Overfishing is a myth Toxic green slime of lies

Every d ay the m edi a bring us news of severe en vironmenta l
t hrea ts. Mos t are o nly hypo thetical possibilities o f thi n gs that
h ave no t actually h app en ed but "m ight".
Contrary t o this constan t st ream of "t hr eats", o ur rea l
environmental situation in Austra li a is th e best in the wo rld . Ou r
waters and air are cleaner a nd most of O Uf conti n en t re main s
natural environment in excell ent co nd itio n.
No marine species in Australi a has eve r been lost due to human
causes nor are any now th reatened with such extinction. The Great
Barrier Reef is in pri stine co ndi ti on. Of the more th an 2,500 named
reefs in the com plex, o nl y a few dozen nea r popul ation centres are
regularly visited .
Ove r 90 perce nt of the reefs are seldom or neve r fished or even
vis ited by anyo ne. Most are too far offsh o re to be affected by
huma n activi ti es o n th e coast; an d, eve n much o f tha t remain s
undeveloped. Th e Great Barrier Reef co mm ercial fi sh ing ha rvest
rate is at 9kg/km 2 /year when 4,(x){)kg/km 2 is cons ide red to be an
average sustainable li mi t fo r reef fish eries. All th is is easily verified,
non-co n troversial fact. The rea lit y of t h is situa ti o n is readily
observable to anyo ne by mak ing an extended reef cruise or a flight
over t h e Reef. Apar t f ro m t he p rox im ity of t h e few s mall
population cen tres, boats are hard to fin d and on e passes reef after
reef with no vessel anywhere in sight.
On a national scale, the situation is n ot too d issimil ar. Alo ng
most of the coast boats are few and far between . The national fishery
harvest rate is only about o ne-thirtieth of the globa l average and
two-thirds of domestic seafood consu mption comes from imports.
Th e Sit u ati o n as h ore is not mu ch d iffe ren t. Mos t of th e
coas tli ne is un developed. Thousa nds of kilometres of beaches and
head lands stretch in endless succession with little h um an debris.
Away from a few moderately po pu lated coastal areas and ha lf a
doze n coasta l ci ti es, m os t o f t h e int eri or of th e co n t in ent is
sparsely inh abited. Most of it le mains vast areas o f wildern ess.
Flying anyw h ere over t h e o utback in a sm all aircra ft is an
awesome experience. Liftin g o ff o pen s u p a vast pano rama o f
wilderness d isappearin g over th e cu rvature of th e Earth. Such an
experience puts a very differe n t pe rspecti ve on th e con ce rn s of
urba n greens wh o, by cho ice, prefer to live in tiny fragme nts o f the
continen t where nature has bee n annih ilated. Out in th e rea l
world, thi ngs aren't so bad at all, n or are they getting worse.
environ men tal da mage. However, the rea lity is the least subs idised,
most effi cie nt farm sector of an y OECD nat ion and an in dustry
that has achieved sign ificant ongoi ng ad vances in both efficie ncy
and land managem ent practi ces ove r rece n t decades.
OvergraZing with erosio n and so il da ma ge from hard-footed
li vestock is anot h er popular delu sion. W h ile such claims are
commonly made and widely believed, the evidence is sparse and
mostly tri vial.
Actua ll y, through provision of n umerous year-round watering
places for stock, th e grazi ng indu stry has greatly in creased the
abu nda nce and dive rsity of wil d life over vast areas. Th e wo rst
exa mples o f poor land management are n ot o n farms and grazing
pro perti es, but are most easil y fo und on Crow n land, espec ially the
mOre remote nation al parks and wil derness areas.
Alth o u gh ram pan t fo res t d es tru ct io n is a n ot h e r favoured
fan tasy of the eco-cu lt, th e rea li ty agai n defies the pe rception. Over
a fifth of the cont ine nt is forested and harvest rates are well below
li m it s of s ust a inabilit y. Th e t ota l a rea o f both natura l and
planta tion forest is increasi ng and is n ow probably greater tha n
wh en Europea n settlemen t bega n.
