Tag: commonwealth

2019 Election and the Return of Federal Labor “Lock Outs”

Recreational fishing in Western Australia is governed by state laws and is largely a state responsibility, so as you prepare to tuck into a democracy sausage on May 18th you could be forgiven for thinking the federal election cannot possibly impact your fishing experience, unfortunately, this is simply not true.

So far this election campaign, the current Coalition government has pledged $29 million for a variety of fishing-based initiatives including $20 million to improve boating facilities and $8 million to restore habitat.

To learn more about the Coalition $29 million commitment click here.

Less than 24 hours after first publishing this article highlighting the fact the Australia Labor Party (ALP) had so far failed to announce any commitments, they pledged $45 million to improve recreational fishing including improving boat ramps, native fish stocking and better consultation processes.

To learn more about the ALP $45 million commitment click here.  

In Western Australia, recreational fishers directly inject $2.4 billion into our local economy every year. The lack of major well-developed commitments by both parties is disappointing, both major parties have failed to fully appreciate just how important fishing is to the community and to the economy.

One area of major difference between the two key parties that is likely to impact on your fishing experience is the way they plan to manage our network of Commonwealth marine parks. The 2019 election is looming as a watershed moment in the way these parks are managed.

Like most fishers, Recfishwest support marine parks when they are created for the right reasons, put in the right places and implemented using simple, practical management that is risk-based, transparent and subject to regular review.

 

 

 

To read Recfishwest’s position on marine parks click here

Developing Australia’s network of Commonwealth marine parks has been a very long and time-consuming process that started more than 20 years ago. Recfishwest has participated in this process from the beginning and has invested many years of hard work and submitted countless submissions during this time.  In July last year, Australia’s very first complete network of Commonwealth marine parks came into effect, providing Australia with one of the largest areas of marine protection in the world.

To learn more about the history of Australia’s network of Commonwealth marine parks click here.

Despite management plans for Western Australia’s Commonwealth marine parks taking effect on 1st July 2018, the Australian Labor Party has announced it does not intend to let the current 10 year management plans run their course and has committed to replacing the current management plans with ones they developed back in 2012 when last in government.

Recfishwest believe the current management plans provide far better environmental, social and economic outcomes for Western Australia than the 2012 plans ever did. Some examples of the way the current plans provide much better outcomes than the 2012 plans include;

Perth Canyon (Rottnest Trench) Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans retain access to important fishing grounds near Perth including the Rottnest Trench and the Perth Game Fishing Club’s FAD program west of Rottnest while at the same time providing an additional 134km2 of National Park (IUCN II – Green Zone) protection and 1693km2 of Habitat Protection Area (IUCN IV – Yellow Zone) protection. The current management plans also provide protection for two of the three canyon heads compared to the 2012 plans which provided protection to only one.

Geographe Bay Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans align Commonwealth green and yellow zones to similar zones in the state-based Ngari Capes marine park providing much greater shore to shelf connectivity and making it much easier for people to know where the zones are.

Bremer Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans provide an additional 2,888km2 of green zone protection for the Killer Whale aggregations near Bremer Bay, which will completely disappear if the 2012 plans are implemented.

Dampier Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans allow access to pelagic species in the Madeleine Shoals to the North of Legendre Island, while the irregular boundary of the 2012 green zone made it very hard to know if you are inside or outside of the prohibited fishing area.

 Ningaloo Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans have  116km2 of green zones which align to the state marine park boundaries providing shore to shelf connectivity while the 2012 plans didn’t have any green or yellow zones.

Kimberley Commonwealth Marine Park

The current plans provide 4000km2 more green and yellow zones compared to the 2012 plans and they also improve accessibility for Broome fishers who are known to fish within 30nm of the coastline from Cape Leveque to Broome and within 90nm of Broome.

For a full comparison of the zoning between the current plans and the 2012 plans click here:

Commonwealth marine park – 2019 election comparison of zoning

It should be noted that all sectors of the Australian fishing industry fully support the current management plans, which were created following years of consultation and which achieve a good balance between sustainability and the right of Australians to catch fish, eat fish and make a living from the ocean.

To read a joint industry letter supporting the current management plan, click here.

To view fishing identity Al McGlashan’s view on marine parks, click here.

