The Super Trawler

By Marian Wilkinson, Janine Cohen and Lorna Knowles

Updated October 23, 2012 16:15:00

Some believed the "super-trawler" would revolutionise the fishing industry in Australia. Now it sits silent and empty, banned from plying its trade in Australian waters. What went wrong with the grand plan to catch and sell millions of dollars worth of fish internationally and why do the ship's owners feel they've been so badly treated by the Federal Labor Government?

Next on Four Corners reporter Marian Wilkinson tells the full story of the negotiations that led an international syndicate to bring the massive trawler, The Margiris, to Australia. She examines the chain of events that forced the Government to change the law and ignore the finding of its key advisory body, so it could address the anger of recreational fishers and environmental groups.

According to the owners of The Margiris, they began negotiations with the Australian Fishing Management Authority (AFMA) at the beginning of 2012. When they met with AFMA they came away convinced they had the go ahead to bring their trawler to fish in Australian waters.

"Literally what they said, we will back you up no matter what happens, if you follow the rules. And we said we can accept that of course."

However Four Corners has discovered that the owners of The Margiris were also trying to buy up additional small fish quotas from Australian fishermen, so they could potentially increase their catch.

Despite this, the Minister for Fisheries Joe Ludwig did not seem concerned and continued to allow AFMA to make the running on the issue:

"We will ensure that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority is independent, that it makes independent decisions based on science through its expert commissioners and on the facts that are presented to them."

What the company didn't count on was a perfect storm of political protest that brought environmental groups and recreational fishers together in a campaign that threatened to destabilise the Government. What they still can't understand is why the rules were changed effectively banning their ship from working in this country.

Key questions remain unanswered. Why did the Minister for Fisheries allow The Margiris to refit in Europe and then sail to Australia, knowing its owners had been given every indication that it would be able to work here, and then change the rules?

Why did the Government reject the advice of its independent fisheries regulator, AFMA?

Why did AFMA fall silent and why is the management of fisheries, once described by the Minister as "world class", now being completely reviewed?

Independent MP from Tasmania Andrew Wilkie, who was a key player in the campaign to stop the trawler, has a damming assessment of the Government and its handling of this very important issue:

"I think they all, for a long while, completely and utterly misread this and they did not understand what a big issue this would be and what a controversial issue it would be."

"The Super Trawler" reported by Marian Wilkinson, presented by Kerry O'Brien goes to air on Monday 22nd October 2012 on ABC 1 at 8.30 pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 23rd October at 11.35 pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 at 8.00 pm Saturday, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

Transcript

THE SUPER TRAWLER - Monday 22 October 2012

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: It was a multimillion dollar fishing venture that hit the perfect political storm.

MELISSA PARKE, LABOR MEMBER FOR FREMANTLE: It's a short-term, destructive, unsustainable operation.

KERRY O'BRIEN: It caught the Government unprepared and business floundering.

(Boats in a recreational fishers' protest in Tasmania)

GERRY GEEN, DIRECTOR, SEAFISH AUSTRALIA: I was absolutely astonished that that could happen in Australia. It felt unreal to me, it felt that it was like third world decision making.

KERRY O'BRIEN: Democracy in action, or political incompetence?

Welcome to Four Corners.

The whole point about a super trawler is that it's very big in every way - big enough, you would think, to see it coming, including the political fallout.

But apparently not big enough for the Government's radar to pick it up from Canberra. One minute the relevant minister was saying Australia had the best-managed fisheries in the world. The next, he was ordering a complete overhaul of the Government's fishing regulator.

So what does it say about the way the Gillard minority government functions?

The joint venture partners in a costly Dutch super trawler believed they had the green light to fish in Australian waters. They made the commitment but as the tanker arrived, so did the political storm clouds and the Government completely changed the ground rules.

Was it strong or weak government that lead to such a dramatic new turn? Tonight Marian Wilkinson tells the story of the super trawler and its unexpected catch.

MARIAN WILKINSON, REPORTER: In the safe harbour of Port Lincoln in South Australia, the second biggest fishing trawler in the world sits uselessly tethered to the wharf.

It's shackled by the Australian Government, willing to sink its own fisheries regulator to stop the super trawler plying our waters.

No-one knows when she will cast off or where she will go.

(Different angles of the super trawler)

Its nets are idle, its crew disbursed and its owners bleeding money. But the most extraordinary part of this story is why on earth Australian officials gave the super trawler every encouragement to leave Holland and sail right into a political firestorm.

The defeat of the super trawler was not just a triumph for one of the biggest people power campaigns in recent memory.

As we explain tonight, it was also a humiliating blow for Australia's independent fisheries regulator, who defended the right of the super trawler to come here, and for the Federal Minister who publicly backed the regulator right up until cabinet stepped in with new laws to stop it.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Were you rolled on this in Cabinet?

JOE LUDWIG, FISHERIES MINISTER: Ah, people say that, I've heard that. Let me say, as I've said just then, I agree with Minister Burke. I agree with his environmental concerns and I supported the outcome.

TONY BURKE, ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: The test for the Government was when the legal framework clearly fell short of what we believed the right outcome was - were we or were we not prepared to change the law?

And we were.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Four Corners was invited on board the super trawler by Gerry Geen, the aggrieved Tasmanian businessman who brought her to Australia with his New Zealand and Dutch partners.

GERRY GEEN, DIRECTOR, SEAFISH AUSTRALIA: We turned to the Dutch because they are experts in this kind of fishing and they had a number of vessels, all of which would have been suitable for fishing in Australia.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Before she was flagged the Abel Tasman, the super trawler was known by her Dutch name the FV Margiris.

