Fishers For Conservation Inc. homepage

Love our oceans and rivers and understand that responsible, sustainable fishing is important to aquatic conservation?

Fishers For Conservation Inc. (FFC) is an Australian based non-profit incorporated association educating, supporting and representing recreational fishers. FFC counts as members people from all walks of life including commercial fishers, divers, tourism operators, aquatic scientists, and plenty of average anglers with jobs like nurses and teachers. All memers are united by the goal of protecting the aquatic environment to ensure future generations can enjoy recreational fishing and other aquatic pursuits as we have in the past and do today. We support conservation and ecologically based management of the coastal, marine and freshwater environments. FFC is about fishing and respecting the environment you love.

Fishing and aquatic environment conservation can co-exist and to achieve this fishers must adopt sustainable and ecologically based practices and attitudes. FFC is about educating and keeping you informed about conservation issues and acting to ensure that our amazing aquatic environment is protected for us and future generations to appreciate. For more info on FFC see about us.

NEW! - Fishers For Conservation state pages for news, events and articles related to your state or territory - volenteers needed to post content - click on the map or hit the links Western Australia - South Australia - Northern Territory - Queensland - New South Wales - Victoria - Tasmania

Learn more and Take action: Latest

10/03/10 SA Recreational Fishing - What’s the catch?

Wednesday 24th March, 6.30 pm Public meeting – open to all Presentations and panel discussion featuring:

Dr Keith Jones, Former Manager, 2007/08 Recreational Fishing Survey, PIRSA Fisheries

Dr Simon Bryars, Marine Ecologist-Threatened Species, Department for Environment and Heritage, ·

Matt Osborne, Fishers for Conservation

The formal part of the evening will be followed by informal discussion over drinks and nibbles. Coglin Street Community Centre Coglin Street (near the Central Markets) The CCSA Fish Forum is a regular event where you can discuss fisheries issues directly with government representatives, scientists and other stakeholders.

RSVP to Alex: alex.gaut@ccsa.asn.au or call 8223 5155 For more information: www.ccsa.asn.au/fishforum

A detailed report by Dr Keith Jones outlining the results of the 2007/08 South Australian Recreational Fishing Survey was launched in December 2009. Click here for a copy of the full report (PDF). Or check the somewhat uninspiring Government site

03/03/10 Marine Parks and recreational fishing in WA - These pages have been put together to address some of the concerns of rec fishos about the impacts of MPAs, and in particular sanctuary zones, on their lifestyle and fishing future in Western Australia.

 

 

02/03/10 Mercurial Tuna: Study Explores Sources of Mercury to Ocean Fish ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2010) — With concern over mercury contamination of tuna on the rise and growing information about the health effects of eating contaminated fish, scientists would like to know exactly where the pollutant is coming from and how it's getting into open-ocean fish species.

 

24/02/10 POACHERS are raiding "no-take zones" on the Great Barrier Reef as fish stocks more than double in protected areas, the latest research shows. - courier mail - "The resounding pattern overall is there are more and bigger fish in the protected areas than the fished areas," said Dr McCook, of GBRMPA and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. "Bigger fish have more babies. The increase spills over into the fished areas." - Read more about the contribution of big fish to reproductive success in our information sheet available here

 

23/02/10 - Japan Plans to Ignore Any Ban on Bluefin Tuna - Oceanic Defense - Japan will not join in any agreement to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna under the United Nations treaty on endangered species, the country’s top fisheries negotiator said. The negotiator, Masanori Miyahara, said in a telephone interview this week that Japan “would have no choice but to take a reservation” — in effect, to ignore the ban and leave its market open to continued imports — if the bluefin tuna were granted most-endangered species status. “It’s a pity,” he said, “but it’s a matter of principle.”

23/02/10 - New International Agreement Highlights Threats to Sharks in Australia - A new landmark agreement to counteract the alarming global decline of sharks highlights the need for increased protection in Australia. The agreement was signed on the 12 February 2010 under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Government representatives meeting in Manila, Philippines, agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation of migratory sharks. Currently four of the species covered by this agreement, the Whale Shark, Basking, Porbeagle and the Great White are protected in Australia, but two others – the Shortfin and Longfin Mako Sharks - were recently denied full protection by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett after pressure from game fishermen.

22/02/10 - Gas hub concerns - Abc online - A state government report has found that a gas development near Broome could have a major impact on the region's fisheries. The development at James Price Point will process gas from the Browse Basin. The report, which has not been released publicly, suggests fish numbers will decline and that will affect the local economy. Also Kimberley gas hub threatens fish: report.

 

19/02/10 new review paper Impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and fisheries - Ignoring the effects of climate and continuing with existing strategies for fisheries management is not a sensible option. The possible consequences of climate change are being taken into account in planning most areas of human activity including sea defense, water supply, health, tourism, insurance, agriculture, and forestry, and it is timely to include them in planning fisheriesmanagement.

