Can’t see the fishing nets that killed the dugongs, for the naturally occurring dioxins that made media headlines, is what I might have said on radio back more than two decades. At the time, it caused me much grief because the General Manager of Canegrowers Ltd didn’t want his Environment Manager maligning the fishing industry who it seemed were happy for the sugarcane farmers to take the rap for the dead dugongs.
It is the case that I was Environment Manager for Queensland Canegrowers Ltd from 1998 through until 2003 – and that I did nothing about all the agricultural pesticides. That has been a recent accusation across at my official Facebook page.
I was employed to implement the findings of a three-volume audit of the sugar industry and its environmental impacts. I got off to a good start, but in 2001, with the launch of the WWF Save the Reef campaign everything was blown off course. I’ve written about that before, including how it begun here:https://jennifermarohasy.com/2018/11/theprinceandhisdumptrucks/
I first became aware of the specific issue of pesticide in dugongs in August 1998, long before the launch of that campaign.
A senior officer with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) phoned me with the news that a soon-to-be-published research study had found that elevated levels of pesticide residue, most likely from cane farming, were accumulating in the fat tissue of dugongs. Media headlines followed, including ‘Pesticide in reef creatures and cane burning link with dioxin in dugong’.
I obtained a copy of the study and found it was primarily an analysis of the type and quantity of dioxins found in the fat tissue of dugong carcasses that had been killed in fishing nets. Dioxins are a group of organochlorine compounds commonly associated with industrial waste incineration. The research paper made reference to a different study that had analyzed the dioxins found in soils under sugarcane cultivation and commented that the cane-land soils and dugong fat samples both had elevated levels of the same type of dioxins.
Concerned by this news, I contacted a dioxin expert at the University of Queensland. Dr Brian Stanmore informed me that the type of dioxin considered by the GBRMPA to be elevated in the dugongs was common and the least toxic of all dioxins. Furthermore, Dr Stanmore indicated that the level of dioxins found in the dugongs was less than the national average in people in the United States. He commented that ‘it looks like the dugong is better off than we are’.
The GBRMPA study clearly stated, ‘All (dugong) carcasses were in good condition at the time of sampling. All animal deaths were confirmed or suspected (fishing) net drowning.’
However, instead of focusing on net fishing practices, the GBRMPA subsequently provided funding for a full investigation by the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (NRCET) into the likely origin of the dioxin considered to be at elevated levels in the dugong carcasses, including possible links with sugarcane production.
Two years later, the NRCET investigation concluded that the dioxin of concern to the GBRMPA was common in soils along the entire Queensland coastline, including in regions beyond sugarcane cultivation. Analyses of dated marine sediment cores indicated that the chemical was present prior to European settlement in Queensland. In other words, the dioxin is a naturally occurring organochlorine and not a pesticide residue. There are, apparently, many naturally occurring non-toxic dioxins.
That has never made media headlines.
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You can read more of this story in the piece I wrote for the IPA Review back when they regularly published me, the article is called ‘Deceit in the Name of Conservation’.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
The devil is always in the detail.
Yeah remember that kerfuffle.
There are still poorly informed individuals that continue with the dioxin nonsense including on your pages.
The word dioxin triggers the inner eco-nutter in some of that inclination.
The good news is that the Hervey Bay and Moreton Bay dugong herds are healthy and growing.
I hear that the Torres Strait herd is doing well too and that the indigenous hunting effort up there is tapering off.
Trawl net excluder devices are playing their part I’m sure.
I have recovered dead dugong in the past in Moreton Bay with net scars on them.
My professional mates say the excluders work well and that they don’t get the big gentle fellas in their nets at all nowadays.
Or turtles either, for that matter.
Cheers – Dve.
