Trawling

Clearfelling the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area is Australia’s most prominent natural icon, and contains the word’s largest and most diverse living coral ecosystems. Yet, despite being a marine park and world heritage area, the GBR is subject to one of […]
Ensure that any methods of harvesting prawns are ecologically sustainable

About

Clearfelling the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area is Australia’s most prominent natural icon, and contains the word’s largest and most diverse living coral ecosystems. Yet, despite being a marine park and world heritage area, the GBR is subject to one of the most destructive of marine activities – prawn trawling. Trawling is permitted in about 210,000 sq. km of the GBR World Heritage Area. Logbook data show that trawling effort in 1996 covered an area of about 160,000 sq. km or almost half the world heritage area. Trawling damages the marine environment in two major ways: It kills many thousands of tonnes of non-target animals (or bycatch) and it damages and destroys the life and structures on the sea bottom (the benthos). NQCC is campaigning to ensure that any methods of harvesting prawns are ecologically sustainable. Prawn trawling is not ecologically sustainable.

Fact sheets
#1 – Trawling in the GBR – a summary
#2 – The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
#3 – The trawling industry in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
#4 – Trawling and the rule of law in the GBR
Summary and critique of the CSIRO Report
Submission to Federal Government May 1999

Note: This descriptive text was copied from the Campaign's website. Some website links may no longer be active.

Campaign Details

Group Leading this Campaign: North Queensland Conservation Council

Campaign Target Type:

Who this Campaign is Targeting: No specific target mentioned

Main Issue of the Campaign:

Campaign Ran From: 2001 to 2002

Campaign Outcome:

Outcome Evidence: The recent fisheries guide permits trawling in some areas of the Reef for prawns. As it states on page 5 "While tiger prawns are the primary target species, this harvest strategy also manages a number of other permitted species that can be retained through trawling'. Thus trawling is still allowed. However, the guide notes some areas are now closed to trawling and that the harvest limits are managed around sustainable principles. However, the 2022 AMCS sustainable seafood guide notes that 'The latest update to the fully independent guide recommends popular seafood items in Queensland like wild caught barramundi, Spanish mackerel and prawns should be avoided either due to overfished stocks or the dangers to marine wildlife posed by the fishing methods used to catch them and a history of under-reporting." Thus the campaign is considered to have not achieved its goals.

Year Outcome Assessed:

Weblinks

Trawling

Issue

States/Territories