Forrest calls for global fishing overhaul as Australia backs major treaties at UN summit
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has called for the United Nations to back a major overhaul of global fishing regulations and marine life protections following an international ocean summit last week.
Australia's Environment Minister Murray Watt also attended the 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, and confirmed on Friday the federal government has joined 96 other nations in committing to end plastic pollution.
Declaring 'the ocean is in freefall', Forrest made the comments following the summit on Saturday, saying his Minderoo Foundation will commit an additional $25 million towards implementing new marine protected areas and real-time vessel monitoring.
'We must lock in 30 per cent no-take marine protected areas by 2030 in every nation, in the high seas [international waters] and across at least 30 per cent of Antarctica – this must be the minimum, not the maximum – and it must be enforced, not just declared,' the WA-based magnate said in a statement.
'Thanks to science, enforcement is now possible. Satellites track vessels in real time. AI flags illegal behaviour. The excuses are gone.'
Loading
Forrest unveiled the foundation's Flourishing Oceans Commercial Fishing Act (FOCFA), a self-financing, enforcement-ready model for no-take MPAs and sustainable fisheries and said he would relaunch a Global Fishing Index in 2026.
'This flips enforcement incentives. Fishers, regulators, and even competitors are motivated to expose illegal actors. Governments reclaim lost revenue. Legal operators are protected. And the commercial risk of turning a blind eye rises – all the way up the supply chain,' he said of the proposed FOCFA.
Minderoo has also partly funded a new documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough, about the devastation brought about by unregulated industrial fishing, which was released last month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
42 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Trump tariff talk to dominate PM's Canadian sit-down
Tariffs will be top of mind for the prime minister and his Canadian counterpart as the two meet ahead of Anthony Albanese's highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump. Mr Albanese will land in Canada on Sunday, local time, for bilateral talks after being invited to the G7 summit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Both leaders have had to reckon with the impact of the US president's threatened tariffs on their economies. But Mr Carney could provide insight for the Australian's first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump. Despite vowing to fight back against the tariffs, the Canadian prime minister's meetings with the US president have been well received by both parties and raised hopes for a fresh trade deal between the two North American nations. Mr Albanese's meeting with the Republican president is scheduled for Tuesday on the sidelines of the summit. The prime minister has taken a less adversarial stance to Mr Trump's approach than his Canadian peer, preferring to highlight Australia's long history with the US. "The combination of Australia and the United States when we're working together is an unbeatable combination," he told business leaders in Seattle on Saturday. Australian imports into the US face 10 per cent tariffs and - like all trading partners except the UK - 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel. The Labor government is considering using US beef imports and critical minerals as potential bargaining chips as it "engages constructively" with American officials. Australians' sense of safety and economic optimism have already plunged, according to the annual Lowy Institute Poll, amid the talk of tariffs, as well as growing conflicts and global disorder. Their trust in the US has fallen to the lowest level in the history of the decades-long poll, with two-in-three respondents holding little to no trust in the traditional Australian ally. "Australians are clearly unsettled by what they've seen of the second Trump administration," Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said. Mr Albanese previously met the Canadian prime minister on the margins of the Papal inauguration, but this will be their first formal bilateral discussion. They are also expected to discuss defence, critical minerals, climate change and the escalating situation in the Middle East.
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Trump tariff talk to dominate PM's Canadian sit-down
Tariffs will be top of mind for the prime minister and his Canadian counterpart as the two meet ahead of Anthony Albanese's highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump. Mr Albanese will land in Canada on Sunday, local time, for bilateral talks after being invited to the G7 summit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Both leaders have had to reckon with the impact of the US president's threatened tariffs on their economies. But Mr Carney could provide insight for the Australian's first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump. Despite vowing to fight back against the tariffs, the Canadian prime minister's meetings with the US president have been well received by both parties and raised hopes for a fresh trade deal between the two North American nations. Mr Albanese's meeting with the Republican president is scheduled for Tuesday on the sidelines of the summit. The prime minister has taken a less adversarial stance to Mr Trump's approach than his Canadian peer, preferring to highlight Australia's long history with the US. "The combination of Australia and the United States when we're working together is an unbeatable combination," he told business leaders in Seattle on Saturday. Australian imports into the US face 10 per cent tariffs and - like all trading partners except the UK - 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel. The Labor government is considering using US beef imports and critical minerals as potential bargaining chips as it "engages constructively" with American officials. Australians' sense of safety and economic optimism have already plunged, according to the annual Lowy Institute Poll, amid the talk of tariffs, as well as growing conflicts and global disorder. Their trust in the US has fallen to the lowest level in the history of the decades-long poll, with two-in-three respondents holding little to no trust in the traditional Australian ally. "Australians are clearly unsettled by what they've seen of the second Trump administration," Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said. Mr Albanese previously met the Canadian prime minister on the margins of the Papal inauguration, but this will be their first formal bilateral discussion. They are also expected to discuss defence, critical minerals, climate change and the escalating situation in the Middle East.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Global doom and gloom sinks Aussie economic optimism
Tariffs and global conflict have knocked Australians' optimism in the economy and trust in the US to 20-year lows, a long-running poll by an independent think tank shows. Since it began in 2005, the Lowy Institute Poll of Australians' attitudes to the world has never been so bleak. Trade turmoil and ongoing cost-of-living pressures were having a negative impact on household confidence even before President Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs were announced on April 2, after the survey had been in the field. A little over half of respondents (52 per cent) said they were optimistic about Australia's economic performance over the next five years, the least since the poll began in 2005 and in line with attitudes during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Young Australians aged 18-29 felt the least optimistic about the economy, while Labor voters were more confident than Liberal and Greens-voting counterparts. Feelings of pessimism reflected a precarious moment, with the world order that had served Australia's interests well since the end of World War II beset on all sides, said Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove. "Australians are clearly unsettled by what they've seen of the second Trump administration, with almost two-thirds (64 per cent) now holding little to no trust in the United States to act responsibly - the lowest level in the history of the Lowy Institute Poll," said Dr Fullilove. But Australians are even less trusting of China - the nation's largest trading partner - as military tensions over the fate of Taiwan ramp up. Only 16 per cent of respondents had confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing, compared to a quarter who had confidence in Mr Trump. Ongoing distrust in China, which conducted navy live-fire drills off Australian waters shortly before the poll was conducted, was contributing to sustained belief in the importance of the Australia-US alliance, despite distrust in Mr Trump, Dr Fullilove said. Amid rising authoritarianism around the globe, Australians have never been more firm in their support for democracy, with 74 per cent believing it is preferable to any other kind of government. "Australians lean towards co-operation," Dr Fullilove said. "They feel most comfortable with fellow liberal democracies such as Japan and New Zealand, but remain circumspect towards two regional powers, India and Indonesia." Overwhelmingly Australians were in favour of making more goods in Australia, even if they cost more (83 per cent), and distrustful of social media's impact on democracy (70 per cent). Those figures will be encouraging for the federal government and its flagship policies to ban children from using social media and promote domestic manufacturing. The poll was conducted on behalf of the Lowy Institute by the Social Research Centre, which surveyed 2117 Australian residents aged 18 and above between March 3 and 16.
