Brisbane
brisbane@seashepherd.org
News
Lure Restaurant Brisbane joins the fight to save Australia’s Tuna
Many people have now heard about the Sea Shepherd Mediterranean Campaign “Blue Rage” which is now intervening against illegal tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea.
Bluefin Tuna is geographically represented in 3 areas within the world’s oceans; Atlantic (or Northern), Pacific and Southern Bluefin Tuna.
Whilst insufficient data has been recorded on the populations of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in terms of its threat of extinction, both Pacific and Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) species have been listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since the 1950s, when industrial fishing commenced, the total population of SBT has declined by approximately 95 percent.
SBT have been heavily exploited over the years and are being fished to the brink of extinction. Australia has the largest quota for Southern Bluefin Tuna: it can legally harvest 5,265 tonnes per year. Japan has the second largest quota at 3,000 tonnes per year. However, the Australian government stated in 2006 that Japan had admitted to taking more than 100 000 tonnes over its quota.
The quota alone are not the entire problem, an overwhelming majority (98%) are caught as juveniles in the Great Australian Bight before being fattened up in sea cages and exported to Japan.
Targeting large numbers of young fish flat lines any chances of recovery and robs the ocean of future generations of this species. So, while the tuna fishers claim their industry is sustainable, the ocean heaves a deep sigh at the disappearance of one of her most iconic creatures.
In Brisbane we have been working on helping to conserve SBT by speaking to restaurants that are listing it on their menus and asking them to consider removing it for the sake of the species.
Chris Willis, General Manager The Coro Hotel/Lure Seafood Restaurant (www.thecoro.com) has agreed to remove SBT from the menus out of good ethics and has offered to work cohesively with Sea Shepherd in the future.
Following on from Cloudland Restaurant’s decision, in January this year, to no longer offer SBT, we applaud Lure Seafood Restaurant and their management for helping us to stop the extinction of this species.
We commend these, and any other restaurants, who maintain the required ethical standard to put sustainability in front of short term profits and invite any other restaurants, eateries or wholesalers to join us in saving the Bluefin Tuna.
More information on our Mediterranean Tuna Campaign can be found at www.seashepherd.org/blue-rage
- By Michael Dalton, Sea Shepherd Brisbane Coordinator 26 May 2010
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2010 Future Events
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September 18th. 'Peace and Sustainability' Festival
Musgrave Park, Russell St, South Brisbane
The International Day of Peace Alliance, Make Poverty History and the Earth Charter Festival partner for the International Day of Peace celebrations with a multicultural family day in Musgrave Park.
The day will include cultural performances, food stalls and information stalls highlighting sustainability and peace initiatives. A full day of family entertainment is assured. Sea Shepherd Brisbane is honoured to be a part of this festival!
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/festivals/4122140.earth-charter-10-festival
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October 17th. 'Green Heart Fair' (Southside)
Clem Jones Centre, cnr Creek and Stanley Streets, Carina - 10am - 3pm
The Green Heart Fair is a major community event organised by CitySmart on behalf of Brisbane City Council and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman promoting sustainable living for Brisbane residents.
The next Southside fair is on Sunday October 17th and will include free entertainment, activities, gourmet food stalls, produce and craft markets, and over 30 interactive displays showcasing the latest in green products, services and innovations. The Green Heart Fair Northside will be held on Sunday 15th May, 2011 at 7th Brigade Park, Murphy Road, Chermside.
Sea Shepherd Brisbane have been invited to both Southside and Northside fairs and will be there for you to help support us in our mission to protect and preserve the world's oceans and their inhabitants.
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October 29th-31st. 'Island Vibes' Festival
Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island)
Sea Shepherd will be attending Australias finest eco festival celebrating music, dance, arts and Island Culture. Island Vibe runs over 3 magical days at Home Beach on Minjerribah (Stradbroke island), less than two hours from downtown Brisbane.
http://www.islandvibe.com.au/
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October 30th. 'The Pirate and the Prisoner' Brisbane's Annual Sea Shepherd Fundraiser
Location TBA, 7pm - late
Come along and celebrate Brisbane's 2nd Annual Sea Shepherd Fundraising event featuring captains Paul Watson and Pete Bethune
http://www.seashepherd.org/australia/brisbane.html
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Saturdays. Brisbane weekly markets. 6am - 2pm
Davies Park, West End
Davies Park Market West End has a wide array of products and produce that you won't find anywhere else in Brisbane.
Sea Shepherd Brisbane will be at the markets every week, so come down and show your support!
http://www.daviesparkmarket.com.au
Past Events:
(most recent events first)
July 12th, 2010
Brisbane Screening of 'The Cove' - Tribal Theatre
50+ people turned out to see the latest Brisbane screening of the award winning documentary “The Cove”
Guest speakers were Dr Kumi Kato, a Japanese born University of Queensland lecturer who has also lectured at Wakayama University (the prefecture where Taiji is located). Kumi has spent a lot of time in Taiji getting to know the locals and met Ric O’Barry out there last year with her partner, Simon Wearne, a videographer from Whale Wars Season One –our other guest speaker.
 
