Tuesday 29 March 2016
VALE: The Great Barrier Reef
Friday 27 June 2014
While right-wing Coalition governments around Australia dismantle environmental protections the U.S. Obama Administration promises to create world's largest marine sanctuary
Friday 7 February 2014
Does no-one in the entire Abbott Cabinet have a grasp on reality?
Friday 7 June 2013
Abbott and Murdoch exposed
Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd The Australian 1 June 2013:
Hansard 4 June 2013:
The Liberal-Nationals Coalition lost their six motions to disallow the Commonwealth Maritime Reserve Network Management Plans by one vote each time and Northern Rivers readers will recognise the Nationals MP whose name was on these motions as the same John Cobb who (as Assistant Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in 2007) supported in the unsuccessful Howard-Turnbull push to dam and divert east coast rivers - in particular, the Clarence River.
These disalllowance motions may have been unsuccessful, however they offer a window on the attitude an Abbott-led government would have to marine reserves and attempts to ensure sustainable fish stocks in Australian waters.
Sunday 26 February 2012
Meet The Great Barrier Reef - virtual tour
The Catlin Seaview Survey aims to carry out the first comprehensive study to document the composition and health of coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea across an unprecedented depth range (0-100m). There are three components to the Catlin Seaview Survey:
Project home page here.
This virtual tour may become a poignant reminder of the past due to the ongoing industrial ravages imposed on this natural wonder:
Thursday 12 January 2012
Is the Japanese whaling fleet refusing to obey a lawful direction to leave Australian territorial waters?
Since at least 11 January 2012 the Government of Japan-sponsored whaling fleet operating in the Southern Ocean has failed to obey a lawful direction of the Federal Government to quit Australian territorial waters surrounding World Heritage listed Macquarie Island - which also form part of the Australian Whale Sanctuary and the wider International Whaling Commission-endorsed Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
One has to wonder why the Japanese Government imagines it has a right to ignore Australia's sovereignty in this manner.
Should it continue this intransigence then the Federal Government would be well within its rights to withdraw the credentials of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan, His Excellency Mr Shigekazu Sato.
A reminder of the 2008 Federal Court of Australia ruling against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Saturday 24 December 2011
Is the Japanese whaling fleet overfishing the Antarctic?
On July 25, 2007 a The Sydney Morning Herald article stated :
During that time Japanese research documents show that the fleet has consistently taken both lactating and pregnant minke females.
The Government of Japan’s whaling fleet is heading towards its Southern Ocean killing grounds as I write.
Friday 16 December 2011
One of the reasons why Japan thumbs its nose at Australia and continues to slaughter whales in the Southern Ocean?
Sunday 30 October 2011
The Big Blue Army at work
Saturday 21 May 2011
Australians have just 74 days left to protect 'their' whales
Humpback Whale from Australian National Geographic
From the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS):
Australia's Environment Minister Tony Burke has released draft plans for this network, but they do not meet the benchmark set by the science evidence, and make far too many concessions to the oil and gas industry. Important whale and dolphin habitats have been left out of the proposal.
The proposal is now open for public comment.
We have just 75 days to change his mind. This is our once in a generation opportunity to make sure that proper sanctuaries are created for the blue, southern right, and humpback whales who make these waters their home.
Please send an email to Australia's Environment Minister Tony Burke urging him to make the right decision. We have prepared the email for you - it will only take a few moments of your time but could secure the future of whole generations of whales .
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Text of the prepared email:
To:
The Hon. Tony Burke, Minister For Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population And Communities
I am writing to you about the proposed network of marine sanctuaries in Australian waters.
Recently released draft plans for this network do not meet the benchmark set by the science evidence. Important whale and dolphin habitats have been left out of the proposal, and once again the welfare of these animals, and others, has been sacrificed for the sake of the oil and gas industry.
8 out of 10 hotspots for marine life are still at risk. You have proposed new marine parks in the South West, but many are not in the right places.
Australia's South West has a greater level of unique marine life than even the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, but currently less than one per cent of it is protected.
I feel that this is a once in a generation opportunity to make sure that proper sanctuaries are created for the blue, southern right, and humpback whales who make these waters their home, and I urge you to make the right decision.
Saturday 7 May 2011
The barbarians are not longer at the gate - they are inside the castle walls
"The NSW Government is committed to protecting the grey nurse shark population at Fish Rock and Green Island," she said.
