Fishing for answers to save marine parks
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday February 28, 2011
Your headline "Commercial interests hooked on specious logic" (Letters, February 23) would have greater veracity if the word "conservation" was substituted for "commercial". The debate between marine park supporters and fishers, be they commercial or recreational, has seen specious claims from both sides. The main aim of marine parks is to protect and preserve biodiversity. Few would argue with this aim.Conservationists believe fishing threatens fish biodiversity, but there is little to support such a claim for NSW waters. Whereas there is no doubt that the abundances of species such as eastern gemfish and some sharks have been greatly reduced by commercial fishing, the great majority of NSW fish stocks currently appear to be in good condition. Moreover, recent years have seen a marked reduction in commercial fishing mortality via a buyout of many fishing permits and the introduction of more conservative and scientifically rigorous catch limits. Similarly, recreational fishers are subject to more stringent bag and size limits.Many conservationists believe that banning fishing from an area will increase fish abundance therein. Hence about 20 per cent of the area of all NSW marine parks is now occupied by "no-take" sanctuary zones. Such zones may benefit fish stocks in heavily fished reef habitats with territorial species, but are largely ineffective for other habitats. Most NSW fish species migrate in and out of protected areas. Despite such zones having now been in place for several years there is no hard evidence that they have improved commercial/recreational fish stocks.All responsible fishers want to preserve habitat and biodiversity. They are well aware that sustainable fish stocks need a healthy environment. Here on the south coast, fishers supported the removal of bottom trawling from the Batemans Marine Park as there is good evidence of habitat damage from such a fishing method. However, they rightly query why low-impact hook and line fishing has also been singled out as a major threat to biodiversity. Could it be that most of the real threats to marine biodiversity such as catchment development, urbanisation and associated pollutants are land-based and beyond the control of the NSW Marine Park Authority?Richard Tilzey Central Tilba
© 2011 Sydney Morning Herald