This is a transcript from PM. The program is broadcast around Australia at 5:10pm on Radio National and 6:10pm on ABC Local Radio.
BRENDAN TREMBATH: For many people, throwing a line in the water in the hope of catching a fish is one of life’s simple pleasures. But over the years, increasing regulation has taken a toll on both recreational and commercial anglers.
Now they’re up in arms in New South Wales over a proposal to triple the area where fishing is either restricted or banned altogether.
The idea has come from the National Parks Association which says overfishing and the threat of global warming requires drastic action be taken as soon as possible.
Simon Santow has our report.
SIMON SANTOW: Ask fishing groups about what’s important to them and they’ll tell you sustainability. Conservationists say much the same thing.
But there’s no agreement on how to go about safeguarding fish stocks and how to go about protecting the marine environment.
Paul Winn is with the National Parks Association in New South Wales. He’s written a report which shows the waters off that State are at greatest risk from the effects of imminent global warming.
PAUL WINN: Our fisheries are in real trouble. We have been overfishing it for far too long but also it is a consequence of the current regime. The east Australian current brings warm water down from the tropics and it meets with southern waters that come up from the Tasman Sea so south-east marine biodiversity is pretty well endemic to south-east Australia.
Between 65 and 95 per cent of the species in the south-east of Australia are endemic, living nowhere else in the world, and those warmer tropical species are going to basically invade those colder water species as temperatures increase.
SIMON SANTOW: Bob Smith is a fishing enthusiast and President of the Fishing Clubs Association.
BOB SMITH: There is nothing wrong with the fishing in New South Wales or even on the New South Wales’ coast. Fisheries will tell you that. It is very sustainable. There might be a couple of species that have been overfished by commercial fishing but as far as the recreational fishing industry goes, there is no species on the east coast of New South Wales that is under threat of extinction or past the level of sustainability.
You only just have to look at all the reports that come in each week from fishing shows, fishing magazines that continue and catch, you know, even by commercial fishes has been at a sustainable level now that the commercial industry has been reduced dramatically.
SIMON SANTOW: Paul Winn’s report says global warming could lead to the overall commercial catch dropping by a third.
And he warns storm surges and wave activity is going to play havoc with seabeds and other marine species already damaged by overfishing in New South Wales.
PAUL WINN: What National Parks Association is saying is that these are the impacts. There is an emerging consensus around the world that marine or all eco-systems that are degraded are likely to be significantly more affected by climate change than those that are intact.
We are have a significantly degraded marine environment in New South Wales and unless we start building resistance into that, resilience into that eco-system we are going to see far greater impact on our biodiversity than we are elsewhere.
SIMON SANTOW: His solution is to triple the area protected by marine sanctuaries to cover at least 20 per cent of the State’s waters.
With that would come severe restrictions on fishing, and for the first time the bans would take in heavily populated Sydney.
PAUL WINN: We would like to see a marine park off the city of Sydney which includes the major estuaries from the Hawkesbury down to Botany Bay, including the Royal National Park.
We, obviously within that marine park there would be a lot of scope for fishing, both commercial and recreation. What we could do then is define an area we could look more closely at, identify the areas that need to be protected and make them sanctuary zones where fishing is excluded.
SIMON SANTOW: But of the areas that are currently available for both commercial and recreational fishing, what percentage would fishing be banned in?
PAUL WINN: Well, we are advocating that 33 per cent of all our marine parks be no-take marine sanctuaries.
SIMON SANTOW: Recreational fishers say the proposal is over the top.
BOB SMITH: Could you just imagine the economic damage that it would do the tourism, to the fishing industry, you know, to the tackle industry, to the holiday units, to all facets of whatever revolves around access to the resource and to the water?
And the best example I can give you is in Queensland where they locked up 30 per cent of the Barrier Reef, the initial response was that they were going to allow about $2.5 million to $4 million for compensation to offset, you know, for locking up the areas.
That bill now is in the vicinity of $222 million. Somebody made a huge mistake when they thought that locking up a few areas was just going to stop a few fishermen from going fishing.
SIMON SANTOW: And Bob Smith has this warning.
BOB SMITH: We’ve put up with all these little changes over the years you know. I mean, the New South Wales Government has been good at this. They just do a little bit at a time. I could nearly guarantee you that if fishing was stopped off Sydney there would be a huge massive protest and this would probably be the straw that broke the camel’s back and unite all the fishing community together, whether they are commercial, recreational or just fish eaters. I believe that they would all be united.
BRENDAN TREMBATH: Bob Smith, President of the Fishing Clubs Association of New South Wales ending Simon Santow’s report.
Source: ABC
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