called effort standardisation. That way they can account for increases in catch that might occur when stocks are declining from overfishing or otherwise.

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zephatalien Thursday, 6 Sep 2012 at 4:28pm

Getup! campaign has asked for peoples' e-mails to Joe Ludwig, who has the power to boot the boat out of Oz.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/marine/super-trawler/stop-the-super-trawler

What I wrote...

Hi,

As a student of environmental science and management I believe it is in Australia's best interest, both as a management practice and conservation agenda, to halt the "super trawler" operation in Australian and Antarctic waters. The risk of tertiary species, some listed under the EPBC Act, is too great.

I spent enough time (two seasons) on prawn trawlers and I know that there are no preventative measures to employ in inhibiting particular species into the nets. Mitigation such as fish holes and escape hatches are reactive and their effectiveness is often questioned. The net of a trawler literally creates a vacuum, into which species critical for marine diversity and trophic structure are pulled into and drowned.

Please consider my view into your decision to disallow the super trawler in Australian and Antarctic waters. My concerns with Tony Bourke's SWEPC department' are mirrored by many and include:

The conditions do nothing to address the concerns of recreational or commercial fishers and conservations in relation to local over exploitation of fish stocks.
Most of the conditions are standard for all trawlers - such as management plans for sea birds - but this does not stop protected bird species being caught in the first place.
The conditions allow up to 10 seals to be killed every day, if more are killed the a simple 'review' is triggered and the trawler is required to move 50 nautical miles. Trawlers can cover these distances in a few hours and given marine wildlife such as seals, dolphins and turtles are highly mobile this does nothing to protect them.
The conditions do not address the flow-on effect of localised depletion of fish stocks on the marine environment or the flow on effects to other marine wildlife who may lose their food source such as penguins, tuna, seals, whales and dolphins.

Thankyou and sincerely,

Zephatali Walsh

If nothing else, turning this boat around sets a precedent. Today the super trawler, tomorrow the Japanese whalers?

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jeff-schmucker Thursday, 6 Sep 2012 at 8:50pm

Cmon Zeph settle down...why havnt you been active about the trawlers in the waters of the state seeing as you know so much the carnage that they are doing.?

the seabird interaction program is alive and well and i'm sure acheiveng the results they wanted in the SE trawl and the longline fisherys i'm sure these devices will be fitted to the TASMAN.

they have by catch exclusion devices fitted to the trawl wich excludes mammals and large fish without injury...the observers onboard will be making sure any interaction fatal or nonfatal will be reported..

dont you think this vessel is in good hands and hopefully the best hands in the world?? i would rather see it here than indiscrimitally pillaging in west africa...

the redbait and the mackeral fishery has never been tapped on a scale like this there can actually and hopefully a profit made out of it for australian familys.

the biomass of these species is massive compared to the 18000 ton that is going to be allowed to take. A fishery actually flourishes with human intervention....for instance science says that the gummy shark biomass for best results for that species to survive for the longest time is 40-48% of the origional biomass. i never could see this but after sourcing enough info about it i believe it too.

Do you know that they have had 5-6 trawlers in southern waters to establish this quota over the last 12-15 years and that it is unviable to have these vessels doing it...the Abel Tasman will hopefully change that.

I'm thinking that the whole blowout of this fishing venture is more sinister with the implimentation of the largest marine park system on our doorstep....if they get uninformed activists on the job that have the wit with the pen they may juz may turn this country into a total green zone. For what? the chinese to pillage when they buy out more than Cubbie station?

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indo-dreaming Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 7:02am

I respect your comments and knowledge Jeff and I understand your point that while there is a lot of stink kicked up about this issue other damaging fishing going on is ignored, hopefully this issue will bring to light some of those issues.

But i am a bit confused why someone involved with a love of the ocean would be for this?

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zephatalien Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 7:50am

Hhmmph!

I'd like to see the science that says "The gummy shark needs 40-48% of its original biomass for best results in survivability. Perhaps your misinterpreting the information? As we all know, a population cannot outgrow the ecology around it. Interdependent relationships as well as competition between individuals, in a setting of fixed or fluctuating resources, will reach an equilibrium where a population will survive indefinitely. The trophic system highlights interdependent relationships as a way of interpreting the movement of energy through from sun to earth [basic}[sun>primary producers>herbivores>predators>tertiary predators>detrivores]. By affecting even the smallest of creatures or vegetation, rippling unbalance works to reach another equilibrium.

