BLOG: Time to defend what we've won from the Feds

I HOPE you all enjoyed better fishing weather than I did over the Christmas holidays.

Half the UK, my half naturally, is in the grip of a winter drought with low or non-existent river flows while parts of the North and West have seen abundant rainfall. Low and stale water makes for crap winter fishing over here although I did manage to winkle out a few nice grayling. When I did drive west to fish the mighty river Wye on New Years Eve with an old mate we were greeted by a two metre slug of floodwater carrying with it whole trees, a dead sheep and an early bath for two disappointed coarse fisherman.

Anyway it's back to work for me giving anglers a political voice in my new job as National Campaigns Co-ordinator for the Angling Trust. Just as in Australia we are busy debating the thorny issue of Marine Reserves but we do at least have a promise from government that recreational fishing will be retained in the majority of areas. This something I fought for in my time in Parliament - See Here

Reading back through the news items on the Fisho site I was struck by how few people had much to say on the proposals for the new Coral Sea marine park which preserves massive areas for angling and even includes some dedicated catch and release zones for sportsfishing – something that is relatively rare in Australia. This is in marked contrast to the Pew Foundation who have been busy whipping up opposition to Tony Burke's draft plans. Check out what they had to say here.

Don't for one minute think that Pew or the Australian Marine Conservation Society will have been idle on this issue over the holiday period. Letters and emails will have been organised and a professional political lobby will be cranking up the pressure on the Feds to roll back the draft plans and lock more anglers out of more areas – just as they tried to do in the South-West. The AMCS say quite clearly "Only the eastern half of this ocean treasure has been set aside as a safe haven for marine life. The western half contains most of the species-rich coral reefs and critical spawning sites for black marlin and threatened tuna".

And don't think this lot are going to accept the hard won sportsfishing areas welcomed by Nomad's impressive boss Damon Olsen who rightly recognised that this represented a significant policy shift by the government and could bring huge benefits by allowing anglers into many areas that the greenies want to ban us from. Here's what Damon, a man who probably knows the Coral Sea better than anyone, had to say on Burke's plans:
"I think the draft plan is a major success for recreational and charter fishing interests, and shows the global significance of this area from a sportfishing perspective.

"This is quite likely the best proposal for any marine reserve I have ever seen tabled in Australia, including the 2004 rezoning of the GBR, and shows a lot of serious thought, effort and understanding from the team behind it. I particularly think that the proposal of a catch & release, or sportfishing, zone in the Coral Sea is a significant step forward for fisheries and marine area managers in Australia.

"These type of C&R zones are implemented with massive success in other parts of the world. I have the highest praise for the people behind this sportfishing zone, and I think it shows a very forward thinking approach from the managers of this area. The planned catch & release zones need a little more detail put into them in terms of what can and cannot be done, but the initial proposal is a massive leap forwards in terms of fisheries and marine reserve management."

Like it or not, marine planning and marine reserves are here to stay. Hardly surprising in a world with an exploding population that is running out of resources. What the recreational fishing sector has to do is prove that it can step up to the mark and make the case for properly managed fisheries with sensible and sustainable bag and size limits and an increased use of C&R in sensitive areas. The alternative is to whinge and whine, put our heads in the sand and hope the problems will go away, which of course they won't.

So how about we all get writing and tell Burke and the Feds to stand firm against Pew and those who are seeking to portray Aussie anglers as uncaring fishmongers whose impact is the same as the longliners or commercial trawlers? We all know this is a lie and that most fishos care desperately about the environment on which our sport depends. Well now is the time to prove it. You might not plan to fish the Coral Sea yourself but believe me if we make this policy stick and hold the line here then every Australian angler will be a little stronger and have a little less to fear next time around.

The public consultation ends on February 24 and you can find the details here:
www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/coralsea