Eating ‘Tuna-friendly’ tuna will ensure we can continue to eat tuna into the future.  Choosing the right tuna brand means choosing a brand which favours (or uses entirely) the sustainable tuna species of ‘skipjack’.  In addition they will favour less destructive fishing practices with lower by-catch rates.

‘Dolphin-friendly’ canned tuna you buy at the supermarket may be caught:

• from overfished stocks
• from illegal fishing vessels or companies
• using methods which result in a high level of by-catch (such as dolphins, turtles, seabirds, sharks, sea snakes and more).

Greenpeace has made it simple to make a decision when contemplating a supermarket aisle full of choices thanks to their ‘Canned Tuna Guide’.  Of the four types of tuna fished throughout the World’s oceans three are currently overfished or still being overfished.  Greenpeace’s guide is ranked according to a company’s choice to use the sustainably fishable ‘skipjack’ species of tuna (over the three other overfished species) and also fishing practices in use by their suppliers (to avoid excessive by-catch).

Why is this important?  Because as populations increase, and tuna continues to be the highest selling seafood item in Australia, we need to be smarter about our choices as consumers if we want to continue to eat tuna.

A guide to sustainable canned tuna

Supermarkets and Sustainable Tuna from our Oceans

Brands were scored with the international Greenpeace tuna ranking system:

• > 70% Good. An acceptable sustainable an equitable tuna procurement policy has been obtained. Maintaining and improving these standards is essential.

• 40 – 70% Must improve. Initial measures have been taken to obtain a sustainable and equitable tuna procurement policy. More concrete steps are needed to reach an acceptable standard.

< 40% Very poor. Urgent action is required to improve tuna procurement.

Go to www.greenpeace.org.au/tuna for a complete explanation of the ranking of each canned tuna brand.

For more information on canned tuna in Australia please read the guide ‘Out of Stock, Out of Excuses’ by Greenpeace (click on image to the left to download pdf) more information can also be found at:

More Information on the State of Tuna Stocks:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (a global, non-profit partnership between the tuna industry, scientists, and the World Wide Fund for Nature), Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna, Pacific Ocean (eastern & western) bigeye tuna, and North Atlantic albacore tuna are all overfished. In April 2009 no stock of skipjack tuna (which makes up roughly 60 percent of all tuna fished worldwide) was considered to be overfished.

The following images are taken from the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation they help demonstrate the state of Tuna stocks in different areas of the World’s oceans.  Australia is located in the Western Pacific region.

Migaloo the white whale

Humpack whales follow hot on the heels of Minke Whales on the Great Barrier Reef, just as one season is waning the other is building into full force and we love it!  While diving on the Great Barrier Reef, getting to hear the ‘songs’ of humpback whales is a beautiful thing and sends a thrill up your spine.  Bizarre hand signals to each other follow as divers try to make each other understand…”that is a whale singing, can you you hear it”.  Often the whales sound so close you find yourself constantly looking over your shoulder for a glimpse in the blue, but they can be up to two miles away and you can still hear their beautiful songs.

One of the most famous (if not THE most famous) humpback whales is Migaloo – the White Whale.  Each year the first sighting of Migaloo is reported from NSW, ‘Migaloo has been spotted off the coast’ and we in Cairns know they are on the way.  However, this year it has been even more exciting as their have been multiple ‘white whale’ sightings.  Is it Migaloo or is it his calf?  According to the White Whale Research centre on the 27th June 2010:

“The White Whale Research Centre has received two sightings (one confirmed by photos) of a white whale from different locations with the distinct possibility we might have two white whales cruising up the east coast of Australia. In July 2008 we had reports of a white whale with black spots on its head and tail.This one, named Bahloo after an Aboriginal moon spirit, was first seen swimming off the Gold Coast. Little is known about Bahloo. However with the sighting of Fraser Island on Sunday 27th it has been confirmed it was Migaloo which therefore means the unconfirmed sighting of Cape Byron on the same day could be Bahloo.”