(Aerial shot of the trawler in open sea with nets visible behind)

At 142 metres, she runs the length of two Qantas A380 Airbuses. Her huge nets are more than twice that length.

But it's the super trawler's enormous industrial scale fish factory below deck that galvanises her critics.

Here the crew can process and store 4,500 tonnes of fish, allowing the boat to stay out fishing weeks longer than any Australian trawler.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Why did you want to get this boat here?

GERRY GEEN: This boat would allow us to catch this fish at least cost so that we could afford to sell them into international markets. This boat allows us to catch a high quality fish for human consumption.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Controversy follows super trawlers around the globe.

But that's exactly why Gerry Geen asked his Dutch partners to come to Canberra to meet with regulators at the headquarters of AFMA, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.

The Dutch arrived in February this year, long before the Margiris.

DIRK VAN DER PLAS, CO-OWNER, MARGIRIS: Me, together with my colleague, we decided 'Well let's hop on a flight, let's take a flight, let's fly to Australia and see what's there.'

MARIAN WILKINSON: Dirk van der Plas is one of the owners of the Margiris.

DIRK VAN DER PLAS: We had a meeting with the senior management of AFMA, which was a key actually for us in this in this visit to Australia.

We were seeking for con- for re-confirmation from their side that there would be not any problem if we would bring a vessel all the way from Holland to Australia, and actually that's what they confirmed.

Literally what they said, "We will back you up, no no matter what happens if you follow the rules".

And we said "Well, we can accept that of course".

MARIAN WILKINSON: How important were these assurances for your Dutch partners and how acutely aware of the politics of this situation were they?

GERRY GEEN: Absolutely pivotal. This was crucial information.

If they hadn't have received that assurance, the joint venture would not have gone ahead.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The Dutch and Geen were acutely aware the super trawler would be a political target for environmentalists in Australia because shortly after their meeting with Australian officials, the Margiris was half way around the world, in the poorly regulated fishing grounds off West Africa, under attack by Greenpeace.

(Footage of Greenpeace activists in a raft next to the Margiris and the word "PLUNDER!" in huge yellow letters)

In a high profile exploit, Greenpeace steered their inflatable raft up to Margiris and painted "PLUNDER" on her hull.

DAVID RITTER, CEO OF GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA PACIFIC: It's trying to get across in a single word that this is the rich developed world that is exporting its problem to the developing world.

A coalition of local fishing communities and local leaders joined with Greenpeace to start documenting what was going on and the Margiris was among the boats that were there off the west coast of Africa.

(African fishing boats next to the Greenpeace ship with a sign saying "WELCOME ARCTIC SUNRISE")

MARIAN WILKINSON: Local fisherman from Senegal to Mauritania were pressuring their governments to ban super trawlers off their coast, arguing they were having a catastrophic effect on their catches.

(Shots of a busy African fish market)

QUENTIN HANICH, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESOURCES AND SECURITY: You have a large population of artisanal fishers who depend every day on what they can catch in very small boats, bring to shore and then sell at a local market.

A super trawler can come in and catch far more, sell it far more cheaply at the local market as well. And then these artisanal fishers have got no industry, no employment, no livelihood.

So there's all those social impacts that have been causing concerns too.

MARIAN WILKINSON: So how big was the political problem for the super trawlers in West Africa?

QUENTIN HANICH: Very big.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Bringing a super trawler to Australia would also be a big political problem. And Gerry Geen knew it. But one surprising factor driving him was climate change.

As the waters warmed in his old fishing grounds off Tasmania's east coast, his catches got smaller.

GERRY GEEN: The fish that we were targeting, which prefer cooler waters, were disappearing. So they were going off the edge of the Continental Shelf to the deeper water where they were harder to catch.

(Under water shot of schools of fish)

MARIAN WILKINSON: Jack mackerel and redbait were his target species. He caught them by the tonne as fish food for his company Seafish Tasmania.

Many locals argued the stocks disappeared because they'd been overfished.

But evidence that warming waters had at least some impact on his fishing grounds was being observed at the CSIRO in Hobart.

DR ALISTAIR HOBDAY, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, CSIRO: The jack mackerel is still there but they may be further south or in deeper water off the Continental Shelf.

Because they're not visible at the surface, it's a lot harder for fishing vessels to find them. So the actual act of finding fish has got harder as well.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Gerry Geen's answer was a super trawler. It could roam further, fish longer and be far more profitable.

It took him seven years lobbying to persuade Australia's fisheries regulator, AFMA, a super trawler would not be a risk to the environment or the local fishery.

GERRY GEEN: We spent seven years developing those operating rules for the fishery and they were finally passed by Parliament in 2009.

MARIAN WILKINSON: For many Australians, a super trawler in our seas was always going to be a big risk. And from the outset, the most vocal opponents were Australia's powerful recreational fishing lobby.

(Graham Pike sets up his rod on a beach)

GRAHAM PIKE, RECFISH AUSTRALIA: There are five million recreational fishers in Australia - about a quarter of the population.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Graham Pike is co-founder of Recfish Australia. He's also their voice on a key AFMA committee that advises on small pelagic fish like jack mackerel and red bait.

GRAHAM PIKE: They're small fish and just about everything in the ocean hates them or eats them.

If you wipe out the small pelagic fish, you do damage to other fin fish species, threatened and endangered bird species, whales, dolphins, seals.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Pike feared the super trawler could decimate the pelagic fishery.

