BREAKING NEWS: Super trawler hits Australia. Greenpeace takes action.
This morning Greenpeace activists intercepted controversial Dutch super trawler, FV Margiris, and attempted to stop it sneaking into Port Lincoln Harbour in South Australia. The activists' inflatable boat was rammed out of the way and some of their ropes cut, but their determination remains to stop this super trawler plundering Australia’s oceans.
Over the past few weeks, as the Margiris drew closer to Australia, community outrage has swelled. The government has started to listen, but we still need it to act.
Time is running out – the Margiris is due to begin fishing any day now. The Australian Government has the power to intervene and stop this vessel, so now is the time to increase the pressure.
The Margiris is far larger than any fishing vessel ever to fish in Australian waters. At 142 metres long, it is the world’s second largest super trawler. The average Australian commercial fishing vessel is 25m long.
Its enormous nets routinely kill other sea life such as dolphins and seals, and even research by the operators states this is inevitable. With a history of causing fish stocks to collapse in West Africa and the Pacific, super trawlers are a major threat to the health of our marine ecosystem.
In Senegal, thousands of fishermen protested after their local fish stocks and source of income were ruined by super trawlers. The Senegalese Government stepped up and banned super trawlers from its waters earlier this year.
Together we can urge the Australian Government to do the same before it’s too late. Please sign the petition today to protect our oceans for tomorrow.
Thank you
Nathaniel Pelle
Oceans Campaigner
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Comments
Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig has been dragging his heels
It's here.
At 2:34pm yesterday the world's second largest super trawler docked in Australia, despite having no license to fish in our waters and facing massive community opposition. It can fish with nets whose mouth stretches up to 100 meters high, 200m meters wide and 600m long - that's longer than the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It vacuums up everthing in its way killing dolphins, seals, migratory sea birds and other protected species.
But, there's one person who has the power and authority to stop the super trawler from plundering our seas: Federal Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig. Despite this issue being on the agenda for weeks, he's been dragging his heels and advised media on Tuesday that he was yet to make a decision one way or another on the super trawler. Let's help him decide!
With your help an ad which shows the shocking by-catch of a super trawler can be run on Monday in The Australian, to show Joe Ludwig that Australians will not accept the super trawler's impact on our marine life:
www.getup.org.au/stop-the-super-trawler
Almost 78,000 people have signed the petition to stop the super trawler, begun by GetUp member Rebecca Hubbard on GetUp's new community campaigning tool, CommunityRun.org. As people come to understand the incredible damage the super trawler will do in Australian seas, they are moved to action.
The shocking photo in this ad, provided by our friends at Greenpeace, was taken by a fisheries researcher whilst on board another Dutch-owned super trawler fishing off Mauritania in 2006. It's a stark and shocking reminder that super trawlers, with their enormous nets, are designed to catch everything it their path.
The target species the ship wants are mackrel and redbait but there is no proven way to stop seals, dolphins and other marine life getting trapped and crushed in the enoroumous net. Scientists also say that the 18,000 tonnes of fish the trawler could be allowed to catch is far too high and based on outdated information - concluding there is not a scientific case to allow the trawler to fish in Australian waters.
The person who has responsibility to stop the super trawel is the Fisheries Minister, Joe Ludwig.
Each of us can help make Joe Ludwig's decison a lot easier by making sure the implications of his decison are widely known. Can you chip in to get this ad in The Australian?
www.getup.org.au/stop-the-super-trawler
This issue is at a tipping point: it could go either way. But we know that when, as a community movement, we get behind great campaigns like this one started by Rebecca on CommunityRun.org we have the people power to win!
Thanks for being part of this,
The GetUp team.