Keep in mind this planet has been changing for billions of years to reach this time of flora and fauna. I confess i'm not very well versed in the present state of the global fisheries. But like most other places on Earth, the oceans are in crisis mode. Unprecedented species extinction means wildly unbalanced trophic structure. Perhaps this is the case for your gummys' Jef, where the population of shark has boomed in a time of easy food or low predation, collapsing a balance between themselves and their prey.

I can show you numerous articles showing how whole communities of fish and marine mammals immigrate into sanctuary zones. I've really no idea on the contentious marine parks plans for SA, but i'll reckon its something fishy and opens up drilling in some way.

And Jef, hopefully we get some activists in positions of power to stop the damage being done now. For what, you ask? For the land, man! Moments of thrilling life will always accompany the human spirit and as most of us live out our lives we, mostly unintentionally, fuck up the Earth around us. Marine science is a very tricky field.

Perhaps, as you say Jef, the populations of target species are in a state of exponential growth and by the quota being taken the ecological equilibrium will be sustained. We just don't know and as always, for me, this means bail or fail. Obviously this boat is not in good hands and hopefully the best hands in the world" because it's aiming to conduct large scale trawling in Australian waters. These people aren't out to look after the integrity, biodiversity or sustainability of our ocean they're out there to make money. Bugger ya money guys, go get a sunrise up ya.

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 11:04am

zeph my planetarian ocean loving colleague....you sound paranoid with an auroa of fear brother....

where do the humans come into the big picture on this planet?

fisheries around the world i am lead to believe are managed on this 40-48% of the origional biomass....it has been proven that this is the way for sustainable fisheries and sustain the future populations...

how can you say that this vessel is going to damage things when all it is doing is catching the same amount of fish that the fishery always had with less smoke coming out of the exhaust??

i think you are a green activist and you are'nt looking before leap.

the prawn industry in SA has a way to go i agree but if you look at the proactive work that they have done in the last 10-15 years and the ongoing programs and consultation for bycatch issues i take my hat off to them...they want a future for their age old fishery i'm sure....and you can leave the "greed" word out of it!!

my friend you wanna believe that these guys are pilferers and one eyed like yourself.....they are definitley monopolising a fishery and pooling all the quota holders together but this is what anyone would do right?? i gaurantee that if its not viable leaving all the green issues aside they will abandon this venture.

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 11:12am

indo....i love the ocean and live in it and on and for it.....i wanna be careful that we dont lose access to it all bit by bit through fear....imagine if you couldnt surf the island beacause the ospreys were nesting there and it was someones opinion that the paddle surfing would scare them away... they have been co existing there for the last 35 years from single fins to boogers.

on the abel tasman......they are NOT going to decimate these species and the political mileage is getting every bit they can out of it....78000 + , paranoid uninformed signatorys brother....its a disgrace to the australian way!

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sunbay76 Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 12:01pm

It is a disgrace that such misinformation can go so far. This is a midwater trawler fishing species specific schools of fish under full observation and under strict quotas. The quota is set at about 7% of the total biomass calculated from the most conservative estimate. Its therefore probably much less than 7%. Exclusion devices free any marine mammals that may be encountered and non-quota fish (bycatch) in these schools of red-bait and mackrel is very rare. Where is the suggestion for a better way to do it or should humans just stop eating fish? Demersal trawl fisheries have a by-catch issue that needs more work, but this is not one of them.

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indo-dreaming Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 3:15pm

indo....i love the ocean and live in it and on and for it.....i wanna be careful that we dont lose access to it all bit by bit through fear....imagine if you couldnt surf the island beacause the ospreys were nesting there and it was someones opinion that the paddle surfing would scare them away... they have been co existing there for the last 35 years from single fins to boogers.

on the abel tasman......they are NOT going to decimate these species and the political mileage is getting every bit they can out of it....78000 + , paranoid uninformed signatorys brother....its a disgrace to the australian way!

By: "jeff-schmucker"

I do hear you on that, things can go to far and minority groups get there way.

But I still don't get it all, why would we let a foreign company and boat come in to our waters, allow them to use a heavy handed fishing method, take our fish, that are then most likely sold overseas and most likely the majority of the money also goes overseas, what benefit do we see? a few jobs?...bit of tax money for the government?

There should be laws that control this kind of thing, for example the company be over 51% Aussie owned and that only one tenth of any quota be able to be taken by one company.

But i guess its not much different to whats happening on land we are selling that of, screwing our own farmers over and letting foreign owned companies dig up our riches to send OS.