GRAHAM PIKE: I was extremely concerned with the proposal but the proponents of the super trawler at that stage met the CEO of AFMA and I renewed my determination to ensure that we had the science covered.

(Map of Australia with a dotted line in the sea indicating the pelagic fishery)

MARIAN WILKINSON: Under AFMA's rules, the small pelagic fishery stretches from Tasmania to Western Australia and east to Queensland. This year the total recommended sustainable catch is around 36,000 tonnes of fish.

Gerry Geen's group has about half the quota, 18,000 tonnes.

In February this year, AFMA headquarters in Canberra held an advisory committee meeting on the small pelagic fishery. Graham Pike was representing the recreational fishers. Gerry Geen was also present as a commercial fishers' voice.

As the meeting unfolded, Pike became alarmed.

GRAHAM PIKE: This group was going to double the quota for Jack Mackerel, which was the target species for the super trawler. And in my view, also, the science did not support the proposal, the doubling of the quota just to suit the super trawler.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The jack mackerel quota in the east was set at only 5,000 tonnes. The recommendation at the meeting was to raise it to more than 10,000 tonnes.

The research to support the doubling of the jack mackerel quota came from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.

PROFESSOR COLIN BUXTON, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR MARINE AND ANTARCTIC STUDIES: We stood by our estimate of how large the population was and how many fish could be taken out of the water.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The Institute's head would later be forced to defend the research after complaints it was based on data that were ten years old.

PROFESSOR COLIN BUXTON: Because the data was old, we halved the amount of fish that could be taken.

And I mean the really important thing that I think has been... I don't know, selectively overlooked by many people is that the proposal was to only catch 7.5 per cent of the fish; 92 and a half per cent of the fish were going to stay in the water to feed...

MARIAN WILKINSON: But that was the estimated fish?

PROFESSOR COLIN BUXTON: That's right. But it's still only 7.5 per cent is the allowable catch. That is an extraordinarily low level.

MARIAN WILKINSON: In April, AFMA's governing body approved the new catch numbers for jack mackerel based on the research. It drew outrage from environmentalists and Graham Pike.

GRAHAM PIKE: My feeling was that AFMA, the Fisheries Management Authority, was quite keen about a super trawler. It was going to revitalise the small pelagic fishery, it was going to inject funds into research - but only after the fishing had begun, and that in my view was very wrong - and there was going to be economic benefit to other commercial fishermen who were going to receive payments from the super trawler enterprise for quota.

(A small fishing boat pulls into dock in Eden)

MARIAN WILKINSON: In Eden, on the far south coast of New South Wales, news a super trawler was coming was the talk of the town by April.

Brokers had begun approaching commercial fishermen here to buy up their quotas of jack mackerel and red bait for Gerry Geen and his partners. And many fishermen were delighted to sell.

Monty Thomsen was one of them.

MONTY THOMSEN, FISHERMAN: I was willing to do that and the price was ten cents a kilo for the lease fee for the year so yeah, it was worth $8000 for the year.

I know of some fishermen in Eden who if had have been able to sell their quota would have been making upwards of over half a million dollars.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Gerry Geen was initially reluctant to admit the super trawler partners had been trying to buy up more quota.

GERRY GEEN: It's a commercial venture and certainly if it was viable and economic to buy other quotas or lease them, we'd certainly look at that.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But Four Corners was told by numerous commercial fishermen around the country they'd received big offers for their quotas.

The super trawler was planning to fish in Australian waters indefinitely.

DIRK VAN DER PLAS: The vessel left and we hoped it would never come- never come back to Holland. So we all had had the impression it would stay in Australia forever.

MARIAN WILKINSON: However, as late as June, the Minister responsible for Australia's fisheries had little idea of the super trawler's plans. At this point, as far as he was concerned, it was a matter for the independent fisheries regulator, AFMA.

JOE LUDWIG: I don't think anyone had ever raised with me that it was going to operate for an indefinite period because of course, my response even then and now, is that AFMA determines the outcome. They determine the total allowable catch, they determine, what quota you can use - they determine that on annual basis through a management plan.

So the individual fisheries and how they operate is not on vessels, it's by the operator and those who own the total allowable catch.

JAMES FINDLAY, EXECUTIVE MANAGER, AFMA (speaking in 2011): I think there has been quite rightly a very strong focus within Australian fisheries and around the world about making sure that what you're doing now is something you can keep doing.

MARIAN WILKINSON: James Findlay, the head of AFMA, was already publicly defending the super trawler's plans to come to Australia.

JAMES FINDLAY (ABC Radio, June 20, 2012): Less than 10 per cent of fish are going to be caught and that is going to have a very small impact, if any, on the broader eco-system.

MARIAN WILKINSON: AFMA's stance led environmentalists and recreational fishers to write letters of the complaint to Ludwig.

GRAHAM PIKE: We wrote of our concerns to the Minister. We became increasingly frustrated that neither AFMA nor the Minister would listen to our concerns, um...

MARIAN WILKINSON: And this was Minister Ludwig?

GRAHAM PIKE: Yes. He was supportive throughout of AFMA and I thought there's, there's a potential problem here and it wasn't until Minister Burke entered the fray on environmental grounds that I thought "Ah, we do have a balance here".

MARIAN WILKINSON: By June, a perfect storm was brewing over the super trawler.

That month, Environment Minister Tony Burke had announced Australia was creating the largest network of marine reserves in the world.

