A group of Hobartians gathered this morning, Wednesday, 25 November, where the new longline fishing vessel Antarctic Aurora is docked and preparing to wallop sub-Antarctic fisheries off Australia’s World Heritage Macquarie, Herd and McDonald Islands.
“In a world, which has the majority of its fisheries collapsed or in rapid decline, the waters off these remote islands should be marine national parks,” Jenny Weber from the Bob Brown Foundation said.
“The long lines involve thousands of hooks spaced a metre apart, and the destination is the plates of China and the USA.
“We aim to put a public focus on the growing global tide of profiteering from the Antarctic and its oceans.
“This vessel operating out of Hobart is longline, legal and lethal. Our aim is to protect the world’s last wild fisheries from plunder.
“The public has a right to know that Hobart is being used as a base for the expanding looting of the Antarctic marine ecosystem,” she continued.
“The Antarctic Aurora can drop 60,000 hooks into the pristine waters of the Antarctic to hunt for the toothfish.
“Antarctica’s oceans and wildlife need protection in secure marine reserves. The toothfish can live 3000m deep in icy waters and live to 50 years old. It shouldn’t be hunted with tens of thousands of hooks which can also kill sea birds, sharks and other species,” Jenny added.
The Bob Brown Foundation is a not-for-profit fund in Tasmania that helps campaigns and activists who show real pluck and intelligence in protecting ecosystems, species and wild and scenic heritage.
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