I think we are pretty screwed up in australia, we sell our soul on a lot of things.

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 4:02pm
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jeff-schmucker Friday, 7 Sep 2012 at 4:06pm
zephatalien's picture
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zephatalien Saturday, 8 Sep 2012 at 2:02pm

I was going to question how the trawler helps local fishermen...?

Anyways, I dunno where your going with that link Jef, but here is one I found a little informing.

http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/news/oceans/top-10-facts-about-super-trawlers

Perhaps you were looking for this link?

http://www.almcglashan.com/news_details.php?news_id=371

Though it seems the author is definitely against the fishing taking place...

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semi Monday, 10 Sep 2012 at 2:58am

Man, there,s been so much debate and drama over 1 boat.

Surely AFMA s policies and management practices can deal with any issues that arise from it's fishing efforts. Fisheries management has been turned around in the last decade or so and become quite tough.

This situation reminds me of the development of the Herd and Macquarie Island Toothfish Fishery. Just a couple of boats with full observer coverage. This transparency having every shot monitored along the way with fairly large factory trawlers and liners worked well and, I believe, that the fishery has now received Marine Stewardship Certification. This is a credit to AFMA and its policies and also industry which have adopted a responsible attitude when going about its fishing practices.

The SPF fishery is fished in two zones East and West of Tassie with three different species that are targeted separately. This will spread out the Margaris's effort somewhat and any concerns of localised depletion will not be realised. Also we are talking about a Pelagic Resource that is migratory and transitory in its movement.

If she is the right boat to utilise the resource sustainably and be economically efficient let her have a go!

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jeff-schmucker Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 3:13pm

So the Mararis sits at the lincoln wharf....what happens now?? wait 2 years 2 months ....never? What a show...this excercise by the australian government remains a mystery atm......dont cheer too loud you greenies coz it may just come back and bite you on the arse but for now you are safe!!!

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Craig Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 3:53pm

I think it's a big win personally Jeff, and hopefully it ships off back home never to return. Or you could cut it down for scrap metal, haha!

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zenagain Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 4:05pm

Also a win for democracy.

When the vested interests of a minority can dictate to the wishes of the majority, then we cease to live in a democracy.

Although the cynic inside of me believes the decision maybe political, it's still a win for the people.

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zephatalien Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 4:06pm

Yep, fantastic news, i'm cheerin' loud.

:D

...and it's not the greenies that are now safe, just all those pelagic species.

:)

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Craig Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 5:38pm

I don't eat fish purely because I'm not the biggest fan of it, not really because of any moral or ethical reasons.

Also if I don't eat them, they won't eat me ;)

Will be interested to read your opinion.

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zenagain Tuesday, 11 Sep 2012 at 5:43pm

I eat lots of fish. Most of it raw.

But hey, I live in Japan;)

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sidthefish Wednesday, 12 Sep 2012 at 6:28am

the boat is called the Abel Tasman now.

hey Smuko, this mob are dutch aren't they ? how does a dutch mob get the rights to 18kT of fish from Aussie waters, do they just buy the quota on open market ?

I got no probs with the boat or size per se' cos the take will be within the quota system, I just reckon the fish resource should be owned, caught and processed by Aust entities, and most definitely not bypass our marketplace/tax system.

can they simply fill up the freezers and do the bolt... how's it work on this scale ?

more info please Jeff.

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jeff-schmucker Wednesday, 12 Sep 2012 at 7:48am

i havnt got a lot more info really sid....read semis comment a few back perhaps...dont be cheering to loudly about anything like this tho as i'm aware that shit like this turns around and its on again....this 18k ton quota will probably be utilised by someone soon...i did see yesterday that this project has been in the pipline for 7 years!!! thats a long time and a lot of effort by a lot of people i rekn, so i'm sure the issue is not gunna juz dissapear....

without sounding to trippy about a conspiracy theory this situation reeks of a government getting uninformed people on board and making a smoke screen so they can turn this country in a direction that eventually many may not like where it is heading?...

as i said these short lived victorys for extremist groups are shortlived and usually oter developments are not far behind...

far as the fishing operations go i'm confident in AFMA to manage it in a acceptable way....i am a commonweath license holder and have been for 10 years.

