fisheries

Analysis and Comment (8)

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We won’t have sustainable fishing until we stop demanding so much seafood. George Hatcher

Seafood sustainability not a sustainable reality

By James Smith

In 1883, the eminent English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley made his now infamous proclamation on the infinite bounty of the sea: Probably all the great sea fisheries are inexhaustible; that is to say…
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Banning the super trawler will do little to improve fur seal welfare. Nuytsia@Tas/flickr

What will banning the super trawler a second time achieve?

By Colin Hunt

Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig and Environment Minister Tony Burke are seeking advice on whether to allow the Abel Tasman super trawler to act as a factory ship. Seafish Tasmania aims to skirt the fishing…
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Fisheries around the world are depleted, but they can be saved. Isaac Pearlman

It is still possible to make fisheries sustainable

By Dan Ovando, University of California, Santa Barbara

Many fisheries around the world are in bad shape and getting worse. Solving this problem will require innovative monitoring and management tools, but we can provide tremendous benefits if we act now to…
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Tony Burke and Andrew Wilkie are happy with the super trawler wash-up. If fish could read, they’d be happy too. AAP Image/Penny Bradfield

Super trawler triggers better conservation for Australian fishes

By Jessica Meeuwig, University of Western Australia

The scientific and public debate around the super trawler FV Margiris, now reflagged as the Abel Tasman, has been significant, lively and at times, heated. The debate has been worth it: the outcome – an…
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Super trawlers aren’t the only boats that take bycatch: 200 black browed albatross could be caught every year in the Commonwealth’s South East Trawl Fishery. Geoff Edwards

Super trawler not the only fishing problem needing review

By Colin Hunt

Tony Burke and Joe Ludwig have just announced a review of the Fisheries Management Act and the EPBC Act, thanks to public opposition to the super trawler. But the Commonwealth should take a good hard look…
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The shrimp Lebbeus clarehanna is a new species collected at about 400 metres depth – it’s species like this new marine reserves will protect. CSIRO

Marine reserves not about closing fisheries, but about preserving ocean health

By Nic Bax, CSIRO and Ian Cresswell, CSIRO

Recently, members of the fishing industry staged a protest about Australia’s new network of marine parks. But when Environment Minister Tony Burke announced the parks on July 11 2012, he noted the reserves…
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It’s not the fish we should worry about, but the other creatures the “super trawler” will catch. Charles Van den Broek

Bycatch the real concern as super trawler heads for Australia

By Colin Hunt

Concerns about licensing a foreign super trawler to fish our southern seas have centred on the negative effect on fish stocks. These fears are largely unfounded. The real concern is for Australian mammals…

Research and News (2)

Research Briefs (2)

Climate change at the dinner table

Nature

A new study confirms what most fishermen and seafood consumers are already feeling: warming oceans have already affected…

Participants (36)