TONY BURKE (at the announcement on June 15, 2012): This is a massive step forward in ocean protection. It's a bigger step forward than the globe has ever previously seen.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But this move, expected to woo back Green voters to Labor, was almost immediately overshadowed by the super trawler.

DAVID RITTER, CEO, GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA PACIFIC: The thought that all of that hard work around marine parks that tapped into such a deep-seated part of the Australian national psyche could be put at risk through a very short term decision about the super trawler. I think once that had been thought through, it was always going to be problematic.

(Montage of environmental activists typing rapidly on computers, graphic shots of damaged wildlife by the super trawler shown on computer screens and social media comment scrolling up terminals)

MARIAN WILKINSON: Four days after the marine parks announcement, environmentalists around the country launched a fiery social media campaign against the super trawler, posting an online petition on the activist website GET UP.

Within weeks the protest surged, with world champion surfer Kelly Slater and other celebrities tweeting to stop the super trawler.

GERRY GEEN: I heard like everybody else did in the newspapers that Guy Sebastian, a singer in Australia, and Kelly Slater, an American surfer - both of whom have got very large followings on Twitter and I guess on Facebook - added their names to the to the Stop the Trawler campaign.

Our reaction was, how do we deal with this?

(Photo of several dolphins struggling to escape a super trawler net)

MARIAN WILKINSON: By far the most graphic image Greenpeace would use in the campaign was this photo taken from the deck of a Dutch super trawler.

It would brutally focus attention on the most sensitive political issue for the government: By-catch, the marine animals and incidental fish swept up in the super trawler's net as it pursues its target catch.

(Shot of dead, bleeding dolphin on top of a haul of small fish)

JAAPJAN ZEEBERG, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST: Dolphins is only ten percent of the total by-catch taken by these large boats and the other 90 per cent are usually more important ecologically speaking.

Dolphins are the cute species.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The photo and others like it were taken ten years ago by this Dutch scientist. He was hired by his government to investigate by-catch caught by the Dutch super trawlers, including the Margiris, operating off West Africa.

JAAPJAN ZEEBERG: Traditionally when the by-catch is caught in the sieve, it will die. I mean, it will die because of the water pressure or it will die from damages from being taken onboard or from shock.

(Underwater footage of dolphins following schools of fish)

MARIAN WILKINSON: Because dolphins, seals and other big fin fish chase the small pelagic fish for prey, they are always at risk of being tangled in the huge nets.

The aim of the Dutch scientists was to modify the net design of the super trawlers to reduce the by-catch deaths.

JAAPJAN ZEEBERG: That was the whole idea of our operation, that we would develop a net that would release the animals in the water.

Without net adaptations, these animals will all die, and with net adaptations a large number - 40 to 100 per cent - will survive.

GERRY GEEN (inspecting a huge trawler net): And these floats, they're new, aren't they?

ABEL TASMAN SKIPPER: Yeah, it is a small type of kite what we are using. We are sure the kite will open up the panel....that the opening- the exclusion hole is always open.

GERRY GEEN: Okay, so that means that there is a wide opening that the animals can get out of.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Gerry Geen knew the super trawler would be vulnerable here to a campaign targeting by-catch, particularly dolphins and seals getting caught in its net.

He spent years working with scientists and AFMA to modify the net to deflect the attacks.

This escape hatch, or seal excluder device, as it's called, was designed after lengthy experiments on one of his smaller vessels.

(Gerry Geen and Skipper climb into the net)

GERRY GEEN: We did a year of underwater camera research. The camera was actually inside the net every time it was set, so that we could actually see how the animals were actually behaving in the net and that helped us to design a device that would guide them safely out of an escape hatch and offer a high degree of protection.

(Black and white underwater footage of seals desperately trying to escape a trawler net)

MARIAN WILKINSON: The extraordinary underwater footage taken during that experiment was suppressed by AFMA and the Department of Environment but Four Corners has obtained part of it.

Some of the footage is extremely distressing. The scientists found few seals could survive more than nine minutes caught in the net because they couldn't surface to breathe.

This seal was recorded minute by minute becoming increasingly disoriented in its bid to escape. It most likely suffering serious injuries as it struggled to finally make it out.

While many seals escaped the net, an estimated 55 died in the net and another twenty probably died of their injuries.

GERRY GEEN: The scientist found that a better organisation of that device would be to have it upwards sloping so that the animals could see an escape hatch on the top of the net.

So, being air breathing animals, this obviously makes sense, so we re-oriented the grid so that it's now gently leading the animals upwards to the escape hatch and that's what we were planning to use.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The lessons learnt from the experiment did improve the seal escape hatch planned for the super trawler. And AFMA was satisfied with the efforts.

But no escape hatch is fool proof and the images of seals dying in the trawler net would later be a red flag for the environment minister.

(More of the underwater footage of the dying seals)

TONY BURKE: What I've seen shows some instances of exclusion devices working well, of a seal coming in and a seal going back out.

Some instances of seals getting caught, and some of the most concerning of seals struggling for very long times - eventually making it out, but you've really got to wonder about the state of health by the time they leave.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But in late June, no-one in the Australian Government raised a red flag.

That was left to Greenpeace in Holland.

The Margiris was there being refitted it for its long journey in Australia when Dutch activists chained themselves to her anchor rope to prevent her leaving.

GREENPEACE ACTIVIST: Greenpeace is now blocking the Margiris, a giant super trawler who is heading to Australian waters.