Toxic green slime of lies
Overfishing is a myth
Overfi shi ng simply isn't h appen in g. Ou r already pat heticall y
small fishin g ind ust ry is rap id ly d eclin in g as t h e b urden of
regu lation drives fis hermen to give up and deters newco mers fro m
starting. Apart from a few of th e most lucrative export fis h eries, the
quotas and licences fishe rm en were led to believe would be their
retire m ent fund h ave been rendered n early wo rt hl ess b y
restriction s and demands. Worse yet, th ey h ave beco m e costl y
li ab ili ties to ma intai n. In the mos t valuable fis h eries, licences and
quotas are in creas in g ly be in g b o u ght b y in ves t o rs a n d t h e
resources ow ned by absentee land lord s. Wh ile their Sh are-croppers
do the fis h ing, th ese n ew landed gen try groom the burea ucratic
ove rl o rds fo r indu lge nces. The Twe nty-first Centu ry is th e new
Middle Ages.
Fa r from being overfish ed, ou r fisheri es are th e most u n derutilised and expen sively regulated in th e world. Ma nagement costs
for a number of the sma ll er fish eries are greate r than the GDP of
the sector. Sign ifica nt sav ings cou ld be ach ieved by just paying the
fis h erme n n o t to fish and do in g away with a ll th e ex pen sive
management. (Mis-m allagem ent? Ed.)
Farming faces a simil ar situatio n wi th respect to environmental
de lusions. Th e preva ili ng m ispe rception is one of un sustainab le
pract ices res ultin g in w ides pr ead land d egra d at ion a nd
22 June 1009 AUSMARINI
The greatest en vironmen tal threa t we face does not come from
prim ary produ cti on but from enviro nm entali sm itse lf. This toxic
green slim e of delusio ns, disto rti o ns, exaggerations and outri ght
lies bei ng pro pagated in the name of "saving" the en vironment is a
t hreat t o th e eco n o m y, t h e foo d s u pply, basic rights, th e
democrat ic process and in deed our entire way of life. Thi s is not
just h ype rbole. Here are just a few examples:
• A small but lucrat ive trap fishery of six boa ts fi shi ng an area of
ove r 200,000 km 2 o n th e No rth west Sh elf is sufferi ng ongO in g
restr ic ti o n s o n e ffo r t beca u se of pur po rte d co n ce rn s ab o u t
overfish ing . However, ca tch es h ave remai ned exce ll en t, a nd at
prese nt levels of permitted effort, it would take over 1,000 years to
fish the entire area just one tim e.
Moreover, video cameras on traps clea rl y show that only a small
portion of fish around a trap arc ca ught by it. These six boats are
rest ri cted t o a tota l catc h o f und e r 1,000 ton n es a nn ua ll y.
Th ail and , whi ch is o ur largest so urce o f sea food im ports, has a
small er total shelf area th an th is fishery. It also h as 60,000 fishing
boa t s and fo r m any years h as sustain ed a catc h of abo ut 2.5
millio n tonn es.
Still , office bou n d bureaucra ts based more th an a tho usa n d
m il es away h ave managed to co ncoct a fa n tasy of overfish ing. In
th e 19 years th ey h ave " manage d " th is reso ur ce th ese
"mana ge rs" have n eve r on ce go ne o ut o n a boat to actuall y see
what th ey a re " m a n ag in g" . Thi s is manag e m e n t b y re mo t e
co nt ro l usi n g a n un ve rif ie d "mod e l" which b e a rs no
rese mblance to th e o bvio uS reality.
Th e average ca tch pe r trap is over 20 times la rger than th e
mode l says eve n ex ists. Th e utter imposs ib ility of ca tchin g fi sh
th at do n't ex ist or of overfishin g an area wh en 99.9 pcrce n t of it
is n ' t fis hed at all, simpl y does not co mpute in bra ins clogged
wit h eco-bullsh it.
• Drought stricken fa rmers in th e Mu rray-Dar li ng are h av in g
to pay te ns of th ousa nd s o f doll ars each yea r to reta in ri ghts
for wa ter wh ic h th ey h ave no t rece ived for th ree yea rs. In
financia l desperat io n, mo re and more are havin g to se ll t he ir
ri ghts at di scoun t p rices to th e o nly buyer in a depressed m arket,
the gove rn men t.
