Coral Sea 'No Take' Zone a Very Real Threat: Boswell

The Nationals' Senator Ron Boswell believes that a Coral Sea ‘No Take' zone is a very real threat after the Rudd Government's successful proclamation of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone.

Speaking at a public meeting organised by those opposed to the proclamation Senator Boswell said that "Pew has won this first battle, but the war to save fishing industry jobs still rages." 

"An Eastern Marine Bioregional Plan will be declared in 2010 and it is important that the Coral Sea area is not singled out within that plan as a no take zone in order to satisfy the ever increasing avaricious appetite of the green movement."

"This proclamation is a disgraceful abuse of power by the Minister for Environment who has unilaterally declared an area of nearly a million square kilometres of ocean as a conservation zone without any consultation with industry representatives at all."

Senator Boswell revealed there was no consultation with any industry stakeholder by either the Minister or his Department before the proclamation of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone on 19 May 2009.

"A response by the Minister to a Question on Notice (2122) revealed that only two meetings were held by the Department prior to the proclamation, one with the Australian Conservation Foundation (19/03/09) and the other with Pew Charitable Trust (14/04/09) only a month before the proclamation."

"The Minister by the proclamation has over-ridden the planning process put in place by the Howard Government to profile the entire Eastern Bio-region."

"The employees of the fishing, charter boat, marine and tourism industries should be shuddering in their boots over this decision," Senator Boswell said.

"In the Labor party I have always found that whenever there is a contest between Blue Collar workers and ‘tradies' and the Green movement, the Blue Collar workers always come in a bad second," Senator Boswell said.

"The astounding part is that this decision has even upset the Green movement with an obvious split growing between the Pew Charitable Trust who want the area declared a ‘no take' zone and the WWF who think that a ‘no take' zone goes too far."

 "The Coral Sea is a very low volume, high value fishery with $10million of fish taken in 2006.  The area is in pristine condition and has been for 200 years."

Senator Boswell warned that by separating the area the Minister has carte blanche to zone it however he wants.

"The debate in the Senate has, if nothing else made people aware of the concerns of industry representatives in the most important forum in the land, the Australian Parliament."