Recfishwest, The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation, Game Fishing Association of Australia, Australian Fishing Trade Association and Seafood Industry Australia have all expressed support for the current management plans, agreeing they achieve an acceptable balance between sustainability and access to Australia’s fish resources. These groups unanimously agree the current plans are a vast improvement on the Frankenstein like 2012 plans Labor wants to bring back to life.

While the Labor Party has been a vocal critic of the current marine park management plans for the Coral Sea they have been largely silent on the current management plans for marine parks in Western Australia. Could this be because the current management plans provide more access to important fishing areas? Or could it be because the current plans provide greater environmental protection in areas where it is needed than the 2012 plans ever did? Or could it simply be the needs of Western Australians are once again playing second fiddle to the Eastern States?

If you get a chance to talk to any of your local candidates in the upcoming election on behalf of the 750,000 Western Australians who go fishing every year, I urge you ask these candidates to pledge their support for maintaining Western Australia’s existing marine park management plans. Regardless of who wins the upcoming election the current management plans are far better than the 2012 plans and all candidates who support fishing and who truly support the environment should support retaining the current plans until they are due for review in 2028.

Commonwealth Marine Parks Finally Settled 

After more than a decade of consultation and countless submissions Australia’s network of Commonwealth marine parks has today finally been settled following the defeat of five disallowance motions in the Senate. It was thanks to the cross bench senators who gave the government the numbers to defeat the disallowance motions 29 votes to 36 and save the 2.3million km2 of marine parks the Greens and Labor wanted to remove. Hopefully all political parties will now leave these management plans in place for the next ten years (as intended) and people can finally have some certainty over how and where we can fish.

Thanks to everyone who provided input and came along with us on this journey over the past decade!

New Commonwealth Marine Parks Announced

Recfishwest welcomed the latest Commonwealth Marine Reserves Management plans, released in March 2018, which  recognises the importance of fishing in WA.

Recfishwest CEO Dr. Andrew Rowland at Parliament House, Canberra, this week.

Recfishwest Operations Manager Leyland Campbell said these new evidence based management plans deliver a much more balanced approach than we have seen in the past and I am pleased the value of recreational fishing  has finally been acknowledged as a key value of Marine Parks.

“These plans are definitely a large improvement on the plans produced by the previous Government which locked fishers out of large areas of the ocean for no apparent reason.  The plans may not be perfect but they are the best I have seen throughout this whole process. ” Mr Campbell said.

“After years of uncertainty and long drawn-out discussions, today’s announcement is a much better outcome for fishing, a much better outcome for the community and a much better outcome for the environment.”

“These new plans maintain access to many of the iconic fishing locations around WA, including the Rottnest Trench and the South West’s Geographe Bay, both of which had previously earmarked important areas for closure. This means the descendants of West Aussies who have sustainably fished these places for generations can continue to have the same wonderful experiences. Some of the issues of most concern that we raised with the Commonwealth Government appear to have been taken on board.

“I urge everyone to support these new plans as they show a good balance between the needs of all reasonable stakeholders.”

Although these new plans appear to strike a good balance between the needs of all stakeholders the usual groups will no doubt be once again making outrageous and unsubstantiated claims about the level of protection provided by the plans even though these new plans provide the sea floor with 200,000 square kilometres more protection than the previous plans. These usual groups won’t be satisfied until all fishing is stopped or until the political party they identify with is the one to introduce management plans.

“I believe the management plans announced today are most comprehensive and sensible plans released to date and balance the needs of all reasonable stakeholders better than any of the previous plans.  We urge all sensible fishers and community members to support these plans.”

You can access the new plans here.

Recfishwest support marine parks that are created for the purpose of recreation, science, education, conservation and enhanced visitor experiences. We believe marine park zoning must be underpinned by science and should be implemented using simple, practical management that is risk-based, transparent and subject to regular review.

Background on Marine Parks

Developing Australia’s network of Marine Parks has been a very long and time consuming process. Recfishwest has been participating in this process from the beginning and has invested many years and submitted countless submission during this time.

In 1998 Australia committed to establishing a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (Marine Parks) and developed guideline for establishing these Parks.  In the 14 years that followed there was a procession of science which included Bioregional Profiles and plans, Regulation Impact Statements, social and economic assessments as well as scientific and expert reports.

In 2011 draft marine park proposals for the South-west, North, North-west, Coral Sea and Temperate East Marine Regions were released and in November 2012 a network of Marine Parks was proclaimed.  In many cases the proclaimed Marine Parks had very little resemblances to the 2011 proposals the public were asked to comment on.

