There is an enormous void in peer reviewed information that can be used to support the case that fishing in Australia is relatively environmentally friendly souce of food and has extremely little impact on marine environments compared to the other, even obvious, threats. Improving the public perception of fishing as an environmental threat is arguably the greatest and most urgent strategic issue facing fishing in Australia today.

The primary need is to obtain a well-researched comparison of the extremely effective management of fishing in Australia with the less than impressive management of other threats to marine ecosystems and fisheries resources. What is required from this project is a scholarly (well researched and documented) assessment of at least the major threats to fisheries resources and marine environments more generally and the possible prioritization of those threats. This prioritization should, in so far as possible, take account of the alternative management approaches for example in marine parks, of the numerous threats to marine biodiversity, ecosystems and the resources they support.

While the project has an initial NSW focus there is no doubt it will help meet the critical need for national debate on what the real threats are to marine environments in the many different types of environments and what impact each type of threat to marine environments has on fish and fisheries.