Letter to:
 
The Director
Sustainable Fisheries Section
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
GPO Box 787
CANBERRA ACT 2601

sustainablefisheries@environment.gov.au
amcs@amcs.org.au


Dear Sir/Madam,


Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery
 
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) must be one of the most unsustainable fisheries in Australia. This fishery targets high numbers of overfished, deep sea, long lived species which are highly vulnerable to fishing pressure.
 
I am alarmed at a range of aspects of this fishery, including the rising number of stocks that are classified by the Government's own scientists as 'overfished' and/or 'subject to overfishing', high levels of bycatch (including large numbers of fur seals, sea lions and other threatened and protected species), increased quotas for highly vulnerable species such as orange roughy and deepwater sharks, and fishing in the fragile ecosystems below 700m.
I request the Government overhaul this fishery, so that it can start to move towards sustainability. Until significant reforms are introduced I cannot support a renewed export license for this fishery and ask that SESSF is not approved as an ecologically sustainable Wildlife Trade Operation by your Department.

Such approval can only be granted if your Department places tough conditions on the fishery to make it more sustainable and less destructive, including:
  • Setting a clear timeline for phasing out damaging fishing practices catching overfished species, including all fishing below 700m and all targeted shark fishing (including deepwater, gulper, gummy and school sharks)
  • Ending targeted orange roughy fishing
  • Urgently phasing out targeting other species that are overfished or subject to overfishing such as blue warehou, eastern gemfish, jackass morwong, pink ling and all deep water species
  • Introducing immediate and significant measures to tackle the huge bycatch problem, from legally protected seals and sea lions through to non-target fish species, throughout the fishery. This must include the mandatory introduction of Seal Exclusion Devices (SEDs) for all trawl vessels and the removal of gillnets from any sector with a history of interactions with seals and sea lions.
Successive Fishery Status Reports reveal a consistent, downward trend for most targeted species in this fishery. I urge you to drive reform in the SESSF, by imposing the above conditions on any export license, so that Australia does not go the way of many of the world's other fisheries jurisdictions.

We pride ourselves in managing our oceans sustainably, and this fishery makes a mockery of that claim.
I look forward to your response to my concerns, and thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
 
Yours sincerely,

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