Message from Nobby Clark

As you'll see from the letter in this link, the South Australian Government has today written to the Federal Government requesting it to prevent the Margiris from fishing Australia's Small Pelagic Fishery.

I suggest that all anti-Margiris individuals and organisations, big and small, immediately write to the Commonwealth Fisheries Minister, Joe Ludwig, requesting him to honour the South Australian Government's request. (I can assure you that Ludwig is the right Minister to write to and you should also copy all letters to Environment MinisterTony Burke and to the Prime Minister.)

The SA Govt letter may be just the thing to make Ludwig have second thoughts and to realise that there are large cracks in AFMA's "campaign" in support of the Margiris.

I suggest that letters should ask Minister Ludwig (i) to refuse Commonwealth approval for the Margiris to fish in Australian waters or (ii) at the very least, delay consideration of approval until adequate DEPM survey research, as Seafish Tasmania has offered to pay for, is undertaken,off the East Coast of NSW and Tasmania, as already planned and organised for October and November this year.

The Minister should also be informed that absolutely no research has been done to determine estimates of stocks of Jack mackerel and Redbait in the west of the Small Pelagic Fishery, ie. off Western Australia and South Australia and in the Great Australian Bight, and the Margiris should not be allowed to fish until research (DEPM surveys) shows whether or not large-scale fishing will be ecologically sustainable. Currently, the Margiris plans to fish the western zone as soon as approval is granted and then fishtowards the east, arriving off NSW and Tasmania in time for the spawning aggregations of Jack mackerel and Redbait in October and November.

There are also major local depletion and bycatch threats, including bycatch threats to Western Australian and South Australian quota species in the Australian 200-mile zone., represented by the proposed operation of the Margiris.
 
You should add the SA Fisheries Minister, the Hon Gail Gago MLC, to those mentioned below to receive copies of your letters.

Her email address is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Nobby Clark