MARIAN WILKINSON: And despite the highly publicised protest, no-one in AFMA or the Government tried to stop the Margiris leaving Holland as planned on July 3.

GERRY GEEN: There were there were concerns but we were very heartened by the fact that the regulator, the Fisheries Management Authority, and Minister Ludwig were standing firm and just saying, that the rules are set, provided this vessel plays by the rules there is no problem.

JULIA GILLARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER (parliamentary Question Time, June 25): No application has been made in respect of that vessel to the relevant independent authority, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.

MARIAN WILKINSON: The Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her ministers were by now dodging questions from Independent Andrew Wilkie and the Greens by saying the Margiris had not yet applied to fish in Australia.

But Geen was reassured when Gillard told parliament on June 25 that AFMA would be handling the application.

JULIA GILLARD (parliamentary Question Time, June 25): What determines the size of any taking of fish is not the size of the vessel - and he has referred to a large vessel - it's not the size of the vessel, it's the constraints that are put on it by the relevant independent authority, who would work through the issues should an application be made.

MARIAN WILKINSON: You would have been aware that the head of the independent regulator in June was out on radio saying there was not a problem with this boat.

JOE LUDWIG: And that's exactly the same things I was saying in terms of, not the individual boat...

MARIAN WILKINSON: So can you understand why they then decided they would leave Holland on the 4th of July after they had heard you, the Prime Minister and the- James Finlay, the head of AFMA saying they didn't see a problem here?

JOE LUDWIG: They would have also heard from the NGOs, they would have also heard from the rec fishers, they would have also heard . . .

MARIAN WILKINSON: But you're the Government.

JOE LUDWIG: Well, well, let me finish. They would have also heard from the Environmental Minister that he had concerns.

GERRY GEEN: No we heard absolutely nothing to that effect, and you know it would've been very helpful if we had had something from either of those Ministers to even suggest that there could be a problem coming politically.

At that point we could have we could have called it off.

DIRK VAN DER PLAS: They didn't say anything. They just let the vessel come, they let it to appear on the horizon and then everybody start changing their minds.

ANDREW WILKIE, INDEPENDENT MP: Frankly I think both the Labor politicians and down here the Liberal politicians, and on the mainland the Government and the Opposition, I think they all, for quite a long while, completely and utterly misread this and misunderstood it. And they did not understand what a big issue this would be and what a controversial issue it would be.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Minister Ludwig certainly misread the politics. But he was following to the letter advice from his department.

On August 3 officials drew up a confidential briefing note warning him:

VOICEOVER: "In our view none of the arrangements available to you or AFMA provide the capacity to prevent the FV Margiris from fishing. Any attempt to prevent the FV Margiris from operating would result in significant risk to the Commonwealth, to Australia's fisheries management credibility and to the proper operation of commercial fishing businesses."

(Fishing boats and recreational boats sailing in a mass protest)

MARIAN WILKINSON: That advice was overrun by political reality a week later in Tasmania.

On August 11, the powerful recreational fishing lobby, believing the Margiris was heading into their waters, turned out to protest en masse.

RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN PROTESTOR 1: (passing on boat): No super trawler!

RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN PROTESTOR 2: This is sending a loud and clear message to Canberra and to Joe Ludwig that we do not want any super trawlers working in Australia.

ANDREW WILKIE: There are over 100,000 recreational fishers in a state of only half a million people. It was entirely logical that this would be the place where the concerns I think would really ignite and become red hot very quickly.

Anyone, any political operators who up until then didn't get it, they certainly got it by that stage.

RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN PROTESTOR 3: We've seen our fisheries decimated by the harvesting of redbait in our area...

MARIAN WILKINSON: The recreational fishers' main worry was that the super trawler's big take of the small pelagic fish would disrupt the whole marine food chain in local waters - a problem called localised depletion.

That evening in Hobart Environment Minister Tony Burke publicly stepped in, assuring them that AFMA would address their concerns.

TONY BURKE, ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: I think it's important that that aspect of the science be brought into play and that's something that I'm sure AFMA will be taking account of.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But AFMA rejected the protestors' arguments as unfounded.

TONY BURKE: Very shortly after that there were comments from AFMA that they weren't concerned about the localised depletion. So you don't have to go too many hours after that, and that was when I started asking questions.

MARIAN WILKINSON: AFMA officials kept defending their stance and a string of academic scientists came out publicly support them.

PROFESSOR COLIN BUXTON: We've dealt with localised depletion. We actually think that the opposite is true.

We don't think that it is a practical reality that a super trawler would sit in one place and suck up an entire school of fish. That's the sort of emotive language that has been used and that I think is really quite unfortunate.

It's not the nature of the operation. I don't think that a super trawler or a factory trawler poses any great threat at all.

MELISSA PARKE, LABOR MEMBER FOR FREMANTLE: This is a boat that has been roaming the world, depleting one area after another, wearing out its welcome, changing its name as it goes - I understand it's on its sixth name change with the "Abel Tasman".

It's a short-term, destructive, unsustainable operation.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Government backbenchers were in open revolt over the super trawler when Labor's caucus met in Canberra just ten days after the big protests. They wanted the Margiris stopped.

MELISSA PARKE: I think it became very clear to all of us that something needed to happen.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Did you believe that the Government could stop the Margiris, because it was on its way to Australia at that point?

MELISSA PARKE: The Ministers made it quite clear - both the Fisheries Minister and the Environment Minister - that their powers were limited in this respect, and that's when I decided that a private member's bill would be necessary.

