Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 1273 standing in my name for today relating to turtle bycatch before asking for it to be taken as a formal motion.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 6 out of the world's 7 turtle species are found in Australian waters,

(ii) fisher logbook reports from 2013 indicated that 16 turtles, one whale and no seabirds were caught as bycatch,

(iii) in 2017, 199 turtles, 34 marine mammals and 47 seabirds were reported caught in Australia's Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery,

(iv) these most recent figures demonstrate a 12-fold increase in turtle bycatch and an alarming overall increase in the amount Australia's marine life being caught as bycatch, and

(v) turtle bycatch is particularly concerning in the Coral Sea Marine Park, which is not protected from tuna-longlining, despite being listed for protection in the 2013 marine park management plans; and

(b) calls on the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources to urgently undertake public consultation with the industry, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and the Department of Environment to reinstate turtle bycatch trigger limits in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery.