Underwater photographer Xanthe Rivett has hit out at Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch over his comments regarding tuna takes from the Coral Sea.

In The Newsport article 'Million ton tuna take "sustainable"' (Thursday, 16 August 2012) Mr Entsch said economic benefits from a tuna catch totalling over two million tonnes were being lost to countries such as PNG and New Caledonia.

Ms Rivett said now is a good time for Australians to ask what we want for the Coral Sea. 

"Should we exploit Australia's Coral Sea by taking one million tonnes of tuna and billfish as Mr Entsch appears to be advocating, or place half the Coral Sea in the bank for the future as a green zone and use the other half for recreational fishing?" Ms Rivett said.
 
The Federal Government has been heavily criticised by Mr Entsch over their recent announcement of a vast marine park will be established in the Coral Sea, but Ms Rivett supports the action.

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"The proposed Coral Sea Marine Reserve protects healthy populations of highly mobile fish species that have been reduced by up to 90% in the world's oceans due to overfishing. 
 
"On the one hand, Mr Entsch claims that Australia is one of the best marine managers in the world. He’s absolutely correct about that. But on the other hand, he wants us to increase fishing in the Coral Sea.
 
"The reason Australia is one of the world’s best marine managers is because our fisheries' regulators are trying to avoid any commercially caught fish being overfished. They are making good progress, but some fish species are still overfished.
 
"Bigeye tuna in the Coral Sea is a case in point. It is overfished. And not just in Australia. To increase fishing of this species will continue to send its population on a downward trend.
 
"Just because our neighbours are putting more pressure on tuna, doesn’t mean we should too," she said.
 
Ms Rivett said popular fishing areas such as the Ribbon Reefs and Cairns Seamount will remain open to anglers, and that nothing will change for those that enjoy fishing the Great Barrier Reef and coastal areas. 

"We have before us an opportunity to take a step forwards to protect an area which is incredibly special, very healthy and an asset to our region. 

"The announcement of the proposed Coral Sea Marine Reserve made international headlines, with large articles appearing in newspapers across the globe, reinforcing to the world how special our marine environment is here in Queensland.”