Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for the Environment, in writing, on 25 November 2014:

(1) Is he aware of evidence to the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna that Japan's fishing fleet killed more than 3000 albatrosses and petrels in 2013.(2) Is it a fact that this is an increase of 300 per cent on 2012; if not, what is the correct figure.(3) What steps will he take to urge Japan to have its fishing fleet adopt preventive measures to reduce the incidence of albatross and petrel deaths.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) I am aware there has been media reporting stating that Japan's fleet fishing in the area in which southern bluefin tuna is encountered killed more than 3000 seabirds in 2013. This figure is inaccurate. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, who has responsibility for Australia's engagement in the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), and other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), has informed me that Japan's annual report to the 21st Annual Meeting of the CCSBT (Auckland, 13-16 October 2014) indicates there were 337 seabird mortalities in 2013, of which 316 were albatrosses and petrels.

(2) Japan's annual report to the 21st Annual Meeting of the CCSBT indicates that albatross and petrel mortalities increased by approximately 400 per cent between 2012 and 2013—from 78 to 316 mortalities.

(3) Australia continues to engage bilaterally, and where appropriate, through CCAMLR and relevant RFMOs to which Australia and Japan are parties, to encourage Japan to adopt measures to reduce the incidence of albatross and petrel deaths. Australia has a long-standing commitment to mitigating incidental harm to seabirds including albatrosses and petrels, caused by fishing activities. Australia is a leading proponent within the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in establishing and applying best practice guidelines for mitigating bycatch of seabirds in global fisheries. Australia has proposed or supported binding resolutions or measures on seabird bycatch mitigation in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and each of the RFMOs to which Australia is a party. At the 21st Annual Meeting of the CCSBT, Australia proposed a binding resolution to mitigate the impact on seabirds of fishing for southern bluefin tuna, noting that the CCSBT remains the only tuna RFMO without a comprehensive set of binding measures on these species. As a consensus-based organisation, the lack of support from Japan and Taiwan ensured the resolution was not adopted.