The Coral Sea Marine Park Disaster

An environmentally unfriendly battle was fought in the Coral Sea in 1942 and, although there was, technically, a winner and a loser in that encounter, it really wasn’t a victory for anyone.  A similarly hostile encounter, albeit without the blood and gore, again threatens to involve this very large body of sea water, with a very large defeat for the Australian economy being the only clear result.

Figure 1 - Courtesy of http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/mobile/img/news/2012/Coral_Sea_map.png

The combatants in this engagement are the Australian Federal Government, the Fishing and Charter Fishing industries, various environmental groups and at least some of the Australian population.  This battle has been commenced by the Australian Federal Government, represented by the Australian Labour Party, in coalition with the Federal Greens Party, apparently spear-headed by the Environment Minister, Tony Burke, and the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.  They launched this battle with the declaration of many large areas of the sea, within the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone, as Marine Parks where mining and commercial fishing are the primary activities that are to be banned.

The Coral Sea Marine Park is just one such area of water that is involved and, while this Park is the topic of this blog, it is well to remember that the declaration by the Australian Federal Government involves huge swathes of sea right around the country, as shown in the following depiction.

Figure 2 - Courtesy of http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/reserves/sw-region.html

Continue to bear in mind that all the highlighted areas, right around the country, are to be completely devoid of commercial fishing activity – oh yes, and mining activity as well.

Where and how will Australians be able to source seafood after commercial fishing is banned in all these areas?  Do we have our own fleet of deep-sea super trawlers to take over the jobs of the many commercial and charter fishermen who currently earn their living in these waters?  How can we be sure that the ban on fishing will be enforced?

Before attempting to address these questions, I’d like to highlight the vast area of the Coral Sea, indicated in the above diagram, that will be involved in the declaration, as it is the largest single area, by far.  A couple of maps, following, illustrate the point and can be compared to the map of the Coral Sea, at Figure 2.

Figure 3 - Courtesy of http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/reserves/images/map-coralsea-region.jpg

This figure shows the various zones within the Coral Sea Marine Park, diagrammatically, and indicates that the “general use” and “multiple use” zones, in which is it presumed that commercial fishing may be permitted, are much smaller areas in which fishermen can compete for a very limited “catch of the day”.  The next depiction of the same area shows the full extent of the Marine Park and, when compared with Figure 3, it confirms the extra distance that fishermen will have to travel before they can earn their living.

Figure 4 - Courtesy of http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/maps/images/coral-sea-map.jpg

Figures 3 and 4 both show the Coral Sea Marine Park abutting to eastern side of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP).  Commercial and charter fishing vessels have been accustomed to travelling through the GBRMP to reach their fishing grounds and this has been fair enough.  After all, the really large, mature fish, do not inhabit the Reef waters – they are only found in deep water beyond the GBRMP.

The fishing vessels in use are not large super trawlers, such as the 142m foreign-owned “Margiris”, which has received Federal Government blessing to plunder Australian waters.

Figure 5 - Courtesy of http://photos.marinetraffic.com/ais/showphoto.aspx?photoid=792124&size=full

No, the boats that are used in Australian waters will look more like those shown in the following 2 figures.

Figure 6 - Courtesy of http://www.saltersboats.com.au/Files/30280/Photos/30280-01.jpg

Figure 7 - Courtesy of http://www.saltersboats.com.au/Files/30253/Photos/30253-01.jpg

Vessels such as this are little more than 10% of the size of the “Margiris” and are therefore quite limited in both their range of operation and the quantity of fish that they can catch.  Thus, to reach the new “free fishing” areas beyond the Coral Sea Marine Park will be beyond their range and beyond their ability to keep the catch fresh for long enough to be sold fresh.

The jobs of these fishermen will disappear and Australia will become dependent upon foreign-flagged super-trawlers, like the “Margiris”, with all money for fish sales going overseas.  How will this be good for the Australian economy?  How will this encourage growth of jobs and wealth in regional areas of Australia?

Earlier, I referred to the Federal Greens Party being a partner of the Australian Labour Party, in governing Australia.  This might easily lead people to believe that all environmental groups are in favour of the declaration of these areas as being free of commercial fishing activity.  This is an incorrect assumption and it is worthwhile reading the published comments of the Australian Environment Foundation.

AEF “About Us” – http://aefweb.info/about.php and

AEF “Huge Coral Sea 'no-take' zones irresponsible” – http://aefweb.info/media826.html

Part of what they say about themselves is reproduced as follows.

The Australian Environment Foundation (AEF) is a not-for-profit, membership-based environmental organisation having no political affiliation.  We take an evidence-based, solution focused approach to environmental issues.   

While it may be true to say that "We are all environmentalists now", the great majority of Australians have little or no say in the environmental policies being put to governments – federal, state or local.  These policies are almost exclusively the domain of a tight network of conservation groups ensuring one view, and one view only, is put forward.  

The AEF is a different kind of environment group, caring for both Australia & Australians. 

Many of our members are practical environmentalists – people who actively use and also care for the environment.  

We accept that environmental protection and sustainable resource use are generally compatible.

