| Dr Warwick Gullett, who has just released his book on fisheries law i... Dr Warwick Gullett, who has just released his book on fisheries law in Australia |
Complicated fishing laws tackled in new book
22 May 2008 | Nick Hartgerink
University of Wollongong (UOW) academic Dr Warwick Gullett is tackling the tangled net of Australian fishing laws in his new book Fisheries Law in Australia.
Dr Gullett is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law and member of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at UOW.
The book, which is the first to look at Australian fisheries law, provides a clear account of the complex fishing environment in Australia. It is aimed mainly at legal practitioners, academics, students, fisheries managers and enforcement officers but is also useful for other Australians, Dr Gullett said.
“All Australians, not just those involved in the commercial fishing industry, have a stake in the successful management of fisheries due to the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and ensuring the supply of fish as well as providing the opportunity for a much-loved recreational activity,” he said.
According to Dr Gullett his book reveals that Australian fisheries law is made up of complicated inter-related regimes that extend far beyond issues of size and possession limits.
“Australian fisheries law has become a complicated mass of legislation, regulations and management plans. This has serious implications for all fishers including occasional recreational fishers.” Dr Gullett said.
The book investigates how influences like the common law, the legal recognition of indigenous fishing rights and the development of measures to protect Australian fisheries from illegal foreign fishers have resulted in the now complicated system.
Dr Gullett hopes that his book will be an important and easy-to-follow reference for policy makers and legislators dealing with the problem of how to modernise fisheries laws.
“[This] is a daunting task because there are nine jurisdictions with fisheries management responsibilities and their areas of legal jurisdiction overlap in complicated ways.”
“There are also differences in the way fishing has been regulated across and within jurisdictions, and the amount of law is forever increasing in volume and complexity,” he said.
Despite many problems with marine and fishing laws in Australia, Dr Gullett said he was pleased to see that environmental considerations have always been important in forming our fishing laws. He said that the environment has been an issue for Australian laws “from the time our first pieces of fisheries legislation appeared in the 1850s and 1860s.”
For more information contact Dr Warwick Gullett on (02) 4221 4162.
Fisheries Law in Australia is published by LexisNexis Butterworths. It is available to order from www.lexisnexis.com.au/aus/products/promotions/books/documents/Q1Books08a_orderform.pdf
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