"However, as promised prior to the election, we want to ensure the community have a proper chance to be consulted before any final decision is made.
"The NSW Government has also committed to a scientific review of the effectiveness of management arrangements in meeting domestic and international commitments to the conservation of marine biodiversity, and to ensuring the conservation needs of grey nurse shark are met well into the future.
"The outcomes from community consultation and scientific review will be used to guide the development of new management arrangements for Fish Rock and Green Island.
"Fishing and diving at Fish Rock and Green Island provide many social and economic benefits to the local community and it is important that the community have the chance to provide input into the future of the area.
Minister Hodgkinson said the revocation of the fishing closures means that the critical habitat rules that existed prior to Friday, January 28 will be reinstated.
"Recreational anglers are reminded that fishing with bait or wire trace while anchored or moored, or attaching weights of more than 500 grams to fishing lines is prohibited within 200 metres of Fish Rock and Green Island," she said.
"Today's announcements only affect recreational fishing, the commercial fishing closures at Fish Rock and Green Island to protect grey nurse sharks will continue unchanged.
For further information visit www.dpinsw.gov.au/fisheries
* Image from ABC Coffs Coast
Sunday 9 January 2011
Japan continues to wail about its Antarctic whaling in 2011
The Government of Japan-sponsored Institute of Cetacean Research continues to ramp up its propaganda war against the Sea Shepherd organisation with a long list of video show and tell:
Friday 7 January 2011
Great Barrier Reef not immune from 2011 Queensland flooding
Look what's heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. A freshwater and heavy sediment plume which is likely to stress certain coral species.
NASA image of Queensland flooding on 4 January 2011
Click on image to enlarge
Saturday 1 January 2011
One of the reasons so many people choose to live on the NSW North Coast
Dolphin in flying leap
Photograph taken by Matt Deans
just south of Split Solitary Island off Coffs Harbour
in December 2010
Published in The Daily Telegraph
Click on photo to enlarge
Friday 26 November 2010
Threatened species, wildlife crimes and marine protection
The International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) came into effect on 23 November 2010 after the Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Secretary-General of ICPO-INTERPOL, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the President of the World Bank and the Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) have signed a Letter of Understanding which includes this:
HEREBY agree, within the context of their respective responsibilities, capabilities, and priorities to:
- highlight within their institutions the importance of the fight against wildlife crimes and other related violations and promote ICCWC among governments of States, through inter alia, relevant international fora;
- assist countries in reviewing their current responses to wildlife crimes and related violations, facilitate national multi-agency interaction and cooperation, and encourage effective responses throughout the justice system;
- develop a joint work program that will include joint activities in the fields of capacity building, operational support and coordination of transnational interdiction efforts;
- disseminate existing, and jointly develop new, capacity building materials and tools to enhance the knowledge and skills of national agencies in combating wildlife crime and related violations;
- undertake research into the causes, nature, scale and value of wildlife crime and related violations and propose innovative ways to prevent and discourage such crime and related violations, for example, through the provision of socio-economic incentives which encourage local communities to use natural resources in a lawful and sustainable manner and to participate in related monitoring and control efforts;
- assist in promoting best practice in the fields of natural resource conservation and management; and where appropriate, seek donor support to enable the provision of such services in the form of joint projects and programmes.
We further agree that our agencies, when collaborating together, will work under the title, the ‘International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime’.
Meanwhile this month, the Gillard Labor Government’s Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2010 finished wending its way through both Houses of the Australian Federal Parliament.
According to the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry this bill will:
Also in November the ever hypocritical Government of Japan began its 2010 Antarctic whaling season and once its government-funded 'research' fleet reaches the Southern Ocean it is expected to kill for commercial sale at least 1,000 whales, including an endangered cetacean species and possibly for the first time since the 2007 agreement, humpback whales.
Sunday 14 November 2010
Margi Prideaux asks "Will Australian Environment Minister Burke deliver on marine protected areas?"
Cross-posted from Wild Politics where it was first published on 11 November 2010:
Will Australian Environment Minister Burke deliver on marine protected areas?
The science of protection stacks up. The international community has spoken. Will Minister Burke deliver on marine protected areas?