In 2013 as part of an election commitment the Coalition government reproclaimed the Commonwealth marine reserves and set up an independent scientific review of the Marine Reserves. This review started in September 2014, undertook a significant amount of public consultation and was completed in December 2015.

Following the review, new and improved management plans were developed and these new plans were released by the Turnbull Government’s this week. You can access the new plans here.

To compare zoning and maps from the old plan to this latest plan click the links below.

North-West Commonwealth Marine Park Zoning comparison

South-West Commonwealth Marine Park Zoning comparison

Recfishwest’s Position Statement on Marine Parks 

 

Commonwealth Marine Park Review – Delivers a Mixed Bag for Fishers

Recfishwest support marine parks that are created for the purpose of recreation, science, education, conservation and enhanced visitor experiences. We believe marine park zoning must be underpinned by science and should be implemented using simple, practical management that is risk-based, transparent and subject to regular review.
Recfishwest believes that recreational fishing is largely compatible with the conservation objectives of marine parks and that it is an activity that must be recognised as a key value when formulating management plans.

This latest report following an independent review of the planned Commonwealth Marine Park Network marks 18 years since Australia made the initial commitment to develop a Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network (CMRN). Recfishwest have represented recreational fishing interests throughout the whole process and have invested a significant amount of time and effort to ensure the values of recreational fishers have been represented at every opportunity.

As part of this latest review Recfishwest met with the independent review Bioregional Advisory Panels and provided a submission identifying several significant areas of contention for the recreational fishing community.  Recfishwest believe that unless recreational fishing poses an identified risk to the conservation objectives of a marine reserve there is no logical rationale for excluding fishers from any area. Restrictions on recreational fishing should be avoided where possible and marine park management should aim to improve recreational fishing experiences with no net loss of amenity.

The outcomes of the latest review are a mixed bag. There are some very important wins for recreational fishing while other areas that we believe needed to be changed have remained untouched.Some of the most pleasing recommendations from the review include changes which will increase fishing access in important areas in Perth, Dampier and the Kimberley.

Perth Canyon:

Zoning before the review:

Independent Review zoning recommendations

 

The review recognised the Rottnest Trench as important game fishing and charter fishing area and Recfishwest is glad to see recommended zoning changes that would ensure access is maintained to this important game fishing location.

Dampier:

Zoning before the review:

Independent Review zoning recommendations

The review appeared to have listened to our concerns and have recommended the sanctuary zone be moved east where its impact on recreational fishing will be reduced and be replaced with a Benthic Protection Zone which will not significantly impact on fishing activities North of Legendre Island.

Kimberley:

Zoning before the review:

Recfishwest argued against the placement of the southern most sanctuary zone within this reserve as recreational fishing is common within 30nm of the coastline from Cape Leveque to Broome and within 90nm of Broome itself. Fishing in this area is likely to increase in popularity with the recent announcement of the sealing of the access road to Cape Leveque.

Some issues Recfishwest raised with the Independent Review Panel were not solved to Recfishwest’s satisfaction and represents a missed opportunity to minimise impacts on the fishing community while a number of other marine parks remain unchanged. The Independent Review has also recommended zoning changes for areas around Two Rocks, Geographe Bay, the South-west Capes region and Bremer Bay.

Two Rocks

Zoning before the review

Independent Review zoning recommendations

The review report has recommended the size of the sanctuary zone in this reserve be increased for the benefit of a few,  further restricting access to this popular fishing location on the door step of the metropolitan area.

Geographe Bay

Zoning before review

Independent Review zoning recommendations

The review has recommended straightening the boundary of the sanctuary zone to better align with state based marine parks however the rationale for maintaining two no fishing areas that contain similar habitat has not been justified.

The Capes Region

Zoning before the review

Independent Review zoning recommendations

In failing to recommend an alignment of the State and Commonwealth sanctuary zone in the Capes region the review has missed an opportunity to simplify management arrangements.

Bremer Bay

Zoning before the review

Independent Review zoning recommendations

This reserve is located in-between two popular tourist towns that both rely on recreational fishing tourism.  The review has recommended increasing the no fishing area within this reserve by 64%.

Recfishwest recognise some effort has been made to reduce the impact on recreational fishing by slightly increasing access to some of the important inshore areas that are regularly accessed by recreational fishers.

Recfishwest will be making a submission on this latest report and are hopeful that this long drawn out process will finally be able to move forward in the near future.