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19th April, 2007

Toxins in Fish (shellfish); Dolphins and Snapper

After reading through the article in The Age (Health risk study on port dredging slammed for being too narrow , 18th April, 2007) and a quick review with John, something that was sticking in my mind was confirmed.

PoMC's assertion that shellfish were excluded from the study because it is illegal to catch them is not based in truth.

In fact it is legal for anybody to harvest mussels as long as they are not in the high water intertidal zone (2m below the high water mark) and therefore their ability to accumulate toxins is very much of concern.

Depending on how you read the rules as contained in the Recreational Fishing Guide even that restriction is not so.

Add to that the revelation in the letter from the Polperro Dolphin person (Jim Curtis, see letter to Jon Faine in this section. Ed) showing the Summary S-EES document doesn't relay much of the critical data hidden away in the technical appendices..

I'd go as far as to say the PoMC is relying on many people not even reading much of the Technical Appendices and forming an opinion based on the PoMC spin contained in the Summary.

Surely this is bordering on deliberate negligence?

Following this the general regard for snapper in Port Phillip being low when this from the DPI claims, as we've been saying, that Port Phillip Bay is more than just a breeding ground for snapper: it is in fact "Crucial" to Victoria Western Snapper Stocks.

Trevor