THE controversial super trawler Abel Tasman won’t operate in Australia after its owners lost a challenge in the federal court.Justice John Logan said former environment minister Tony Burke was within his rights to ban the factory freezer trawler, which would have had uncertain impacts on small pelagic fish. Read [email protected] 07:09
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
Australia is the recipient of a huge tract of ocean to manage which they still don’t have a handle on the biology of. Sending in huge vessels like this one is likely to upset the delicate balance of these marine eco-systems before the science can catch up. Consider this a win for sustainability.