Migaloo was then spotted again on the 21/07/2010 off Port Douglas.  There are now reports of a sighting on Monday 2nd August off Cairns near Green Island.

Once thought to be an Albino Whale, Migaloo is for the moment he is known as a “hypo-pigmented” humpback. Migaloo was first photographed in 1991 off Byron Bay.  He was the first documented all white whale and his name was taken from the name aboriginal elders from the Hervey Bay area of Queensland used for ‘white fellas’.  In 2004 researchers from Southern Cross University were able to collect DNA from Migaloo which confirmed he was a male, but which can also be used to compare against other white whales (such as Bahloo) to check for paternity.

Because Migaloo is so readily identifiable, and has caught the attention of people around the world, sightings can be reported to the White Whale Research Centre which maintains a log.  These sightings then provide valuable insight into the migratory behaviour of humpback whales.  Migaloo is part of the east Australian humpback population, now suspected to number around 11-13,000 individuals in 2010. This population was likely around 30,000 before commercial whaling began, but was possibly as low as 104 individuals after commercial whaling on humpbacks ceased in the 1960s

The White Whale Research Centre was setup to act as a central communication point between universities, locals, the press and the public.  Its website maintains a log of ‘Migaloo’ sightings and is maintained primarily as a resource for children studying whales, or anyone who wants to know more about Migaloo.  Please visit their website for more information: http://www.migaloo.com.au

Because Migaloo is such a unique whale he has special Queensland & Commonwealth Government legislation to protect him from harassment. For this reason all vessels including Jet-skis are prohibited from approaching Migaloo no closer than 500m and Aircraft no lower then 2000 feet. The Fine for breaching this law is $16,500.00  If you are lucky enough to sight MIGALOO in the wild and can report his location please contact The White Whale Research Centre Via mobile phone on 0415 748 143 or email details and photos to sightings@migaloo.com.au

This is completely legal in Australia.  While shark fishing specifically for fins (i.e. dumping the shark carcass back into the sea) is now illegal in Australia, it is still legal for sharks to be fished and then the shark fins and meat sold and unfortunately the fishery is not sustainable.

Christian Miller from Shirts4Sharks took this photo just this week at a Cairns supermarket.

Taking the pressure off sharks by ending shark fin exports from Australia will enable Australian shark populations to recover and ensure they continue their role in stabilising the marine ecosystem.

Black tip reef shark fillets on sale in Coles, Australia

To help, you can:

• refuse to buy shark meat
• raise awareness, spread this information.  Use Facebook, Twitter, talk to you friends.

More information about Shark Fishing in Australia:

Sharks are extremely vulnerable to fishing impacts. Recent research found that almost one third (32%) of open ocean sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing. Sharks are slow growing and late to mature making them particularly susceptible to and slow to recover from overfishing. Fisheries scientists agree – they are yet to identify a single shark fishery that is sustainable. Put simply, sharks are being caught and killed faster than they can reproduce.

It is still legal to fish in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area.  During 2008-09, the Australian Marine Conservation Society worked with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to find ways to reduce, and eventually stop shark fishing in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage by the Queensland East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery.   In recent years the Inshore Finfish Fishery killed between 900t and 1400t of shark per year (between 112,000 and 175,000 individual sharks in total).

In  2008 Federal Environment Minister, Hon Peter Garrett, MP,  committed to establish an independent review panel to review the sustainability of this fishery.  In March 2009, the outcomes of this review were made public. In brief, the review recommended that the Queensland government, in the short term, reduce shark fishing by one third, or 300t, and reform the Inshore Finfish Fishery into a more modern and sustainable fishery. While this makes significant progress for our World Heritage Sharks, there is still much more to be done to protect our precious sharks on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere around our coastline. (source: AMCS)

It is election time in Australia, and this is Australians chance to have a say about the future decisions our elected government will make.  At no other time are politicians listening more to what Australians have to say about what is important to them.  There are many things that are important to me, the future of our oceans being one of them.  So I wondered… who is going to do what to address the issues currently facing Australia’s waters, including:

