Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to express my dismay and deep concern over the decision by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, AFMA, to overturn the night ban on the mid-size trawler, the Geelong Star. For many months I have been calling for the Geelong Star to be banned. A night-time ban on the small pelagic fishery was put in place in May this year because of the fact that eight dolphins were killed during the first two trips of the Geelong Star. As dolphins feed predominantly at night it is almost certain that overturning this night ban will lead to more dolphin deaths. The trawler's owner, Seafish Tasmania, has not been able to provide evidence that its marine mammal exclusion device is fail-safe. ACMA has in place a trigger limit on dolphin mortalities—that is, the management measure that if a single dolphin mortality occurs in any one of the seven pelagic fishery management zones, then that zone will be closed for six months.

However, I do not believe this is good enough. Today I am seeking the urgent intervention of the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce. Two weeks ago on 4 September, I wrote to Minister Joyce about this matter and raised my very significant concerns. In my letter I pointed out that Seafish Tasmania has not responded to my representations, even in relation to the naming of the vessel. Frankly, to call this vessel the Geelong Star is a real slur on our city. This vessel is no star of Geelong.

In my electorate of Corangamite, which includes 188 kilometres of coastline, there is a very significant opposition to this trawler. The scientific evidence to support the fishing of the small pelagic fishery in the manner being proposed is simply not conclusive. Regrettably, Seafish Tasmania has declined a request by the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation not to fish in certain high-value recreational fishing waters. Accordingly, on both environmental and recreational fishing grounds, I believe a ban is justified.

I have been working closely with many members of my community, including Jason O'Neill from Barwon Heads, who was instrumental in organising a rally against the Geelong Star in June. For these reasons, and because I believe AFMA's decision is inexcusable, I am pleased to announced that Jason O'Neill and I will be organising a large community rally in Torquay on Sunday, 25 October. The rally has the backing of the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation and VRFish. In fact, VRFish has just tweeted:

The rally will bring together: concerned fishers, families, boaties and people concerned about the environment, oceans and our fisheries. We will have more details to come. I am a proud warrior of the environment that is why the Geelong Star must be banned.