Super trawler set to strip fishing grounds

Peter Mac

Plans are afoot for the huge Panamanian-flagged fishing vessel 
Veronica II to take fish catches on a devastating scale 
within Australian waters. The ship has the potential to cause 
terrible damage to Australia's coastal fishing stocks, but the 
federal government appears unconcerned, and state governments are 
either non-committal or have expressed very limited opposition to 
the proposal.

The vessel is 106m long, and covers an area the size of a 
football field. It is a whisker short of being the largest 
fishing craft in the world, and its nets are a kilometre wide.

It has an Australian licence to catch pelagic (open sea) fish, 
which include pilchard and mackerel, the prime food source of the 
tuna, and if the ship were to operate within Australian waters 
the commercial tuna fishing industry could face ruin.

The Veronica II, which has been nicknamed "the death ship" 
by some environmentalists, can hold a catch of 5000 tonnes of 
these commercially valuable species. As if that wasn't bad 
enough, its nets also indiscriminately take seals, seabirds, 
dolphins and sharks.

Having plundered the North Atlantic, the ship is currently in 
South Africa, and its owner, Irish fishing magnate Kevin McHugh, 
is said to be considering selling the vessel to an Adelaide-based 
partnership, Veronica Sea Fish, for flagging and permanent 
operation within Australian waters.

A special fishing permit is needed before the vessel can start 
fishing operations here. The Australian Fisheries Authority, 
which issues the permits, has stated that the full impact of 
"super trawler" operations in Australian waters would not be 
clear for at least two years, after production of special 
research reports.

However, the authority has decided not to wait for this crucial 
information, and will consider applications for permits in 
November — after the federal elections.

The NSW and South Australian Governments have banned the ship 
from operating in state waters, but the Carr Government has ruled 
out banning the ship from entering NSW ports.

Moreover, state waters only extend three kilometres from shore, 
whereas the federal government controls the remainder of a 200 km 
band around the Australian coastline. It's obvious that real 
control over the operations of the Veronica II rests with 
the Federal Government.

The Prime Minister has contemptuously dismissed allegations about 
the impact of the ship's operations in Australian waters as 
"politically motivated".

And meanwhile, as if fully confident of Australian government 
approval for its plans, the owners of the Veronica II have 
been busy recruiting Australian crew members, which is having a 
major adverse impact on the existing fishing industry.

A spokesman for the Greens, NSW parliamentarian Ian Cohen, last 
week commented: "The Veronica and its big sister the Atlantic 
Dawn have artfully dodged fishing regulations in the North 
Atlantic and off the west coast of Africa for years. The NSW and 
Federal Governments must act quickly and clearly rule out boats 
of this size and destructive capability from coming anywhere near 
our fisheries.

"Allowing 'fish factories' such as the world's second largest 
trawler, the MV Veronica, to plunder small fish species 
off the NSW south coast could lead to an ecosystem collapse and 
ruin local sustainable fishing industry.

"The impact of over-fishing, not just the result of centuries of 
unregulated abuse, but due to the increasing size of vessels and 
increasingly efficient methods of fishing used, is all too 
obvious in the North Atlantic."