A few weeks ago, the great and the good convened in Nagoya, Japan to deliberate the future of our planet. Perhaps a little melodramatic, but in many ways it’s the truth. This 10th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was every bit as important as the Climate Change meetings are. After all, the CBD itself is there to protect the genetic resources, ecosystems and species that we depend on for our quality of life and who share this planet with us. We need this protection to be sorted out, because we are devastating biodiversity at an alarming rate.
The compact that came from the meeting was long, and not surprisingly whittled into irrelevance by the incredible detail of negotiation that was applied to every word. The document is so precise, so exacting and limited in what it is prepared to say, it actually says very little. However, there are a few indicators of the direction the global community at least plans to go. One such directive is the new target for marine protected areas, that:
By 2020, at least … 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascapes. (CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the Period 2011-2020: Target 11)
This is particularly pertinent for Australia because we are in the midst of deciding the level of protection to be applied to a large section of our coastline and offshore areas. The south east declarations have been completed. Next is the southwest, from the eastern tip of Kangaroo Island to the waters off Shark Bay, then the northwest, the north and finally the east from the northern tip of Cape York to the New South Wales town of Bermagu.
We do this as a nation because pollution, over fishing, species entanglement in nets the destruction of important habitats, and the ecosystem devastation of oil spills are just some of the many threats to Australia’s remarkable marine life. If these threats continue unabated we risk joining the unprecedented global collapse of marine life where two-thirds of the world’s coral reefs are dead or dying and 90 per cent of the world’s large fish have been fished-out.
Today, scientists from the University of Queensland have released a comprehensive and deep study gathering the best available scientific data and applying world leading design principles to their recommendations. ‘Systematic Conservation Planning – A Network of Marine Sanctuaries for the South West Marine Region’ identifies that 50 per cent of the south west region will need to be protected in a network of marine sanctuaries if the marine life is to remain healthy. For clarity, sanctuaries are areas where extractive uses such as commercial fishing and oil and gas are not allowed. Currently, less than 1 per cent of the south west region is protected from these threats.
At the same time 44 of Australia’s leading marine and social scientists in support of marine protection have released a consensus statement – ‘Scientific Principles for Design of Marine Protected Areas in Australia’ – as a peer-level guidance on the selection, design, and implementation of marine protected areas. They concur that significant protection is needed/
Earlier this month another study by the University of Queensland provided a damning assessment of the success of Australia’s national parks, marine parks and nature reserves that are failing to adequately protect more than 80 per cent of Australia’s threatened species. Their study detailed how the fundamental aim of securing species most at risk was not being achieved. Yet another recent study by the University of the Sunshine Coast revealed ancient, giant coral reefs found on Australia undersea mountains are being wiped out by trawling on the sea floor confirming the importance of maintaining and extending Australia’s marine protected areas.
Since moving to the Environment portfolio, Minister Tony Burke has said very little publically about the roll out of marine protected areas around the country. Perhaps this isn’t surprising given that, in their previous term, Labor dithered on everything marine related except championing whale protection internationally. They inherited a well established, Coalition developed, marine planning process but failed to deliver anything on the water, eroding confidence and credibility. Combine this with the unfortunate and poorly informed Liberal and National ‘dog-fish whistles’ to fishers in tinnies during the election and recent history probably gives little confidence to the Minister in his new role.
None-the-less, the timelines still stand, and these decisions are important ones. Indications are that the Minister will make his first and crucial decision for the south west region soon. A huge variety of fish, sharks, whales and seals live in the south west submerged mountain ranges, deep sea canyons and both cool and tropical coral reefs. These waters provide refuge for the magnificent blue, humpback, and southern right whales, as well as bottlenose, spotted and striped dolphins. All these things matter, but perhaps what matters more is that the level of protection that Minister decides to apply will define the level of protection that will be applied to the rest of Australia’s waters for the next 10 to 20 years.
Tim Nicol from the Conservation Council of Western Australia has said today that “The federal government now has the scientific evidence it needs to confidently make important decisions about the future health of the oceans and marine life in Australia’s south west”. Add to this the international consensus and the decision would appear to be a clear cut case. His confidence should be high. If the Minister chooses the side of science he invests in the future. He will also take the first steps towards the largest conservation contribution in Australian history, delivering the biggest network of marine protected areas in the world. If he doesn’t, it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity lost.
Margi Prideaux