• coastal development
• coastal and marine pollution
• unsustainable fishing
• loss of habitat
• climate change

In the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s ‘Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009‘ here is what they summed up as being the biggest threats to the reef:

“Based on the outcomes of the risk assessment (figure 8.1), the greatest threats to the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem are:

• Climate change: increasing sea temperature, ocean acidification and rising sea level
• Catchment runoff: nutrients, pesticides (including herbicides) and sediments entering the Great Barrier Reef
• Coastal development: clearing or modifying wetlands, mangroves and other coastal habitats and ingestion of or entanglement in marine debris causing death in species of conservation concern.
• Direct use – extractive: extraction of top predators by fishing (e.g. sharks), incidental catch during fishing of species of conservation concern, illegal fishing or collecting (foreign or domestic), death of discarded species during fishing or collecting, fishing in unprotected fish spawning aggregations and poaching (illegal hunting) of species of conservation concern.

The threats associated with direct use of the Great Barrier Reef Region that do not involve extraction of its resources are generally of lower risk to the ecosystem.”

The plight of sharks and the collapse of fisheries is now an issue that is becoming much more widely known and accepted.  Environmental groups such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society are doing a fantastic job of generating awareness through their campaigns.

Now, in an election year, it is time for every Australian to have their say.  So who is promising to do what for our country’s environmental and marine health?

On the 27th of July the Coalition announced “The Coalition’s Plan For Real Action on Marine Protected Areas‘.  The sad thing about this document is that their first step in this action plan is to “immediately put on hold the Marine Bioregional Planning process to allow for its restructure”.  So their first step is to immediately stop all the work that is currently being done to establish marine parks.  The general gist of the document is entirely built around stopping current plans for marine protection areas, and moving forward with new plans only after proper consultation with fisherman.  There are a couple of things I find interesting about this, firstly the action = stop contradiction and secondly they don’t say ‘interested stakeholders’,  they say ‘fisherman’.  Sorry tourism operators and others who use these marine areas.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has examined the election policies of the major policies and produced a scorecard which shows how well they perform for environmental issues.

What is shows, is what I think many Australians feel…let down on environmental issues by the major Australian political parties.  The ACF also released a statement on the Coalition’s new marine policy:

ony Abbott’s announcement that a Liberal Government would suspend the marine bioregional planning process, initiated by the Howard Government, is economically and environmentally irresponsible, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.

“Mr Abbott’s proposal threatens the environment and the economy of whole communities right along the Barrier Reef coastline,” said ACF Executive Director Don Henry.

“The Great Barrier Reef contributes more than $5 billion annually to the Australian economy and supports 60,000 jobs (Access Economics, 2005).

“At a time when the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster has given us all a stark reminder about the dangers of unprotected marine environments, it is economically and environmentally irresponsible to be promoting a ‘drill baby drill’ approach.

“Marine protected areas are vital to recovering marine life and improving the health diversity and abundance of marine life in our oceans.

“All the Australian waters off-shore from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are currently unprotected and could be open to oil exploration.

“The Howard Government recognised this, responding to international marine protection targets and the growing evidence that marine protected areas are urgently needed and that they work.

“I urge the Coalition to reconsider and reverse this announcement which would hurt our oceans and the communities up and down the coast that depend upon them.”

Each year the Cairns Underwater Film Festival brings a selection of top underwater films to Australia. Christian Botella, the festival’s organiser, has stepped up the event this year by organising an associated underwater photography competition. The winners of the competition will be announced at this year’s festival held on the 7th of August.

The Cairns Underwater Film Festival drawns on some of the best films from the International Festival held in France each year. Considered as the benchmark of underwater films, this International Festival attracts more than 25 000 visitors over 4 days and includes 900 competitors from over 50 nations. It is the most prestigious celebration of underwater art, movies, videos, photos, slideshows, music, paintings, drawings, books etc….See the website www.Underwater-festival.com

Tickets are $25 for adults and available through Ticketlink.

The presentation starts at 7.30pm on Saturday 7th & 8th August 2010.