A leader in conservation for 25 years, with a focus on the ocean and coasts, Paul’s deep commitment to the ocean and marine life is inspired by a lifelong passion for the natural world. As CEO of Australian Marine Conservation Society, Paul leads a team that is at the forefront of environmental advocacy, championing marine conservation solutions that benefit people and the planet. Paul is a highly experienced media spokesperson who is able to articulate the case for conserving Australia’s remarkable ocean and coast – and the life they support – with clarity and enthusiasm.
This opinion piece published in WAToday on 21 November 2025: If Australia doesn’t fish for the future, we won’t be fishing in the future!
In Australia, our blue backyard is integral to our way of life. The wonder of diving on a coral reef and all the jobs this supports, fishing with your kids, and a seafood platter at Christmas all depend on a healthy ocean, full of life.
But our ocean is at a tipping point, and too many fisheries are still adding pressure, meaning it’s time for our political leaders to tackle the big issues in our fisheries.
Too many of Australia’s most vulnerable and iconic marine animals are still dying in commercial fishing gear.
High-risk methods like gillnet and trawl fishing continue to entangle threatened species like dugongs, turtles, sawfish, sea lions and sea snakes.
It’s not just wildlife at risk, it’s their homes too.
Some fishing methods still destroy critical habitats like deep-water corals and seagrass beds.
Trawling for orange roughy has decimated fragile deep-water corals on seamounts off Tasmania, and Australia’s largest coral fishery can legally harvest up to 190 tonnes of coral from the Great Barrier Reef each year, even as climate stress pushes our reef to its limit.
We’re still taking too many fish in some fisheries. All around the country, iconic species like snapper, orange roughy and scallops are being fished to the point of collapse.
Fishers and communities in Western Australia have been failed by poor management, with iconic species like red emperor on the brink and dhufish populations off Perth at just 7 per cent of unfished levels.
Around 65 per cent of the seafood we eat is imported, so it’s critical that we know what’s on our plate and where it came from.
Australia’s current lack of traceability requirements at the border means that we are at risk of fuelling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing overseas: if you can’t trace it, you can’t trust it.
The Australian government has agreed to look further into the data, but this is not enough.
The government must urgently implement a best-practice traceability system for imported seafood, like the EU, Japan and Korea have already done.
This means mandating robust digital traceability, building interconnected trade data systems, and requiring labels that tell Australians the full story of their seafood.
To turn the tide, Australia needs strong fisheries management with proper funding and data, supported by environment laws that actually protect marine life.
Australia’s highest-risk fisheries need cameras on boats. We can’t manage what we can’t see and right now, too much of the data, including threatened species interactions, relies on self-reporting.
Independent monitoring gives us an accurate picture of what’s being caught, so we can properly support recovery of marine wildlife that’s on a path to extinction.
We need to commit to ending overfishing, and rebuild populations to levels that are robust and resilient to fishing pressure against the backdrop of our rapidly changing climate.
We need to ensure fishing does not hinder the recovery of species caught as bycatch – particularly our endangered marine life.
Sensitive habitats must be highly protected from damage caused by fishing nets and trawls, and areas of the ocean fully protected from fishing must be expanded.
Management must be supported to collect reliable, verified information on fishing impacts so we can monitor and mitigate fishing’s impacts.
Everyone has a role to play in safeguarding Australia’s ocean. You can help by contacting your local MP and demanding transparency and traceability in our seafood supply chain, and calling on them to back policies that protect threatened wildlife and rebuild fish stocks; share information, support strong reporting, and stand with seafood producers doing the right thing.
One of the most practical things you can do is choose seafood from more responsible fisheries. The GoodFish Sustainable Seafood Guide uses a traffic light system to help you easily swap out any unsustainable seafood for a Better Choice.
Australia has the science, the tools and the public expectation that fishing will be done responsibly.
What’s needed now is political will and real action. The future of our ocean relies on sustainable fisheries. If we don’t fish for the future, we won’t be fishing in the future.
November 21 is World Fisheries Day.