Because if the Ministers' powers were limited, the Parliament's powers were not limited.

MARIAN WILKINSON: By now Cabinet was split as well.

In an extraordinary development, the Environment Minister actively encouraged backbenchers to speak out publicly on the super trawler.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Was it clear at that stage that the majority opinion was moving strongly against the super trawler?

TONY BURKE: Oh that was clear, no doubt about that.

I also, though, was making clear that I didn't mind which direction people wanted to speak publically in. I didn't want people to feel that they were in some way held back because I was still working through the issues as Environment Minister.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But just days after the caucus revolt, Ludwig was again defending AFMA in the Senate against moves by the Greens to thwart the super trawler.

JOE LUDWIG (in the Senate, 23 August): ...not going to allow the emotive politics of the Greens political party to run fisheries management policy in this country.

We will ensure that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority is independent, it makes independent decisions based on the science through its expert commissioners and on the facts that are presented to them...

ANDREW WILKIE: I think Joe Ludwig completely and utterly misunderstood and misread this issue right up until the very end of it. And I think when Melissa Parke raised in the caucus that she was intending to move a Private Members' Bill - and there would have been a lot of people supportive of Melissa - you know, poor old Joe Ludwig, he was out there swinging in the breeze .

MARIAN WILKINSON: Was he wrong?

JOE LUDWIG: Ah...Mr Wilkie's entitled to his, ah, his colourful language, can I say. It's- it's... I'm not going to buy into his colourful language.

What I've always explained is that under my legislation, under the AFMA legislation, the independent regulator acted, always act in accordance with the legislative underpinnings that they have.

Minister Burke chose to act under the environment legislation. That was clear, clear to everybody that Minister Burke was saying "I have some environmental concerns".

(The Margiris entering Port Lincoln with a raft of Greenpeace activists alongside)

MARIAN WILKINSON: On August 30 the Margiris ploughed her way into Port Lincoln where she was met by Greenpeace activists.

Her opponents outside and inside the Government were now heavily relying on Burke to stop the super trawler. But he soon discovered there was nothing in the existing environment laws to prevent her going fishing.

TONY BURKE: I think the rules failed. I think the rules failed badly.

I don't think we had the structures in place to be able to deal with a massive change such as is contemplated when you go from ordinary trawling operations to the second biggest on the planet.

MARIAN WILKINSON: With the social media campaign now in overdrive, the super trawler was suddenly becoming a threat to the Government's political stability.

ANDREW WILKIE: At some point in there the Labor Party leadership would have understood people are gonna start crossing the floor on this. It was an absolutely toxic issue, and particularly in Tasmania with Tasmanian Labor members.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Three days after the Margiris arrived in Australia, Burke announced on the Q and A program he would impose tough environmental conditions on the super trawler if she was going to fish in Australian waters - but not that he was stopping her.

TONY BURKE (on the ABC's Q and A): What I do have is the legal power to impose a number of restrictions on it based on the impact that it can have not on the fish that it's targeting, but on the by-catch - the seals, the dolphins, the other fish that are protected and listed and that I have responsibility for.

GERRY GEEN: We were very relieved. When he came out with a new set of conditions which were strict environmental conditions around by-catch, but conditions that we could live with - and in fact many of them were things that we were implementing on a voluntary basis anyway.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Now did you have any idea at that stage that he'd also asked his department to draw up legislation that would stop this boat?

GERRY GEEN: No.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Burke had secretly asked his department to prepare a new law to stop the super trawler, at least for the short term.

TONY BURKE: I felt when I made that announcement on Q&A that my hands had been tied in a way that I wasn't happy with. With advice from my department saying 'the science on some of these issues we don't know the answer to, but you've gotta put the conditions in without running the checks'.

And there's no doubt I felt a high degree of frustration in that. I didn't know whether Cabinet and the Caucus would end up supporting me in a legislative pathway, so I wasn't able to announce it at that point. But I had the department working on it straight away.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Do you think at that point that you should've warned Gerry Geen what you were doing?

TONY BURKE: Uh... I don't- I don't believe you can ever be in a situation where you break the confidentiality of Cabinet.

(at a press conference on September 11): It's been agreed that I will introduce new legislation to the Parliament to amend National Environment Law which will give me the powers that I had hoped to have to be able to apply a much more precautionary approach to the super trawler.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Overnight the story leaked. Cabinet had backed Burke on a new law to block the super trawler for up to two years while more scientific advice could be sought on its impact.

Ludwig lined up to support it.

DIRK VAN DER PLAS: Absolutely shocked. I was absolutely shocked to have heard this message. I still remember, it was- I was at home and I had a- I had a bad night, because we have the time difference with Australia and every time I woke up during the night I was always checking my emails, what's going on.

And then I read this statement which was made by Minister Burke. I was just shocked.

GERRY GEEN: I was absolutely astonished that that could happen in Australia and it felt like... It felt unreal to me, it felt that it was like third world decision making.

MARIAN WILKINSON: More stunning, Ludwig told the media Australia's fisheries management, which weeks earlier he described as world class, would now be completely reviewed - including the independent fishing regulator AFMA.

JOE LUDWIG (at press conference, September 11): What I'm also announcing today is a review - a root and branch review of the Fisheries Management Act.

MARIAN WILKINSON: Didn't you pull the rug right out from underneath it?

JOE LUDWIG: Ah, not at all. What I've actually done is ensure that it continues to be and will be a world class fishery. I think it's very important to have a root and branch review of the legislative underpinning. It's twenty years on since the legislation, anyone has had a look at it.

