Source: ABC Radio Australia
Somebody who can remember what the Pacific Ocean was like before the exploitation of the tuna stocks is legendary underwater filmmaker, Valerie Taylor.
She’s just joined the campaign to protect Australia’s Coral Sea region and is calling on the Australian government to get serious about its recently released conservation plan.
Valerie Taylor says the plan, while covering a large part of the Coral Sea, does not address saving sealife.
Presenter:Campbell Cooney
Speaker:Valerie Taylor, legendary Australian wildlife filmmaker
TAYLOR: My husband and myself first went into the Coral Sea in the 60s, I can’t remember the exact year, and we went there on a fishing boat that was called the Coralita, and we paid our way by spearing fish. And probably quite illegal, but that was the deal we made to get out there, there were no live aboard dive vessels in those days and all the diving was done holding your breath.
COONEY: When you think about what sort of condition it was in there as far as natural wildlife and sealife, and you think about what it is now, what’s the difference that you see?
The big difference that we see now is the lack of large fish around the reefs. The longliners have been working those reefs for the last three decades I’d say, originally they were Japanese and you’d go out there and all you’d hear on the ships radio would be the Japanese talking to each other. And more frequently, more recently it’s Australian and Taiwanese longlining, and the reefs are still in very good condition but the big fish are much scarcer.
The Australian government they have put together a plan for the Coral Sea, I support they’re talking about the part of it that is in the Australian territory. Your concern is that that draft plan does not go far enough, are you correct?
You are correct, the draft plan sounds wonderful and the government is sort of blinding the general public to the fact that it’s huge, it covers a large area, but it doesn’t cover the living reefs where the majority of the marine life is found. It only I believe from what I’ve seen takes in two islands with reefs, and that’s two out of about 25. I think it’s pathetic. The open ocean does have marine life but it’s scarce and it’s usually pelagic.
Would they perhaps give you an argument, I’m only just surmising here that perhaps the part that isn’t protected out of this plan would come under things like the Great Barrier Reef plan and trust and the natural park that’s part of that?
There can be no argument, you either protect it and you save it for the future and hope that it regenerates from the damage that has already been done, or you don’t, there’s no halfway measure. And I think that we should take much better care of our marine environment all around Australia, not just the Coral Sea. But right now the Coral Sea is in danger not from blowing up or floating away, but from becoming so restricted species wise that maybe it’ll take a long time to recover if ever. I’m tired of fishermen telling me that they’re farmers of the sea. A farmer buys his land, clears it, fertilizes it, plants his crop or puts his cows on it or whatever, and he takes care of it year after year. I’m old, I’m 76, I was out there when I was in my late 20s, and I saw a world that no longer exists. It’s still beautiful, it still has many fishes and wonderful corals and the water is clear and clean, but those great schools of tuna and schools of fish you couldn’t even see through, they’re gone. And all the sharks, the sharks have gone.