Introduction:
This paper will examine legal frameworks utilized by Australia to address overfishing in the Southern Ocean, specifically the Patagonian toothfish fishery around Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which is expected to potentially collapse within several years because of illegal fishing. This area is within Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone but is more than 4,000 kilometers from the nearest port, thus placing it far beyond the range of regulators and law enforcement. The area is also within the Southern Ocean, which falls under international legal frameworks, specifically the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. The Heard and McDonald Islands area is a unique ecosystem, recognized as relatively untouched by human development. However, the amount of illegal fishing for toothfish in this area is estimated to equal the amount of legal fishing for toothfish. The market for the illegal catch is estimated at $1 billion. The size of this illegal fishing industry is believed to be due in large part to lack of regulation or even collusion by countries that lack legal frameworks and competent governance. In addition, the illegal fishing vessels use a complex legal arrangement to avoid detection and prosecution, including the use of front companies and registering in countries that are not signatories to international agreements.
Other barriers to protecting the biodiversity of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands toothfish fishery include Australia’s apparent lack of urgency about this effort. For example, there is a lack of law enforcement support to enforce domestic and international legal frameworks, with only one patrol vessel de...
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... for signatory 5 May 1980, 19 I.L.M. 841 (entered into force 7 April 1982).
Others
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Annual Status Report: Heard Island and McDonald Islands Fishery, 21 May 2010.
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Ecosystem-based Fishery Management, 21 May 2010
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Illegal Foreign Fishing, 27April 2010.
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Australian Fisheries National Compliance Strategy , 27April 2010
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority ‘Managing Bycatch and Discarding’ 21 May 2010
- Australian Fisheries Management Authority , Strategic Assessment, 21 May 2010
- Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australia’s Oceans Policy , 21 May 2010.
- Madrid Protocol, Australian Antarctic Division, Department of the Environment, 1 November 2009.
United Nations , "United Nations and Convention on the Law of the Sea:Division for Ocean Affairs and the LAw of the Sea." Accessed November 27, 2013. http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/UNCLOS-TOC.htm.
The government's Ocean Dumping Regulation of 1989 severely limits what can be disposed of in the oceans. The...
...d the economic, ethical, and practical aspects of international regulation. Different views of ecology, culture, and legitimacy as they pertain to a valued resource and its exploitation for human purposes. While it is safe to say one must preserve the historical and cultural value of whaling nations and nations around the world, it can also be said of animals. While many nations continue to cling to their cultural ancestry background of whaling and the right for scientific research, it is proven that such human endeavors must be carefully and faithfully regulated. Commercial whaling has essentially seized to exist in the clear claims of such, but Japan and other nations are ever so slightly getting closer to that boundary. “We should remember in our dealings with animals that they are a sacred trust to us…[They] cannot speak for themselves” (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
Fishery Scientist are constantly working on ways to protect shark species and reduce shark bite incidences. Others have proposed that sonar waves are placed on nets to try and keep sharks away. Researchers are also collecting data from the sharks that are caught by the fishermen to be in a position to better understand sharks, and how we can live in unity with them. A shark tagging programme to try to better understand shark movements and patterns could also assist instead of culling. Statistics show us that there have been drastic reductions in fatal shark bites since nets have been installed in NSW and Qld.
With a coastline of over 202 000 km and over a fourth of the world’s freshwater resources, it is no wonder why Canada’s fishing industry is a huge part of its economy.1 Canada exports more than 75% of its fish to over 130 countries worldwide. Many of the 7 million people who reside on the coast depend on the ocean’s resources. In total, Canada’s entire fishing industry is worth around 5$ billion dollars a year, being one of the world’s most valuable. However, the coasts have not been treated by respect; overfishing, over consumption, and wasteful practices has deteriorated, not only the industry, but the ecosystems and fish populations. This is a huge global issue; the worldwide collapse of fisheries has been project for 2048. Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large specie, the cod.
For years corporations have been depleting the oceans of its wildlife for our benefit. However, one thing these corporations tend to not mention is the bycatch they encounter when catching fish for the purpose of consumption. The definition of bycatch “is the unintended capture of nontarget animals…”(Crowder and Murawski pg.1). Bycatch takes a negative toll on our ocean ecosystem that cannot be reversed.
In 2003, the Commonwealth and Queensland governments started collaborating together to enhance the water quality in the GBR. In their joint efforts, they managed to create the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (hereafter RWQPP). Basically the plans aim was to identify factors that affected the water quality, enhance agriculture methods so that it would not end up in the reefs water, and not to mention improve the water quality in GBR. However, it was not until 2008 that the RWQPP got the proper financial support needed to execute the most crucial phases (Brodie, 2015). Brodie assumes that to be the reason why there were modest results in the cutback of the substances on the reef during the period between 2008-2013. Proper results usually take a long time to achieve and in this case also substantial funding. The plan have been updated and improved throughout the years, and new targets have been supplemented to accomplish the end goal (Brodie, 2015).
