Say No to Deep Sea Perch this Christmas

Attention - Environment, science, resources, food, lifestyle, fishing journalists, Chiefs of Staff and Producers

When you go shopping for your Christmas seafood this week, please avoid Australia's old man of the sea -the long-lived orange roughy.

Responding to the recent decision made by Commonwealth Fisheries Minister, Ian Macdonald, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) today expresses extreme disappointment at the Australian Government's decision to continue allowing the unsustainable fishing of Australia's deep sea perch, also called orange roughy.

"We are extremely disappointed that the Minister has not made a decision to fully protect this species from further harm. Fishing for orange roughy is both unsustainable and unethical" said Craig Bohm, AMCS National Fisheries Campaigner.

Orange roughy may live up to 150 years and are found in the deep sea where they have been overfished for over a decade, according to the Bureau of Rural Sciences 2004 Fisheries Status Report. (http://www.daff.gov.au/)

"A gold rush of seabed trawlers has rapidly fished Australia's orange roughy populations down to unsustainable levels. The only place they now remain in any number is on the Cascade Plateau, an underwater volcano found south east of Tasmania" Bohm continued.

The Australian Government describes the Cascade as a complex geological structure, containing many different micro habitats and deep sea corals that live for more than 300 years. The Cascade, at certain times, also supports large numbers of whales (e.g. beaked, sperm, pilot and killer whales) and dolphins. (Source - http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/mpa/southeast/index.html#offshore)

"The Cascade Plateau is so special that it should be made a 'no-take' marine protected area. The Australian Government must stop the continued exploitation of our deep sea species, like orange roughy, which live below 500m" Bohm said.

"The Government's generous $220 million fisheries reform package should be used to stop deep sea fishing for species like orange roughy once and for all," Bohm concluded.