March 13th, 2010
Green Earth Festival- Botanic Gardens Brisbane
Sea Shepherd Brisbane attended the Green Earth Festival, a family orientated, drug and alcohol free, community event which aimed to stimulate awareness by bringing environmental, green, health and lifestyle, cruelty-free, recycling and sustainable issues into the public eye; encouraging people to make simple changes in their everyday lives to help our environment and the world we leave for generations to come.
Over 3,000 attended with people coming up from Sydney and Melbourne just to be a part of Brisbane's newest environmentally friendly and cruelty free festival.
Photo Credit : Wills Photography
February 19th, 2010
Black Sea Event - Hilton Hotel Brisbane
Ady Gil, an Israeli born, Los Angeles based business man, keen philanthropist, passionate conservationist, animal rights advocate and Sea Shepherd sponsor behind the wave piercing trimaran bearing his name, flew into Brisbane on the morning of February 19 to be our special guest at a mid campaign fund raising event.
The evening attracted over 150 supporters from Byron Bay, north to the Sunshine Coast and west as far as Ipswich.
Entertainment was provided by Byron Bay locals, Greg Sheehan and Low Pressure System (Dave Rastovich’s band).
Our first speaker was Isabel Shannon Dow (7), a passionate Sea Shepherd supporter and Wildlife Warrior who read a poem she had written for a school project.
The highlight of the evening was the live auction which featured items like a one-off Sea Shepherd surfboard donated by Gary McNeill, Formula Energy Surfboards , a George Gross designer dress donated by Terri Irwin, Australia Zoo, Emporium Hotel and Porsche package, surfboard donated by City Beach signed by Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrows, Mark Occhilupo & Andy Irons (also signed by Dave Rastovich on the night) and many more …
Guest speakers included Senator Andrew Bartlett (The Greens Party), Wayne Poole (Australia Zoo International Business Development Manager) who explained the history behind Terri’s dress and the relationship between Sea Shepherd and Australia Zoo and Dave Rastovich (Surfers for Cetaceans).
Ady Gil, yet to experience his first surfing lesson, won the Gary McNeill (Sea Shepherd) surfboard (pictured below with Dave Rastovich) just after he was auctioned off for $950 as a date for a night.
  
February 6th, 2010
Conservation Party - Hollywood Gardens Spring Hill
A group of passionate Sea Shepherd supporters hosted a small informal fund raiser at the Hollywood Gardens pub in Spring Hill on Saturday 6th February from 2pm.
Money was raised from a raffle and cash jar from the 20 supporters in attendance.
Michael Dalton, Sea Shepherd Brisbane Coordinator, was on hand to provide guests with more details about the history and work of Sea Shepherd and to answer questions.
Party organizers: Sandy, Matt, Kirby & Sally
January 12th, 2010
Japanese Consulate Demonstration
On Tuesday 12th January 2010 at 10.30am 60 Sea Shepherd and anti-whaling supporters descended upon the Japanese Consulate in Brisbane. A peaceful but noisy protest was planned to raise awareness of both the continued slaughter of whales by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Oceans and the recent ramming and subsequent sinking of the Ady Gil, Sea Shepherd's recently introduced fast interceptor wave piercing trimaran.
After initially confirming that the Consulate-General would come to the lobby to accept anti-whaling letters from the demonstrators, including supporters of Sea Shepherd, Surfers for Cetaceans and Byron Whale Action Group, the Japanese Government representative refused to leave his office. After considerable negotiations two demonstrators with a Channel Nine television cameraman were finally allowed to the consulate offices to present the letters.
The Consulate-General was advised that further protests, this time against Japanese companies with state head offices in Brisbane, were planned if the Japanese Government refused to act on the written requests to cease their violent action against Sea Shepherd vessels, immediately withdraw from the marine sanctuary and likewise immediately cease the slaughter of whales.
The protest ended shortly afterwards.
 
November 24th, 2009
Cocktails With The Captain
Brisbane hosted a cocktail event in late vember in support of the current campaign, Operation Waltzing Matilda, Sea Shepherd’s sixth campaign in Antarctica.
Terri Irwin, environmentalist, author, owner of Australia Zoo and long time Sea Shepherd supporter, along with Bindi and Robert, were special guests and were kind enough to provide some great items for the silent auction, including a VIP tour of the Zoo with a meet & greet with the Irwins.
After enjoying ‘Deep Blue Sea’ cocktails guests were invited to hear Amy Barker, environmentalist and author, read excepts from various writing of Paul Watson, before the Captain himself provided the attentive audience with details on the campaign and the defining moment in his life that has secured the life of tens of thousands of whales over the last 32 years while at the helm of Sea Shepherd.
The silent auction, pictures below, featured many great donated items from supporters from all over Australia, including Oliver Hill Winery (who donated vegan wines for the event), Australia Zoo, David Williams (Wild Oats Gallery – Placebo Soup sculpture), Bob Timmons (‘Voyage of my Soul’), Tangalooma Resort & many more.
The evening concluded after The Red Paintings performed along with their stage painters with help from Bindi & Robert Irwin and Isabel Dow.
The picture will soon be auctioned.
 
