Australian Environmentalists Outraged
At the end of August, 2012, the Dutch owned super trawler, FV Margaris, will sail into Australian waters to rape the sea of pelagic fish. Demonstrations against it have been held in Davenport, where the ship will be homed.
The Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke, is quoted in the Launceston Examiner as stating in a speech in Hobart on Saturday, August 11th, as saying €"With this particular vessel there can be an added complication with the issue of large takes in a very localised area"
Video from within the ship show horrifying scenes of massive catches of a single species of fish. The nets dragged behind the boat are immense and so one may presume that not many of a single migrating school is missed. The fish pour in like a river and travel conveyor belts to processing stations. They are sorted into size, weighed, frozen, packaged and stacked ready for export with hardly a human hand involved.
Messages are pouring out from other countries where this ship, and others like it, has operated. Around the horn of Africa fishermen have turned to piracy because there are no fish now to harvest. Along the West Coast of Africa fish stocks have declined to such an extent that a large percentage of a haul is now sold back to the people who cannot now fish for themselves.
The Chile coast was once a source of anchovies and provided income for many fishermen of that country. Now there are none of that species to be had here and the fishermen are unemployed. Recently underwater video of the coast around Easter Island showed the devastation such a vessel has caused there. Not a fish, rock fish, shell fish, or any other form of life exists in the areas around the shoreline where there was once an abundance of resources. Even the coral has died and there are no birds or other life such as whales or dolphins.
This is sad news for the world as the population reaches an unsustainable level. The same problems are facing many communities who depend on the ocean for food and their livelihood.
Pelagic fish are those who live near the surface and they are prey for birds, whales, penguins, tuna, seals, sharks, dolphins and so on. They are the fish that fill the markets and include salmon, trout, sardines, jack mackerel and a number of other species that make up our favourite dinner dishes.
The Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke, is quoted in the Launceston Examiner as stating in a speech in Hobart on Saturday, August 11th, as saying €"With this particular vessel there can be an added complication with the issue of large takes in a very localised area"
Video from within the ship show horrifying scenes of massive catches of a single species of fish. The nets dragged behind the boat are immense and so one may presume that not many of a single migrating school is missed. The fish pour in like a river and travel conveyor belts to processing stations. They are sorted into size, weighed, frozen, packaged and stacked ready for export with hardly a human hand involved.
Messages are pouring out from other countries where this ship, and others like it, has operated. Around the horn of Africa fishermen have turned to piracy because there are no fish now to harvest. Along the West Coast of Africa fish stocks have declined to such an extent that a large percentage of a haul is now sold back to the people who cannot now fish for themselves.
The Chile coast was once a source of anchovies and provided income for many fishermen of that country. Now there are none of that species to be had here and the fishermen are unemployed. Recently underwater video of the coast around Easter Island showed the devastation such a vessel has caused there. Not a fish, rock fish, shell fish, or any other form of life exists in the areas around the shoreline where there was once an abundance of resources. Even the coral has died and there are no birds or other life such as whales or dolphins.
This is sad news for the world as the population reaches an unsustainable level. The same problems are facing many communities who depend on the ocean for food and their livelihood.
Pelagic fish are those who live near the surface and they are prey for birds, whales, penguins, tuna, seals, sharks, dolphins and so on. They are the fish that fill the markets and include salmon, trout, sardines, jack mackerel and a number of other species that make up our favourite dinner dishes.
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