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sidthefish Wednesday, 12 Sep 2012 at 2:31pm

political grandstanding for sure.

my basic understanding of the operation is that the take would be part of the quota system, fished relatively high in the water column, using nets no bigger than already in operation , so to me thats all above board.

my concern is the ownership of the fish resource and the integrity of our marketplace.

if these dutch wanna do a smash n grab freezer fill, they can fuck right off.

to me, its all the same resource soveriegnty issue I raise about Cubbie Station the other week. I'm sick of cheap/hot money flowing into this country, buying the ground right out from under us, pushing the AU$ too high and in turn making our own opeartions internationally uncompetitive.

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jeff-schmucker Wednesday, 12 Sep 2012 at 3:19pm

hear hear sid.....are them pussy conservative coalition boys gunna cross the floor on this one ?? or are they gunna back down.....a new reg that gives the environment minister the right to close a fishery at the whim of some angry greenie is bullshit....and we are talkn reccy or commercial here!!

i have been at the brunt of the same reg in the environ and heritage regs here in SA where you can be excluded from an area if you are even "deemed" to be doing the wrong thing......in my case the powers that be came to there senses but it took 3 years.

if i had the cash and had put in the effort like the team behind the Margiris over the last 7 years and i was excluded from the fishery on these grounds i would sue the pricks......

ABC radio today says they think the floor isnt gunna get crossed on this one!!

we'll see tmoz i guess or the day afterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 1:43am

well it seems the trawler is out for 2 years....wow thats heavy...i wonder if the people that represent you did it in the name of science or for votes??

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sidthefish Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 7:21am

votes.

the 18kT of pilchards will not "be saved", someone else will take the quota.

I'm not fully ok with some fat dutch boat doing a smash n grab / hit n run, but for other reasons, and for the record I'm not a fan dutchies.

but if people think they've saved the little fishy fishies , they have been stooged by political spin. cos most the same people will happily go to the biggest supaTrawlers of them all, Woolies & Coles, and be stoked for "cheaper" fish, no matter where it comes from, or how dodgy it was obtained.

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jeff-schmucker Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 8:14am

such wisdom sydney!!!........you never sleep after a bushfire! i'm sure this quoata will continue to be caught by whomever...lets hope its done without too much effort and whoever does it makes a return on it....be a shame to see the fish killed for little or no viability!

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del Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 1:53pm

my biggest issues was

Internationally owned
Internationally staffed
Fish caught processed on board by overseas workers.
and all fish sold internationally
all profits are overseas.
id also like to see the so called 40 aussie jobs? the ship is already fully operational it doesnt need fisherman?
we were actually going to subsidise their freight costs too???

where does Australia benefit from this??

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sidthefish Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 3:50pm

yeah Del, that's exactly where I'm coming from.

general public who think the fish "take" has been stopped, they simply don't understand how things work.

the media and the politics are giving a very superficial representation of the situation.

all a bit too easy really, the real question that should be getting asked is...

"who really owns our fish resources." ?

and the answers to that would blow people away.

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del Friday, 14 Sep 2012 at 9:17pm

if the quota is fished by aussie boats and aussie workers.. and paid aussie wages and aussie tax.. no issue at all..

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jeff-schmucker Saturday, 15 Sep 2012 at 3:33am

thats why the trawler is here Del....because ozzie boats and workers worked but they paid no tax coz they couldnt make any money......i dont get why people juz think that this venture/vessel juz surfaced in the last 6 weeks....its been in the planning for 7 years!!....what a let down for the operaters while the ozzie government and afma are dribbling!

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sidthefish Sunday, 16 Sep 2012 at 3:13am

jeff, thats how most processing industry is operating in Aust now ie: profitless.

Another situation is unfolding in SA with the softwood timber industry in Mt Gambier, Carter Holt Harvey, a big timber firm is about to shut 3 to 4 mills. Carter holt is losing $35 for every cubic meter of timber cut.

About 1000+ jobs are on the line if Carter Holt pulls the pin, the SA log resource will get shipped and processed offshore.

The SA gov't sold the Forest resource to a Yank consortium for an "undisclosed sum", the new owners then upped the log price, which in turn has priced SA softwood products out of the market.

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jeff-schmucker Monday, 17 Sep 2012 at 5:44am

yer m8 i get it!....unfukn believable this country....we are so backwards with so many things its Rad....shithouse news about the timber industry too!!....as you head west to surf in SA you see the grain silos??,...well they are all owned by a canadian company now!! such is life in rural oz!...i see the Margiris is still tied up at the lincoln wharf....how much u rekn it'd cost to do that by the day?? ...i rekn 7500 dollars per day .....wot a show!!!