MARIAN WILKINSON: For long time critics of global super trawlers the Government's decision was right even if the route was rough. It is seen as a victory for sustainable fishing, not just in Australia but around the world.

QUENTIN HANICH: I think its sheer size is a symbol of all that's wrong globally with our fishing.

I mean, around the world now we've got to the stage of more than three quarters of our fisheries are basically overfished or at the very limit. There's not much room left anymore.

And the key issue that we have is there are so many big vessels that they just drive overfishing. They have to keep on moving around to find new fisheries to fish. They have to keep on finding new opportunities. And those new opportunities don't exist.

MARIAN WILKINSON: But the super trawler's partners, left high and dry, believe the credibility of Australia's entire fisheries management has been thrown overboard.

GERRY GEEN: We've got no idea what the rules are now. We don't where the goal posts are anymore. We need to know the rules.

KERRY O'BRIEN: Knowing the rules is one thing, liking them is another.

Gerry Geen is still trying to get the Government to agree to limited fishing with strict environmental considerations rather than impose a complete two-year ban.

If this is not successful, he and his Dutch partners will contemplate legal action. On the other hand, environmental campaigners aren't giving up either.

That's the program for this week. Join us again next Monday but for now, good night.

END

Background Information

KEY DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS

Departmental Advice to Environment Minister | Dept of Environment | 4 Sep 2012 - Read the advice sent to the Minister for the Environment, Tony Burke, relating to the introduction of large fishing trawler in the Small Pelagic Fishery. [PDF 7Mb]

Departmental Advice to Environment Minister | Dept of Environment | 3 Sep 2012 - Advice sent to the Minister for the Environment, Tony Burke, proposing new operating conditions to be imposed on the FV Margiris super trawler. [PDF 7Mb

Departmental Briefing to Fisheries Minister | DAFF | 2012 - A departmental briefing to Joe Ludwig, Fisheries Minister, warning that the credibility of AFMA is at stake if the "super trawler" is banned from operating in Australian waters. [PDF 1.7Mb]

The Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery: General background to the scientific issues | IMAS | Jun 2010 - There has been strong public interest in the management settings for the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF). This general scientific background is intended to provide a summary of the fisheries science underpinning management. By Professor Colin Buxton, Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania.

Dolphin and Seal Interactions with Mid-Water Trawling | IMAS | February 2008 - Dolphin and seal interactions with mid-water trawling in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery, including an assessment of bycatch mitigation strategies. By Jeremy Lyle and Simon Willcox. [PDF 2Mb]

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Media Release: Minister Burke must hold the line on super trawlers | The Greens Tasmania | 22 Oct 2012 - The Tasmanian Greens today raised concerns about serious flaws in the Federal Government's consultation process concerning the future operation of super trawlers in Australian waters.

Social media behind the super-trawler 'sinking' | The Australian | 20 Oct 2012 - By ignoring the advice of regulators and scientists in stopping the Abel Tasman super-trawler, the Gillard government may have sunk much more than the hopes of one fishing operator.

Trawler's pitch to overturn ban | The Mercury | 19 Oct 2012 - The operator of the super trawler has offered to reduce its catch and operate in a limited manner as an alternative to an imposed ban.

Media Release: Super Trawler Still Trying to Fish In Spite of Ban | Stop the Trawler Alliance | 18 October 2012 - The Stop the Trawler alliance is outraged that Seafish Tasmania are still pushing for the super trawler Abel Tasman (formerly Margiris) to fish in Australian waters, despite massive public opposition and the related legislation to temporarily ban it.

Super trawler science back in firing line | SMH | 15 Oct 2012 - The science behind the federal government's decision to ban a super trawler from Australian waters is again under fire, after the opposition targeted departmental advice given to fisheries minister Joe Ludwig.

Fish sizes likely to be smaller with warming | SMH | 2 Oct 2012 - Researchers modelled the effect of rising ocean temperatures on the growth and distribution of more than 600 fish species around the world and found they were expected to shrink by 14-24 per cent by 2050.

Dutch demand answers over limits on super-trawler | The Australian | 13 Sep 2012 - The Netherlands has insisted the Gillard government explain its decision to bow to a pressure group-led campaign and effectively ban a Dutch-Australian super-trawler from fishing in Australian waters for two years.

Science is reassuring about local impacts of super-trawler | The Australian | 13 Sep 2012 - The scientific questions concerning the super-trawler operations revolve around three key issues. These are the sustainability of the catch, the local impact where the fish are caught and what it may do to protected wildlife such as dolphins and seals.

Super trawler not the only fishing problem needing review | The Conversation | 11 Sep 2012 - Tony Burke and Joe Ludwig have just announced a review of the Fisheries Management Act and the EPBC Act, thanks to public opposition to the super trawler. But the Commonwealth should take a good hard look at its other trawl fisheries to see if they need tougher regulation.

Video: Federal government scuttles supertrawler | Lateline | 11 Sep 2012 - The Federal government has introduced legislation that will prevent the supertrawler, now named Abel Tasman, from operating in Australian waters for two years while scientific research is carried out.

Company to fight super trawler ban | ABC News | 20 Sep 2012 - The company that wants to licence a super trawler to fish in Australian waters has vowed to fight any ban on its operations.

Opinion: Super-trawlers are feeding on EU fishing subsidies | The Australian | 24 Sep 2012 - In banning super-trawlers from our waters for two years, the Australian government has sent a strong message to the bloated and subsidised European fishing industry. By David Ritter, Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

WWF defends stance on trawling | SMH | 9 Oct 2012 - The global conservation organisation WWF has had to confirm its backing for trawling after an initial claim it wanted Australia to ban the fishing method.

