TBF has been closely watching developments in Australia and keeping its followers updated on what is posed to an issue of international precedence. This past November, Australia approved its national network of marine reserves and in less than two weeks will weigh in on comments received from the public about the management plans for its reserves. These reserves are posed to shut out anglers from vast sections of ocean and some of the best billfishing waters in the world despite their being no sound science to support doing to.
The “crown jewel” of the national network of reserves is the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Under the proposed management plans charter and recreational fishing will be banned from more than half a million square kilometers (an area roughly the size of Spain). In the Coral Sea, anglers release 97% of all billfish as well as 40% of all tuna species. For important fishing towns like Cairns, the impact from these closures is already being felt and is expected to worsen. Charter operators are already experiencing a downturn in the number of clients and cancellations in trips due to the controversy surrounding the Coral Sea reserve. Independent economic reports have even predicted a “real danger” of half of the Cairns charter fleet having to shut down. This could spell a loss of more than 25 charter boat operations and a loss of $15 million (AUD) a year for the Cairns region!

Australia has a strong history or sound fisheries management, but the proposed system of reserves is not an example. Establishing these reserves does little to address the real threats the environment faces like pollution, climate change, and invasive species. Powerful environmental groups have misconstrued facts and continue to mislead the public as well as overwhelm the public consultation process. TBF urges everyone to get involved and demonstrate to the world that conservation oriented anglers need to be recognized and not shut out. The deadline to submit your comments on the draft management plan is February 14th and TBF encourages everyone to get involved and utilize the new Advocacy Center to submit your comments and tell Australia that anglers should not be locked out! For more information contact TBF’s Advocacy Center at [email protected]