More Fisheries in the Red
30 Jan 2007
The 2005 Status of Fisheries report released revealed that 24 species are classified as overfished and/or subject to overfishing, 19 are classified as 'not overfished' and 40 are classified as uncertain, making this the worst news yet from the annual health check for Australian Commonwealth managed fisheries.
"Although the data is now two years out of date, it shows a continued precipitous decline in the health of Australian fisheries", said Dr Gilly Llewellyn, Ocean program manager with WWF-Australia. "Australia has taken big steps in fisheries management in the last eighteen months, and as this report shows, it is not a moment too soon."
"We need a much more precautionary approach to fisheries management. These fisheries have been exploited beyond their limits for decades and many are clearly in serious trouble. We cannot keep pushing every natural resource to its limits and then spend hundreds of millions of dollars fixing the damage without any guarantee of success."
"The lateness of this report and the huge gaps and huge uncertainties that exist are a real concern. We clearly need an overall view of all of Australia's fisheries, state and commonwealth, and data gaps such as the status of nearly half the species being uncertain needs to be addressed."
"Of great concern is that we don't even know what the status is for half the species managed by the Commonwealth. That means we are fishing blind, hoping science will catch up before we push more fisheries into the red."
For more information
Paula Schibeci, Communications Officer, WWF-Australia
Phone: 08 94421213
Mobile: 0406 381 137
Dr Gilly Llewellyn, Program Leader Oceans, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1227
Mobile: 0406 380 801
