AR-News: Australia defends record on toothfish conservation

[Barry Kent MacKay]

Kemp defends toothfish efforts

13mar04, Herald Sun

ENVIRONMENT Minister David Kemp today defended the federal government's
efforts to combat illegal fishing for Patagonian toothfish in the face of
industry criticism.

Dr Kemp said Australia had led international efforts to tackle the problem.
He was responding to a question on notice from opposition environment
spokesman Kelvin Thomson who drew Dr Kemp's attention to criticism from the
Australian toothfish industry, which is licensed to harvest toothfish in
Australia's sub-Antarctic zone.

Mr Thomson said industry representatives had complained that despite a
recent meeting of the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (CCAMLR), nothing had been achieved to secure the future of
toothfish stocks to prevent or deter illegal operators from stealing
Australian stocks.

Dr Kemp said Australia had led efforts to combat illegal, unreported and
unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Southern Ocean, including around
Australia's territory of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands.

"Australia has successfully pursued a number of measures in recent years,
both within CCAMLR and bilaterally with other nations," he said.

"Australia continues to work closely with the CCAMLR secretariat and CCAMLR
members to ensure that measures to combat IUU fishing in which Australia has
been instrumental go ahead successfully."

Among examples of these measures were the trial of a centralised vessel
monitoring system and a toothfish documentation scheme.

"In addition, the Australian government announced in December last year
funding of $40-50 million to enhance the existing patrol program, including
for the Australian Customs Service to lease an ice-strengthened vessel which
will carry a deck-mounted 0.50 calibre machine gun, an armed Customs
boarding party and Australian fishery officers."

He said this initiative was specifically to respond to IUU toothfish vessels
in Australia's Heard Island and McDonald Islands exclusive economic zones.

In Perth yesterday, a Federal Court judge dismissed a claim that the
commonwealth acted unlawfully in seizing the Russian-flagged fishing vessel
Volga for alleged illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean two years ago.

In a landmark judgment, Justice Robert French ruled the Volga had committed
offences in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ), which meant the boat,
equipment and catch were automatically forfeited to the Commonwealth.

The Volga, and her sister ship the Lena, were apprehended in the AFZ, off
Heard and McDonald islands, 4200km south of Perth, in February 2002.
The ship was found to have about 136 tonnes of Patagonian toothfish on
board.

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Barry Kent MacKay
Canadian Office
Animal Protection Institute 
www.api4animals.org