Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Thorp for her first supplementary question. Labor governments have always been strong defenders and managers of Australian fisheries; you need only look at the record to know that is true. Our world-class fisheries management system was established by the Hawke government in 1991, not by the coalition, and it is a proud Labor legacy. Under the Howard government the number of fisheries assessed as overfished and/or subject to overfishing increased significantly from seven per cent of species assessed in 1997 to 29 per cent of species by 2005. Under Labor the proportion of stocks whose status is uncertain has nearly halved again since 2007. The Gillard government continues to be committed to ensuring strong and sustainable fisheries. Where there is room to make improvements we have made them. We are pursuing the rollout of e-monitoring to complement and support on-board observers. E-monitoring is a proven way of increasing the coverage of vessel activities— (Time expired)