The Australian Government will move to ban super trawlers fishing in Australian waters, the government has said in a statement.
Today Senator Richard Colbeck, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, confirmed the government's position on so-called "factory freezer" vessels more than 130 metres.
A statement from Senator Colbeck said: "Supertrawlers were defined by Labor and ENGOs as factory freezer vessels more than 130 metres – the Coalition will adopt that definition and such vessels will not be permitted to fish in Australian waters."
"This Government will introduce regulations under the Fisheries Management Act to give effect to this decision," Senator Colbeck said.
"This decision will have policy effect immediately and brings into force the Prime Minister’s statement in March that super trawlers will remain banned," he said, referring to Abbott's comments which came after Seafish Tasmania tried to have the ban lifted.
The Government acknowledges widespread community concern regarding the utilisation of these vessels to access the fishery, Senator Colbeck said.
"While some of these fears have been generated by ill-founded anti-fishing campaigns by activist groups, the Government has consulted widely and accepts the legitimate concerns of many in the community, including those involved in recreational and commercial fishing," Senator Colbeck said in the statement.
Proposed ban welcomed
The head of Tasmania's peak fishing body TARFish, Mark Nikolai, said the proposed ban on super trawlers was good news, but said it still leaves the door open to smaller "large" vessels.
"There’s only a couple of vessels in the world that [are longer than 130 metres]," Mr Nikolai said.
"The door is still open for someone to bring in a 120 metre vessel."
TARFish’s concerns have always been about the lack of science and understanding in the Small Pelagic Fishery, not the quota of fishing vessels, he said.
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