The plan is to use thi s water for so-called en viro nmental flows
to "restore" a con dition that n ever existed n atura ll y. Th is exe rcise
in national self-abuse is permanently rem ovin g some o f ou r most
producti ve agricultural land fro m futu re use and "resto rin g" it to
desert aridity.
• Tree c lea ring p ro h ibition s ar e tu r n in g la rge ar ea s of
p rod ucti ve g ra zin g co un t ry support ing div erse wildlife into
un produ cti ve, low bi odiversity, sc rub fo rest dom inated by a few
euca lypt species pro du cin g o nl y fuel fo r futur e inten se fir es .
Cleari ng rest ricti o ns a re like wise forc ing rural res id ents to allo w
encroac hin g tree growth to create a potential fir e bom b aro und
th eir homes awa it ing o n ly an ine vitable ignition to d evastate
t he ir lives.
• Aq uac u lture is th e fa st es t gro wing secto r in worl d food
producti o n . Fo r th e past th ree d ecades, global produ cti o n has
increased by over 1,200 perce nt with an average co mpound grm\'th
of around nin e percent per an num.
Austra lia, with some 60,000km o f mostly uni n habited coas tlin e
we ll sui ted for aqua culture, a benign climate and u n po lluted
waters, clea rly has vast poten ti al, yet deve lopmen t o f the indu stry
is now decl ining aft er a wea k start.
A co mpari so n o f Australian aquaCUlture produ ction with th':lt of
a sampli ng of oth er nations is inst ructive. Tha iland an d Vietnam
each have only about one-e ight h of Australi a's coastli ne; but bo th
hav e aro u nd 30 tim es greate r aquacult ure p rodu cti o n th an
Australi a. Th e EU has ove r 40 times grea ter. Even New Zealand has
over double Australia 's prod uction.
Alth o u gh t h e sm all s ize of Aus tr al ia 's in du str y h a s b ee n
attri buted to h igher cost st ructure th ere is obvio usly so methi ng
mo re to it than t hi s. Ce rtainl y Aust rali an costs for land, labo u r,
eq u ipm cnt, e n e rgy a nd fee d stoc k are at no di sadva nta ge t o
Can ada, France, Japan , No rway, th e UK, or the US. Yet all have
hugely grea ler aquacu lture industri es.
The real reaso n is o n ly one th ing: over-regulation. Despite the
world's best natura l co nd itions fo r it, aquaculture in Australi a ha s
been strangled at bi rth by an impossible mora ss o f regula tions. It is
o n ly these regul atory dema nd s wh ich impose multi -fold greater
expen ses, delays and u ncertainties tha n an ywh ere else.
Apa rt from a few exceptions that became well estab li shed before
regul ation made new operation s uneconom ic, aquacultu re here h as
actu all y been declining in recent yea rs whil e it co ntin ues to boom
elsewhere. The onl y sector booming h ere is regulatio n.
• Smal l min e rs a rc a n ot h er o n ce - nu m e ro u s se ct o r of
p rim a r y pr o du cti o n now o n t h e wa y to e x t in c ti o n fr o m
bu rea uc rati c de m a nd s. Nu m e rous w id e sp read a n d v a lu abl e
m ineral de pos its th ai are too small for la rge-sca le exp lo itation
no w lie idl e bU l a fe e min e nt ly econ o mic for s mal l-sca le
ope rati o ns usin g mode rn tec h no logy.
Eco-salvation science gets it wrong
Sadl y, we now have a wh o le ge n e rati o n o f m a nage rs and
research ers t horough ly indoct rin ated in eco-salvati o n ideology.
Th ey aren ' t just p u rsu in g th eir o wn pri vate ga in. It 's much
worse. They actually beli eve th ey a re do in g th e right thing and
are savin g the environm e nt. Th eir fundi ng is h igh ly dependant
o n address ing p u rpo rted pro bl ems in a cl imate o f competition
ove r the urge ncy and severity o f va rio us h ypoth eti ca l t h reats.
