The purpose of this ministerial briefing is to address the current environmental issues that lay that as a result of commercial fisheries using long-line fishing techniques and to provide information so that a policy can be developed to alter the methods used to minimize the effect on the non-targeted species in Australian waters.
Issue:
Long-line fishing is a technique that is exceptionally non-selective. There are high amounts of by-catch being caught and these high numbers are avoidable. The by-catch is all of the non-target species that are caught on the lines. Due to these fishing methods many species are close to extinction. The baited hooks lure in many forms of sea life including sea turtles, seals, sea birds, dolphins, penguins, sharks and lots of other non-target fish. A change from ‘J’ style hooks to large ‘Circle’ style hooks, is a change that needs to take …show more content…
The main lines that are used are normally 100km in length and every 90 metres additional lines are attached that are about 400 metres in length. Each of these lines has thousands of hooks attached that are dragged in every 24 hours and mechanically re-baited (Fitzgerald, K, 2013.)
Many different countries have been using the long-line fishing technique for over one hundred years. It is reported that the Japanese started using the long-line fishing method as early as 1850. Since then the techniques have considerably developed. The introduction of the internal combustion engine in the 1900s improved fishing vessels significantly and resulted in an expansion of fishing grounds. In the 1950s with improved freezing technology and international transportation, the worldwide commercial fishing industry began to grow rapidly (Watson, J, 2006.)
It was estimated that in 2006 3 billion long-line hooks were set worldwide and in 2012 that number increased to 10 billion (Fitzgerald, K,
Issue:
Long-line fishing is a technique that is exceptionally non-selective. There are high amounts of by-catch being caught and these high numbers are avoidable. The by-catch is all of the non-target species that are caught on the lines. Due to these fishing methods many species are close to extinction. The baited hooks lure in many forms of sea life including sea turtles, seals, sea birds, dolphins, penguins, sharks and lots of other non-target fish. A change from ‘J’ style hooks to large ‘Circle’ style hooks, is a change that needs to take …show more content…
The main lines that are used are normally 100km in length and every 90 metres additional lines are attached that are about 400 metres in length. Each of these lines has thousands of hooks attached that are dragged in every 24 hours and mechanically re-baited (Fitzgerald, K, 2013.)
Many different countries have been using the long-line fishing technique for over one hundred years. It is reported that the Japanese started using the long-line fishing method as early as 1850. Since then the techniques have considerably developed. The introduction of the internal combustion engine in the 1900s improved fishing vessels significantly and resulted in an expansion of fishing grounds. In the 1950s with improved freezing technology and international transportation, the worldwide commercial fishing industry began to grow rapidly (Watson, J, 2006.)
It was estimated that in 2006 3 billion long-line hooks were set worldwide and in 2012 that number increased to 10 billion (Fitzgerald, K,