Cross posting this from Facebook, from ‘Old Joe’, relevant information:
“Hi Jennifer, I was an commercial N1 GP netter, no N2 larger heavy ply set gill nets allowed, within Hervey Bay Great Sandy Straits, N1 smaller mesh light ply fishery, the N1 GP net fishery could not retain Barramundi. This last attack by ALP, WWF and AMCS on commercial fishers was to buy votes from the Rec-fishing sector and those that support, major conservation groups, given ALPS low poles position. Kick a commercial netter and incite bigotry and hatred apparently will win them the election. As lay commercial fisher in the 90’s, I sat on the technical advisory committee for downstream effects, Goerge Raymont, if I recall right was principal Qld Chemist. In 1996-7, I also sat on the GBRMPA dugong review group, with QCFO, it was at these meetings we in the commercial fishing industry pushed to have Necropsy reports and anthropogenic impacts, including all types of fishing activity, boating, and other, be produced into annual reports, made as a public viewing document. This was later seen as Qld’s EHP’S/DES the Strand-Net documents for mega fauna, from that data one could conclude, high strandings of mega fauna, Dugong, Turtles and Dolphins accrued after differing major weather and flooding events and intertidal seagrass loss, causing Dugong migration. Senator Robert Hill over seen that era of change, with greater dugong protection, with differing DPA’s and conditions of entry. We were awoken to areas of concern with set gill nets, being used unsustainably in regards to dugong, which needed changing. Yes clear evidence of shear stupidity in some areas of operation needed cleaning up, modifying, or removal from industry, the DPA’s come in 1997/8. Remember back then in the 1997 their were around 800 N1 N2 endorsement licensers which were property, in Qld East Coast net fisheries. Since that period endorsement license holder fell to around 200 for the GBRMP region and South East Queensland’s, and a coast line of around 3000 kilometers. The larger mesh N2 set gill net type fell to around 98. Qld net fishers had to work to a complex arrangement of regulations TACC, Quota (ITQ), regions and vessel tracking, complex pre-fishing and prior landing notices by phone, differing log books including SOCI plus, plus, plus, driving older folk out of industry. A night mare for many others, to even land a fish. So this ALP Government had implied the few commercial netting operators, left, some how were an even greater danger to dugong, and other mega fauna. mmm In the 1993 The Great Sandy Straites Tin Can Inlet, had dugong and seagrass issues, so I and some other commercial fisher integrated a period of Seafood Festivals to raise funds for Seagrass Research, added to Coast Care grants for that region from 1993 to 1999 to look at seagrass decline within Tin Can Inlet, Wide Bay and Great Sandy Strait. We engaged FRC and Dr John Thorogood to convene transects, other research and form opinions, which changed from our early start 1993 to 1998-99. Given Wide Bays continued collapse of seagrasses yes even today with only two species in sparce areas and no storied seagrass. The Wide bay area was isolated from major impacts of Mary valley floods, which drained north into that northern end of GSS, Hervey Bay, yet recovered with differing regrowth of seagrasses, shallow and deeper water, after consecutive flood events, while our Wide Bay end continued to decline, Yet No farming, cropping land, run off, only coastal rain events, and runoff from, Councils, Army Reserve and Queensland’s Governments own corporate Pine Plantations, which they sold off, late 2000’s. The system didn’t want to know, yet we first reported seagrass decline way back in mid 1980’s. To cut a long story short, with todays computers search capabilities and stronger reviews on Photo-System II Herbicides, (PS II) on inshore seagrasses, YES relevant to todays complex, chemical, metabolite, mix within near shore ecosystems, PSII herbicides may well be more toxic in such environments at much lower levels, than current government standards. Even as low as parts per billion, which could possibly prevent the plant from processing sunlight, hence stressing seagrass’s to the point, it becomes susceptible to the seagrass pathogens such as Labyrinthula (Wasting Disease) which naturally accurses, but only seems to impact on stressed seagrass. Remembering PSII Herbicide impacts regardless of the turbidity on seagrass regions, yes clear water. All relevant to seagrass productivity be it Dugong, Turtles or fisheries resources. Near shore sea grass is an entire different kettle of fish to the GBR, coral issues off shore, which I never have thought this PSII herbicide, had any impact. This is only an older evil ex commercial fishers opinion, who’s been screw over, by this non inclusive Queensland ALP government who say I have no history, my allegiance is to marine productivity, call a spade a spade and if I have wronged, tried to right it. While I do except that if the human race is to progress, differing modifications are need, to sustain such life and growth. Simply hiding the impacts of complex modifications, while blaming and removing a hand full of commercial fishers wont fix the issues, now apparent. Yet may buy some gullible votes. Sorry Jennifer for the rant, hold you in great regard. Stay Safe. Old Joe. 🤔
When they find a dead dugong, it’s not about protecting them, it’s ‘how can we use the dead dugong to attack the people we do not like’ – farmers, commercial fishers, entrepreneurs, independents, Christians, etc.
They’re a blob of gullibles driven by ‘Menckenian’ politicians.
WOW. Old Joe & Jen, compelling reading. Jen, you continually say thanks for reading. I have no choice, I’m trying not to be the dumbest person in the room & your posts ensure I’m not. I live in Shellharbour love fishing but I’m addicted to your informative & passionate posts. Rod.
I recall some years ago(1980) that Heptachlor use in cane was responsible for fish kills and “red spot”. Nothing new of course but the acid sulphate soils after rain affected water quality . Unfortunately politics will always insert into any issue.
Thank you for this very interesting review. It brought back an old memory relevant to your story. In the late 1970s a chemical plant on Italy had a failure that caused a large release of dioxin on a nearby town. This made international news and led to a book explaining how terrible and dangerous dioxin is. I read the book and was puzzled to read, in the closing chapter, that actually ver few people showed any symptoms at all, much less the deadly ones being described in frightening detail in the book. That stuck in the back of my mind until years later it was revealed (admitted) that most dioxin is far, far less toxic than first believed. So once again the allegedly enlightened guardians of the planet avoid addressing actual danger to instead profit from the fear mongering.