Funding pred icated o n th reats n eve r di scove rs them to be mino r
o r non-ex isten t. It always finds evid ence for th em and a need fo r
furt h er fund i n g . Bas ic rese ar c h a im e d o nl y at bette r
und ersta n d in g t h e world we li ve in has sa d ly beco me just a
quai n t o utda ted custo m of the past.
Scientifi c right and wrong in th is co n text is no longe r a matter
of correct or incorrect u ndersta ndin g o f how th in gs work. The old
va lues of pre-en ligh ten ment times have been resto red .
Rig h t and wro n g is on ce aga in so m ethi n g de te rmin ed b y
beli ef in accord with id eology, n ot so methin g to be di scovered
fro m rea son b as ed on evid e n ce . C ur re nt mana ge rs " kn o w"
env iron m enta l dam age m ust be occurri ng becau se an y hum an
act ivity at all must di stu rb th e deli cate balan ce of na ture and is
by definit ion an u n na tural "impact " amoun ting to a desecratio n.
Thi s is especia lly so if an y profit o r enj o ym en t mig ht be gained
by someo ne.
Such mora l judgemen t is underscored by t he fact that primary
p rod uct ion and outdoor recreati o n is see n as "explo iting" nature
for perso na l ben efit. Rig ht th in king greens condemn such terrib le
d esec rat io n when t h ese peo p le co ul d ju st get t h e ir fo o d and
entertainmen t from a sho p li ke they themselves do.
W h il e so m e ves t iges o f sc ie n ce ai m ed a t o bjecti ve
und e rs ta n d in g d o s u rvive, th e p reva iling appr o a c h i n
e n v ir o n m e n tal sc ie n ces is no w o n e o f p ro vid in g a stamp
of sc ienti fi c a u thorit y to t h e g ree n age nda . An y resea rch ers
who o bj ec t to such co rrupti o n o f sc ien ce o r who ins ist o n
presen tin g fin dings no t in accord with eco-salva ti o ni st ideology
are soo n sidelined by la ck o f fu ndi ng and sc ien tifi c c e n so rs hi~
via peer rev iew.
Un fortuna tely, the situat io n fo r refo rm is not simpl y o ne of
prov iding b etter evide n ce and argum e n t bu t t h e muc h mo re
d iff icu lt on e o f co n verting rig h t eo us, a uth o ritarian beli ef to
ob jective scientific reaso ning open to un ce rtain ty and revisio n.
This will also en ta il a chan ge in fu nda men tal pe rspe ct ive, fro m
h um anki nd as an un natura l impos itio n o n the ecosystem to a
ho li sti c view of an ecosystem whi ch includes our own species an d
its many effects as an in tegral pa rt of nature.
Probably o ne of the most effective and certain mean s of reform
wo u ld be t o in d ex th e bud ge ts and sa la r ies of gove rn m e nt
departments to the prod uctivity and pro fi tabi li ty of the sector for
wh ich they are respon Si ble. Th is wou ld indeed effect an immediate
m iracle change in perspecti ve.
It is t im e t h at po s iti ve out co m es b e requ ire d , not just
m ea n in g less eco- waffl e. It is a lso tim e t h at rea l ev id en ce be
d em and ed o f resea rch ers, n o t just un suppo rted o p inion s by a
cho ru s of "ex perts" singin g for th eir supper.
Above all, it is past time for the publi c to reali se that we are all
paying th e price of gross reso urce mi smanagemen t in ou r cost of
living, o ur health , our freedo m and in the broader well bein g of
the nati o n.
Sancti mon iously sitting on vast stores of bad ly needed resou rces
whil e mouthi ng p lati tudes abou t biod iversity, sustain ability and
o ur precious fragile en viro nm en t wo n 't cut it. If we won 't ma ke
use of our resources, hungry others will. Hav ing to sc rape aside a
bit of gree n scum to get at th em wo n 't be much of a deterrent. Th e
choice is ours.
..
AUSMAR tNE tune 2009 23

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