Tag Archives: factory freezer trawler the Geelong Star
Australia’s Fisheries authority considers streaming video from boats to ensure safety of marine life
Australia’s federal fisheries authority is exploring an ambitious plan to stream live footage from fishing vessels in a bid to improve its ability to respond to controversial reports that nets are killing endangered marine animals. The plan could also help protect the authority’s on-board observers in rare instances where their daily reports expose them to aggression and threats from the crews with whom they spend weeks or months at sea. Dr James Findlay, chief executive of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), revealed that the agency had started approaching ship-to-shore communication providers to explore the possibility of using streaming video of activity on fishing vessels “as close to real-time as we can”. Dr Findlay revealed the agency’s ambitions during a senate estimates hearing last week. The environment and communications committee was questioning AFMA over its handling of a high-profile brush between a whale shark and the controversial factory freezer trawler the Geelong Star in February. Read the story here 11:47
