The fish shown is a mature Blue-throated Wrasse. They are curious fish. This one swam up to me within a few inches of my camera.

In the 1950s and 1960s, spearfishing became an obsession among mostly young men. It was the advent of wetsuits, masks, fins and spears that changed everything. All of a sudden, the largest reef fish became the focus of a sport. According to fisheries expert Jon Neville, there used to be hundreds of such species, where now there are almost none. 

If you would like to listen to Jon talking about this, follow this link: https://simonmustoe.blog/five-surprising-facts-about-coastal-erosion-fish-reefs-and-a-better-future/

While fish are recovering at Ricketts Point, species such as this, which are essential to maintaining ecological balance, are almost non-existent. They should be abundant but all the smaller sized fish are gone. Without intervention, it's unlikely this species will come back of its own accord. After 20 years, they are still rare in the marine park. 

What illegal fishing does is gnaw away at that recovery.

Spearfishing is particularly problematic as it targets the largest fish. Fish that literally swim up to people to be killed. Before re-establishment can occur, these fish are removed from the ecosystem. 

But fish are incredibly important for the integrity of the structures that maintain our quality of life and even stop our houses washing into the sea. 

One study has found, that even intermediate levels of species loss would greatly reduce plant (e.g. seaweed) production, compared to climate warming. Higher levels of extinction had effects rivalling ozone layer loss, ocean acidification and even nutrient pollution. This study is referred to by Swiss Re, which underwrites many of the insurances you pay. The 15% p.a. increase in insurance which threatens the Australian economy has been attributed, in part, to this threat. 

'Climate crisis effects are weighing heavily on prices charged by reinsurers, which take on some of the risk of natural disasters, ultimately passed to policyholders.' The Guardian

The value of our fish isn't being dead. That value can only be attributed to a single person ... the fisher. The value to everyone else is a lot greater and that makes fish a shared asset. This is why our marine parks are incredibly important and why VFA must be held to account, in meeting its objectives under the Fisheries Act for 'non-consumptive' use and ecological sustainability.