Demand for fishing ban in Coral Sea

A group of leading marine scientists has called for the Federal Government to ban fishing in a 1 million square kilometre area of the Coral Sea.

It is said that the Coral Sea is one of the few remaining pristine marine areas on the planet and the only way to keep it that way is to ban fishing altogether. According to the scientists the proposal would create the world's largest heritage park. Professor Terry Hughes from James Cook University told that the protected area would be three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Hughes also said that it is virtually unique in that it's one of the last places in the world where you can still find significant populations of big things like billfish and tuna and sharks. He added that in most other places around the world those species have been severely depleted.

This is an opportunity for the Australiain Government to create something unique and to look after the Coral Sea for the future. Robin Hansen from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association expressed that the level of fishing in the Coral Sea is already sustainable. He said that they would consult with fisheries more closely because clearly a lot of the info they are giving out to the public has no relevance at all.

Imogen Zethoven from the Pew Environment Group is of view that the benefits to the environment far outweigh the hardship that would be experienced by the fishing industry. She explained that this would have impact on a small number of operators who would need some assistance from the Federal Government but on the other side of the ledger the protection of the area would be a huge contribution to global marine conservation.

Source: ABC News"

WorldFishingToday d. 11-09-2008