 
Photos Credit: Kathy Hill, Whisper Images
November 21st, 2008
The Red Paintings Benefit Concert
Approximately 700 people turned up to support Sea Shepherd at the Benefit Concert put on by Trash McSweeney and The Red Paintings on vember 21st, 2008 at The Arena in Brisbane. The band donated their time and worked tirelessly to promote the show with a grassroots marketing campaign noticed all over Brisbane leading up to the event.
Promotion included billboard posters, flyers, ads in mags and local street press including MX, Courier Mail, Rave Mag, Time off Mag, Tsunami Mag, an interview and mention on Triple J (Rosie beaton show), and a 4zzz interview and mention of show with Sea Shepherd crew members. The Red Paintings MySpace campaign promoted the show to over 35,000 friends.
Volunteers with masks featuring the Sea Shepherd Jolly Roger logo patrolled the crowd seeking donations for funds to help cover the Operation Musashi campaign. The attendees generously donated while enjoying the good music including a set from Aboriginal musician Bunna Lawrie and finally the passionate and artistic performance by The Red Paintings to end the night. Captain Watson was invited on stage to say a few words on the imminent departure of the Steve Irwin to defend whales in the Southern Ocean and he surprised Trash by presenting him with a medal of honor for putting on a benefit concert to support the work of the Sea Shepherds! Sea Shepherd wishes to thank The Red Paintings and Trash McSweeney, Michael Dalton, Jeff Hansen, and the rest of the Brisbane volunteers for putting the event together for the benefit of Sea Shepherd and the whales.
  
 
Photos Credit: Susan Weingartner
To view the official music video for The Red Paintings song, "Whales Are Dying"
co-written by Trash McSweeney and Captain Paul Watson, click here
November 20th, 2008
"A Night with Captain Watson" in Brisbane
Reported by Michael Dalton, Brisbane Coordinator
Brisbane unleashed another storm on Thursday night (20th vember 2008) just as we were setting up for 'A night with Captain Paul Watson' and meant that we had to open the doors early which also dramatically reduced the anticipated 250 guests down to an estimated 120 at Kurilpa Hall. The night was opened with a couple of acoustic classic guitar numbers from 'Sanat' (Raymond Oliver), a conservationist composer and songwriter followed by a preview of Animal Planet's 'Whale Wars' and the much anticipated arrival of the Captain. Captain Watson captivated the audience for a full hour before opening up the floor to a Q&A session. Food was provided by the dedicated galley volunteers and well received by the guests.
 
Photos Credit: Susan Weingartner
November 15th, 2008
Steve Irwin Day at Australia Zoo
Reported by Sea Shepherd Australia
Captain Paul Watson was the featured speaker for Steve Irwin Day, hosted by the Australia Zoo, on vember 15th, 2008. Captain Watson focused his speech on whale conservation and Sea Shepherd's global campaigns to defend ocean wildlife. Local Coordinator Michael Dalton and other Brisbane area volunteers set up an information table and educated people about Sea Shepherd's work.
 
Photos Credit: Susan Weingart
A great day for Southern Bluefin Tuna
On Monday 23 October 2009 a group of Sea Shepherd volunteers and Sea Shepherd CEO, Steve Roest, visited Brisbane’s Cloudland restaurant, a newly opened ‘urban oasis’ bar & restaurant spanning four floors with a glass opening roof located in Fortitude Valley, but were horrified to discover that the critically endangered Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) was listed on the venue’s menu.
SBT are a very large species and if they reach adulthood (at around 12 years old) before being caught, can grow up to 2.45m and weigh up to 260kg. Unfortunately they do not reach anywhere near this potential in Australian waters . The SBT is a large pelagic species that could live to between 20 and 40 years of age.
SBT is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since the 1950s, when industrial fishing commenced, the total population of Southern Bluefin Tuna has declined by about 92 percent.
Around 98% of Australia’s SBT quota, over 5,000 tonnes per year, is taken by purse seine vessels fishing in the Great Australian Bight and catch juvenile fish weighing between 15 and 25 kg. These are towed alive back to static grow out cages off Port Lincoln and fattened for up to 6 months before harvest and mainly exported to Japan. Poor management and overfishing is rapidly diminishing spawning stocks and leading to the extinction of the species within the next 5 to 10 years.
Sea Shepherd are happy to report that after numerous discussions with Danny Blair, General Manager Katarzyna Group, owners of Cloudland Restaurant, Southern Bluefin Tuna will be removed from sale with effect from 22 January 2010.
Cloudland management are commended for making this landmark decision, Sea Shepherd is hoping that others will follow suit and not continue to contribute towards the extinction of this important marine species.
Sea Shepherd’s founder, Captain Paul Watson, has frequently warned “We will lose more species of plants and animals in the period between 1980 and 2045, than we have lost in the last 65 million years.” Cloudland will no longer be contributing to one of these being the Southern Bluefin Tuna.
~ Report by Michael Dalton, Brisbane Coordinator
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