TARFish pans Peter George’s recreational fishing policy
“Peter George’s recreational fishing policy is a disaster for recreational fishing. It’s that simple,” said TARFish CEO, Jane Gallichan.
“TARFish is apolitical but we will call out politicians and their policies when they threaten the rights and interests of recreational fishers.
“What the policy means for recreational fishing is the effective closure of the sand flathead, rock lobster, abalone, calamari, and striped trumpeter fisheries for starters if “the threshold for management action” was set at 40% unfished biomass.
“That’s basically every fish we target - particularly in the southeast,” she said
The policy also seeks “real time reporting of catch including discards” for all recreationally important species, implying mandatory reporting for most recreationally caught species.
“It wouldn’t matter if you’re on a jetty dropping a line for calamari or heading out to the Friars to catch a stripey – every fish you catch would have to be reported.
It’s nonsense,” she said.
In addition, Peter George calling into question the independence and reliability of fisheries science is cheap and disingenuous and needs to be called out.
TARFish Board Member Dr Jeremy Lyle, said, “TARFish supports the application of robust science to underpin fisheries management that delivers abundant fisheries but attacks on, and misunderstanding of, fisheries science and scientists is unwarranted, unfair and undermines trust in the rigorous and reliable science delivered by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania), CSIRO and other organisations.”
In closing, Jane Gallichan said, “This policy is a direct threat to the Tasmanian way of life and to the thousands of jobs and the regional communities that recreational fishing supports.”
ENDS
Background
Over 130,000 Tasmanians goes fishing, that’s one in four Tasmanians.
Recreational fishing is part of the Tasmanian way of life and contributes $270 million to the state economy and 2,670 jobs
TARFish is the independent peak body representing recreational sea fishers in Tasmania
TARFish has around 5,000 members statewide