Noriko was intent on finding some fresh fish and wanted to go to a shop she had spotted on the way from the airport on our arrival last week. It was quite easy to locate – Cairns' size has its advantages – and having bought our whole Tasmanian salmon I approached a member of staff about the recent adverts I'd seen on TV slamming the proposed protection of the Reef. The staff member just smiled sweetly (something people here do a great deal and I thank them for it) and said she knew nothing, but a man who turned out to be the owner of the shop furnished me with the fishermen's point of view.
"The greenies are telling the public a pack of lies. If they get their way, the only fish people will be able to eat in Cairns will be from fish farms and I've flown over those green pools of slime they call farms (and where the restaurants get their fish!) and let me tell you, you don't want your kids eating that. Not unless you want horns growing out of their heads when they get older. I'm also a conservationist. I believe in sustainable fishing. The reef is not over-fished though some line fishermen have over-fished some areas in the past. We are good for the people of Cairns, but if they put into place the regulations I think they will, we'll all be in trouble."
He said a lot more, of course, and his main concern definitely seemed to be about the investment that he and other fishermen had made in their boats, and the fact that they would not be compensated should they not be allowed to fish there anymore (though he himself fishes almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia so he certainly won't be put out of business), but he also countered the claims made by the 'greenies' he despised so much. He told me to get in touch with a particular organization for more facts and I told him I would. In the meantime, read the first two paragraphs and spot a flaw in his argument. To be continued.
Posted by Joe at July 16, 2003 08:43 PMNot sure I've spotted it, but perhaps it has something to do with him being the shop owner?
Posted by: DJ at July 17, 2003 08:12 PMNo, it's the fact that I was buying Tasmanian salmon and yet he was claiming that if fishing off the Reef was curtailed any further we'd have no fresh (sea) fish to eat in Cairns. The fact is you can get fish from further afield than the Reef ... which is just as well because the choice would be rather limited otherwise.
Posted by: Joe at July 17, 2003 08:57 PM