Video: Greenpeace confronts the Margiris super trawler | Greenpeace Australia Pacific | 31 Aug 2012 - A video clip showing Greenpeace activists confronting the super trawler, 'Margiris', at Port Lincoln, South Australia.

Burke warns of super trawler overfishing risk | ABC News | 12 Aug 2012 - Environment Minister Tony Burke has weighed into the debate on a super trawler bound for Tasmania, saying it brings a risk of localised overfishing.

Audio: Dutch-owned trawler no threat to southern bluefin: Australian Fisheries Management Authority | ABC Local Radio | 20 Jun 2012 - CEO of Australian Fisheries Management Authority, James Findlay, dismisses concerns that the Dutch-owned FV Margiris will threaten local tuna stocks.

BACKGROUND READING

Small Pelagic Fishery - At a Glance | Australian Fisheries Management Authority - The Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) extends from just above the Queensland/New South Wales border, typically outside three nautical miles, around southern Australia. This page provides information, maps and links to current Small Pelagic Fishery publications.

Super trawler: destructive or sustainable? | ABC News | 13 Sep 2012 - The size of the Margiris, now named Abel Tasman, has sparked fears it will decimate fish stocks. But Australia's fishing regulator says the trawler's quota is based on sound science. So will the super trawler devastate a region, or will its catch be a drop in the ocean? ABC News Online takes a look at both sides of the debate here.

Super trawler FAQs | Australian Fisheries Management Authority | Aug-Sep 2012 - The recent debate about the possible entry of a large boat to fish in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) has sparked significant public interest. AFMA's website provides information to help to inform those who would like to know more about this fishery and AFMA's role.

Opposition to the Margiris 'super trawler' not evidence based | The Conversation | 15 Aug 2012 - The Margiris 'super-trawler' is heading for Australia to catch jack mackerel and associated small surface-dwelling species. It faces a lot of opposition, largely based on assertions that the vessel's catches will exceed sustainable levels or significantly reduce the quality of angling for larger predator species. These fears are not consistent with the available evidence. By Bob Kearney, Emeritus Professor in Fisheries at University of Canberra.

Audio: The super trawler | Background Briefing | 12 Aug 2012 - Tasmania's fishers are up in arms over the arrival of a Dutch super trawler, the FV Margiris. These boats are blamed around the world for overfishing and Tasmania's anglers are convinced the super trawler will deplete local populations of fish and in doing so drive away the prized blue-fin tuna. Australia's fishing regulator says the quota is based on sound science, and they say they'll be able to effectively police the catch. So who's right? Reporter Wendy Carlisle.

Bycatch and release of pelagic megafauna in industrial trawler fisheries off Northwest Africa | Jan 2006 - A 2006 study by Dutch Environmental Scientist, JaapJan Zeeberg into the accidental capture of large sea animals by fishing trawlers in Northwest Africa. [PDF 604Kb]

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 | Dept of Environment - The EPBC Act is the Australian Government's central piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places. More about the EPBC Act.

LINKS

The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's role is to develop and implement policies and programs that ensure Australia's agricultural, fisheries, food and forestry industries remain competitive, profitable and sustainable. www.daff.gov.au/

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is responsible for the efficient and sustainable management of Commonwealth fish resources on behalf of the Australian community. www.afma.gov.au/

The Australian Marine Conservation Society is Australia's only national charity dedicated exclusively to protecting ocean wildlife and their homes. www.amcs.org.au/ | www.facebook.com/australianmarine

The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) is a leading provider of research, education and training, and authoritative policy-related advice on ocean law and governance, maritime security and marine resources management. ancors.uow.edu.au/

The Commonwealth Fisheries Association is committed to ensuring the commercial fishing industry is recognised for its contribution to Australia's economy, society and environment. comfish.com.au/

Environment Tasmania is a not-for-profit conservation council dedicated to the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of Tasmania's natural environment. www.et.org.au/

Greenpeace Australia Pacific works in the Australia Pacific region to promote peace and sustainability and to protect the environment. www.greenpeace.org/australia/ | www.facebook.com/greenpeaceaustraliapacific

The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) pursues multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary work to advance understanding of temperate marine, Southern Ocean, and Antarctic environments. www.imas.utas.edu.au/

Parlevliet & Van der Plas - The Dutch fishing company, owners of the Abel Tasman (formerly the Margiris) large super trawler. www.parlevliet-vanderplas.nl/

RecFish Australia - One voice promoting sustainable fishing and representing recreational fishers at a national level. recfishaustralia.org.au/

Seafish Pelagic Australia - The Margiris is being operated by a joint venture between Seafish Tasmania and Seafish Tasmania Pelagic, a fully owned subsidiary of Parlevliet & Van der Plas BV, which is a long established Dutch fishing company owned by the Parlevliet and the Van der Plas families. The joint venture is committed to long term sustainable fishing in Australian waters. seafishpelagic.com.au/

The Stop the Trawler Campaign is administered by Rebecca Hubbard and Environment Tasmania. stopthetrawler.net/

Tags: climate-change, conservation, environmental-management, clubs-and-associations, fishing-aquaculture, animal-behaviour, mammals, fish, activism-and-lobbying, environmental-impact, environmental-policy, environmental-technology, australia

First posted October 18, 2012 12:32:00

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