It is disheartening to understand from this that not all views put forward by environmental supporters are heard.  One can only wonder about the motive behind this, as it does not afford any measure of balance.  Perhaps we must all go back to living off the land – though we must be careful that, in doing so, we do not cut down any trees or hurt any animals!

Indeed, there would be very few Australians who would not agree that we need to be balanced in our approach to environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources.  We need both if Australia – and especially the regional areas – are to grow jobs and wealth, which has been one of the stated goals of the Australian Federal Government of Julia Gillard and the Federal Greens Party.

In their article titled “Huge Coral Sea 'no-take' zones irresponsible”, part of what they say is as follows.

“A cursory examination of publicly available data clearly shows Australian fishery harvest is the most environmentally friendly in the world with harvests of less than 1% of recognised sustainable yields from the world’s largest per capita fishery.”

All Coral Sea fisheries are strictly managed with small quotas.  Nearly all Coral Sea islands and reefs are already protected in marine parks.  All Coral Sea marine species are already protected in the world’s largest coral reef park, the Great Barrier Reef National Park.

Research undertaken by the AEF with marine biologist, Dr Walter Starck has confirmed that no marine species in Australian waters is threatened with extinction by commercial fishing.  Also no reduction of marine biodiversity from fishing has been documented in Australia.

This feeds into the points raised by several members of the Federal Opposition, which include the lack of scientific data to support the notion that fish species in the Coral Sea are under any threat at all.  The comments also include references to the very small quantity of “by-catch” (which generally means “fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish”) by Australian fishermen, compared to the massive quantity of by-catch by super trawlers.

How can this be an improvement in sustainable fishing, if our government prohibits the sustainable methods employed by Australian fisherman, yet encourages the rape of all fish species, regardless of whether or not any particular species is a required part of the catch?

Every Australian needs to think about the impact of the decision by the current Federal Government.  Do you like to eat seafood occasionally?  It is most certainly one of the healthiest forms of food that we can eat.  When you see “catch of the day” on the menu at your favourite restaurant, you are entitled to believe that the fish is fresh-caught and locally processed, under very strict standards of human health and hygiene.

When the only available seafood comes from foreign-flagged super trawlers that might be based in countries with lesser standards for human health and hygiene, will you still want to eat it?  There will be instances where the answer to that question will be “no” and this will result in the closure of many Australian businesses – both seafood shops and restaurants – with consequent loss of jobs for many people.

Earlier in this blog, I posed several questions that can now be addressed.

Question : Where and how will Australians be able to source seafood after commercial fishing is banned in all these areas?

There can be no guarantee that the local “catch of the day” will be either local, or fresh, or even processed under the human health and hygiene standards to which Australians have become accustomed.  Fish will be sourced from southern waters, in super trawlers, then end up being imported from overseas – or, maybe, we can buy direct from foreign-flagged fishing vessels that will enter these areas illegally.

Question : Do we have our own fleet of deep-sea super trawlers to take over the jobs of the many commercial and charter fishermen who currently earn their living in these waters?

No, we do not.  The commercial fishing industry will, by and large, cease to exist as an Australian enterprise in which money will be earned by Australians and stay in Australia.  The charter fishing industry is even more specialised because it caters to tourists – both foreign and domestic.  The Federal Government has said that it will compensate the commercial fishermen – in other words, they’ll try to throw money at a problem of their own making and, somehow, this will compensate for the loss of jobs and livelihoods.

This short-sighted approach will not help commercial fishermen – how can they ever be compensated for a lifetime of dedication to the fishing industry?  Will the compensation extend to the charter fishing industry?  Will it extend to all the jobs in speciality seafood shops and restaurants that will be lost because of the loss of our fishing industry?

Question : How can we be sure that the ban on fishing will be enforced?

This is the well-known “$64 dollar question”!  The Federal Government has recently made deep cuts in the budget for the Defence Forces, which will impact on their ability to police these areas effectively.  The sea distances are too vast to be handled by any of the State or Federal Police agencies and we do not have the type of Coast Guard that might be able to handle the task.

It has been reported that Sea Shepherd has volunteered to undertake the policing role and this will be music to the ears of the Federal Government.  They won’t have to pay a cent for this effort.  But, will they provide Sea Shepherd with any powers of arrest, or any authority to forcibly evict illegal fishing activities?

Without formal power and authority, the involvement of Sea Shepherd will not achieve the result of ensuring that no fishing occurs within the Marine Park preservation area.  As a result, we’ll see more illegal boats in that area than we’ve ever seen carrying illegal migrants!

There is one final question that must now be asked, given that the establishment of this area is set to become law, without any consideration about growing Australian jobs, the Australian economy as a whole and the regional economies in particular.  The question is simply… why?

There can be only one answer to this and it has nothing at all to do with the lofty goals of Australian jobs and prosperity.  Julia Gillard has seen the writing on the wall for the next federal election and will do anything at all to appease the Greens, in her effort to cling to power.  She has essentially told the whole Australian electorate that her job is more important than their jobs and possibly even their health.

Good luck to all of us – we’ll need it to deal with this disaster.