In early November 2013, the Western Australia government declared war on the sharks that surround its coast. This declaration of war will result in the government killing and culling many sharks in order to create a safe boundary for humans to surf and swim in. In order to create safety zones, the government has already started to implement a plan that involves the killing of many sharks that enter popular beaches such as Forrest Beach and Quinns Beach. According to VOANEWS, a DESCRIPTION, the authorities have started to hire commercial fishermen that will “hunt and kill sharks bigger than three meters in zones, while baited hooks will catch smaller sharks” The authorities intend on catching smaller sharks with baited hooks but this will result in catching other marine life such as fishes and whales. To an addition to these killing tactics, the government will soon install baited drum lines that would attract sharks. According to GUARDIAN, a DESCRIPTION, the drum lines will be “strung up 1 kilometer from the shores of heavily used beaches to catch sharks more than three meters in length” More than $20 million have been spent on the plan to protect the coasts from sharks. With these commercial fishermen, baited hooks, and drum lines, the beaches will no longer contain many marine life which is dangerous for the environment.
It only takes one person to start a domino effect which can end up possibly saving the reef, and then when David Attenborough wisely speaks of the great barrier reef it will be how amazing it looks and how we saved it from total destruction instead of how damaged and destroyed and in danger it
Overall the reef receives runoff from at least 35 major catchments that drain 424,000 km2 of coastal Queensland and the amount of sediment flowing into the marine park has just about quadrupled over the past 150 years. There are significant effects from these run offs on the reef, especially the inshore areas close to the developed coasts, effects such as mangroves dying-back and increased amounts of overbearing algae on coral reefs. Good water quality is the reason why the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most beautiful, diverse and complex ecosystems in the world and the decline in water quality can affect all the corals, seagrass and other important habitats as well as the marine life supported by those habitats. The decline in water quality would be detrimental to the tourism and fishing industries. As of right now the “Reef Water Quality Protection Plan”is in place. This plan aims to halt and reverse the decline in the quality of water flowing into the Great Barrier
For my research task, I’ve chosen to do overfishing. Overfishing is a form of overexploitation where fish stocks are reduced to below acceptable levels. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any sizes. This includes ponds, rivers, lakes or oceans and can result in resource expenditure, reduced biological growth rates and low biomass levels. Australia contains one of the world’s most diverse and clean marine faunas, this means that it is able to produce a wide variety of delicious seafood products for the world but this comes at a cost for our marine life.
Butler,James N., et al. “The Bermuda Fisheries: a tragedy of the commons averted?” Environment Jan-Feb/1993/pg6+
People cannot afford to lose what places like The Great Barrier Reef have to offer. There is no time to pretend this issue is not happening. “The world has lost roughly half its coral reefs in the last 30 years. Scientists are now scrambling to ensure that at least a fraction of these unique ecosystems survives beyond the next three decades” (Becatoros, “Scientist are Racing…”). There is nowhere near as much time as people think there is to save the reef from death. If the Great Barrier Reef dies, then one in every four-marine species loses their habitat, coastlines will feel the full force of storms, and the cure for cancer could be wiped out. On top of that, Australia’s economy will suffer severely, which then affects other countries’ economies. Not only does the reef need to be protected so does the rest of nature. If this destruction can happen to the world largest and most well-known reef than it can easily happen to any of the others. Continuing this destruction means the oceans' corals will eventually collapse and disrupt the entire food chain. Myself and others may not feel the effects of this tragedy, so it is easy to ignore, but that does not mean we won’t be seriously affected. Condoning the negative treatment of even one little coral in the Great Barrier Reef can create a chain reaction that will eventually have a catastrophic effect on the whole world. The corals will
...ds to be extensive discussions in regards to the surrounding socio-cultural-economic issues that may impact an MPAs success before MPA is actually instituted. With guidance from Edgar’s research, future MPAs should be designed to incorporate the five key features discussed, and in relation to these factors additional consideration should be given to the future activities that may influence an MPA’s effectiveness, for example future marine uses such as alternative forms of energy. This is where the Halpern’s suggestion to focus more on ecosystem-based management approaches may present a possible means to do so, as this approach addresses the wider-scope issues that will impact the world’s oceans on a global scale and may help limit effects, outside the boundaries of MPAs, that could potentially shape and alter the ability of an MPA to achieve its conservation goals.
Bowermaster, Jon. Oceans: The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do to Turn the Tide: A Participant Media Guide. New York: PublicAffairs, 2010. Print.