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GAME FISHING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA
UNITED SUPPORT
FOR NEW MARINE PARKS
In what is believed to be an historic first,
Australia’s peak national recreational and
commercial fishing bodies have united in
their support of the Government’s plans
for Commonwealth Marine Parks.
Seafood Industry Australia (SIA), the
Australian Fishing Trade Association
(AFTA), the Australian Recreational
Fishing Foundation (ARFF) and the Game
Fishing Association of Australia (GFAA)
have found common ground to achieve
and accept balance between sustainability
and Australians’ right to catch fish, eat
fish and make a living from the ocean.
Collectively, all of the representative
organisations supported and endorsed
the final Marine Parks Plan proposed by
the Coalition Government.
“It took the threat of broad loss of access
to fishing areas to bring the commercial
and recreational sides of fishing together,
but our oceans are a shared resource- for professional, recreational and
indigenous fishers, the community and
the environment,” said AFTA President,
Colin Tannahill from Shimano Australia.
“The commercial industry provides over
a billion meals to Australian families each
year. This is about the right for Australians
to fish and to eat Australian seafood from
now and into the future. Marine Parks
currently cover 36% of all Australian
Commonwealth waters, significantly
more than the international benchmark
of 10%. The Government’s current plans
protect 40% more ecological features
than the plans proposed in 2012,” said
Jane Lovell, CEO of the SIA.
I congratulate all our partners on
their efforts to win this important issue,
including all GFAA member States and
their anglers. The plans have now been
tabled and although the Labor party
tabled a disallowance motion to have the
plans thrown out, their motion failed.
It went to a vote in the Senate and we
won 34 to 26, so now, after more than
a decade of lobbying, public forums
and discussions, and after a procession
of governments changing the plans
and zoning areas, we now have a very
workable Marine Parks Plan to work with.AUSTRALIAN
INTERNATIONAL BILLFISH
TOURNAMENT
The Game Fishing Association of
Australia’s only tournament each year
is the Australian International Billfish
Tournament, which moves around the
country to be hosted and run by one of
the member clubs. This year’s event was
held in Exmouth, in the north of Western
Australia, and was a huge success with
great numbers of marlin and sailfish
tagged and released.
Inspired by the January capture of
Australia’s first ever grander blue marlin,
the Exmouth event involved 15 boats with
55 anglers and was fiercely contested
from the outset. On the first day the
boats raised 44 billfish, hooking 28 and
tagging 15. TeamHaulintook the lead
with three tags.
With glassy-calm seas, the second day
saw the air temperature soar to 42°C
and the fishing slow down considerably,
butThe Wenchscored three tags fromthree strikes while the boats near them
looked-on fishless. As you know, some
days it just goes that way. In total, the
fleet raised 32 billfish that day, hooking
21 and tagging 11.
Day three remained hot, but with a
light breeze the fish came back on the
bite, delivering 121 billfish raised, 83
strikes and 45 tagged. I was aboard Dave
Thompson’s Azura and we had a great
day with four marlin tagged, giving us six
overall and a win as Champion Boat in
the Light Tackle category. With one fish
less than the overall winners, we also
won the Moreton Bay Trophy for Runner-
Up Team overall.
Champion Team overall was awarded
to Graham Healy and his team aboard
Haulin, who tagged seven billfish, giving
them the prized E W Palmer Trophy. This
trophy is time-honoured piece of GFAA
history, with the first names on it in
1963 being Bob and Dolly Dyer, two of
Australia’s game fishing icons.
Congratulations to Julie Hodgson of the
Exmouth Game Fishing Club, who fished
aboard the charterboat Innkeeper. Julie
won Champion Angler and was awarded
the Mal Ramsay Trophy. It was great to
see another of our female anglers take it
out this year.
The 2019/20 and 2020/21 AIBT events
seem likely to be held by a club in North
Queensland, perhaps based at Yorkeys
Knob Boat Club in Cairns, although this is
still to be finalised.
Don’t forget to ‘Like’ us on Facebook,
and please visit us at http://www.gfaa.asn.au
Doug Sanderson
President, GFAAGFAA President, Doug Sanderson (at far right) congratulates Graham Healy
and his team from Haulin for winning Champion Team at the GFAA’s Australian
International Billfish Tournament held at Exmouth in WA.TOURNAMENT
NEWS