17/02/10 - Feedback sought on lobster resource sharing plan - abc online - A new scoping paper examining the sharing of resources between different lobster fishing sectors has been released for public comment. Department of Fisheries' spokesman Chris Reid says currently 95 per cent of the rock lobster fishery is allocated to the commercial sector and 5 per cent to recreational fishers. He says the paper will have implications for all fisheries. "There's a limited amount of catch that can be taken and so obviously you need mechanisms to allow the different sectors to access the catch that can be taken and the paper examines different approaches that can be used Fishers are being asked to make submissions to the paper by April 23.

Don't bother trying to find the paper on the Governement website - it is there but it is not easy to find - looks like they are trying to slip this one under the radar... here is how to find the scoping paper-and Potential reallocation mechanisms for the transfer and/or adjustment of catch shares between sectors with application to the Western and South Australian rock lobster fisheries

07/02/09 Recreational fishers’ attitudes towards the 2004 rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.Results indicate that recreational fishers can be strong supporters of conservation initiatives in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park if these initiatives are consistent with their values, and if efforts are made to engage them in the decision making process.

 

05/02/10 First meetings of the 13 Marine Parks Local Advisory Groups (MPLAGs) due to begin on Monday, February 8. MPLAG members, who were appointed late last year, will help develop management plans for each of the 19 marine parks. Members of the public are invited to observe all MPLAG meetings, the details of which are listed on the SA state page

 

04/02/10 Kimberley fishermen ask PTTEP Australasia to accept liability for any long-term damage to fish stocks. Fishermen in the Kimberley, who have commenced legal action over the Montara oil spill, say they are yet to receive a response from the company responsible.

 

03/02/10 Minke whales as fishing bycatch?! High proportion of protected minke whales sold on Japanese markets due to illegal, unreported or unregulated exploitation

 

 

Mako_shark.html01/02/10No Protection - recreational fishers blamed! - Minister Garrett has decided not to list the porbeagle, longfin mako and shortfin mako sharks under Australia's Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), despite current legislation requiring this when a species is listed under the Convention for Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS).

 

26/01/10 An Evaluation of Sustainable Seafood Guides: Implications for Environmental Groups and the Seafood Industry - pdf - In recent years, the number of sustainable seafood guides internationally has grown to approximately 200 (Seaman 2009). The traffic light system remains, as has the primary function—to influence consumers’ decisions toward purchasing seafood on the green list and away from purchasing from the red list to improve the sustainability of the ocean environment.

23/01/10 New review paper: Temperate marine reserves: global ecological effects and guidelines for future networks

Extract: Available evidence indicates that temperate no-take marine reserves have higher densities, biomass, and species richness of marine biota within their boundaries compared to areas outside reserves. Fish density and biomass in particular are higher in no-take than in adjacent areas, which is consistent with previous analyses (Mosqueira et al. 2000; Côtéet al. 2001; Halpern 2003; Micheli et al. 2004; Claudet et al. 2008). We also found that algal densities are higher inside reserves, which may indicate a trophic effect. In temperate systems, the common grazers such as sea urchins often reach high densities in the presence of fishing because their predators are removed from the system, and thus this result suggests a return to a more intact ecosystem state inside reserves (Behrens & Lafferty 2004).

19/01/10 report on overfishing - Thesis on Australian fisheries management released

A University of Tasmania thesis is now available online which examines several Australian fisheries in depth. Australian governments are committed by policy statements to apply the ecosystem and precautionary approaches. However the thesis finds that, in the case studies examined, there is little or no evidence that fishery managers have implemented comprehensive measures towards applying these approaches -- sometimes in contravention of clear statutory obligations. The author of the thesis, Dr Jon Nevill, argues that, to protect fish stocks and both recreational and commercial fisheries, fishery management agencies need to be replaced with agencies focused on the protection and management of aquatic biodiversity. Link: http://www.tucs.org.au/~cnevill/marinePhD.htm

check out the new Fish Focus Forum for in depth examination of interesting fish species and issues.

Help to stop the decimation of a species in the shadow of the World Heritage Listed Daintree in Queensland's far North. More info on the Grey Mackerel and what you can do here.

The largest desalination plant in the southern hemisphere threatens fishing in Spencer Gulf, South Australia - read more here

What you can do:
There are many ways to get involved with FFC via this web site. Read the information provided on sustainable fishing and aquatic conservation and explore some of the links provided. Send an email to a decision maker or participate in upcoming events. If you like what we do please JOIN THE FFC (free membership available) and let everybody know the majority of fishers support marine and freshwater environment protection. So get active, get educated, and add your voice to the growing movement for protection of our marine and freshwater environments.

Know somebody who would be interested in this site? Maybe a workmate, relative or fishing friend? Email a friend and let them know about this web site.

A bit different - try the Sandy the seal game

 

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Normal Google websearch Search www.ffc.org.au