Articles
by
Walter Starck
Aimed at the promotion of honest science, rational economics, accountable governance and personal freedom.
Recreational Fishing, Boating, Wildlife & Misc.
Golden Dolphin Editorials
Environmentalism
Captain Cousteau and the Collectors
Hawaiian Shell News
November 1975.
Daintree Delusions,
myths and realities of
saving the Daintree
Address to a
public meeting on Daintree issues in 1994.
Conservation vs. Environmentalism
North
Queensland Sunfish magazine January 2004 - also in Trailer Boating
magazine March 2004.
Green Slime
Our greatest environmental threat is environmentalism itself.
Ausmarine
Magazine, June 2009.
A Vote Winning Eco-political Strategy
Essay of 23 September 2009. Emailed to various political and opinion leaders.
Madness on the Murray
Published at Quadrant Online,
November 3, 2010.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2010/11/madness-on-the-murray
Hypothetical Solutions to Imaginary
Problems,
The Greens Marine
Policies
From: Chapter 16
in, THE GREENS: Policies, Reality and Consequences, Edited by Andrew
McIntyre, Connor Court Publishing, July 2011
http://www.connorcourt.com/catalog1/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=165
Environmentalism and the Decline of the West
Published at Quadrant Online,
May 17, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/05/environmentalism-and-the-decline-of-the-west
Environmentalism's bum
steers
Published at Quadrant Online,
October 1, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/environmentalism-s-bum-steers
Government by NGO
Published at Quadrant Online, December 18, 2012
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/12/government-by-ngo
The Dark Green Shoes of the Fisherman
While the infallibility of
the Pope is a matter of debate and doctrinal subtlety, the fallibility of
whoever wrote the Pontiff’s encyclical, On Care for Our Common Home, is
irrefutable. Published at Quadrant Online, July 8, 2015
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2015/07/deep-green-shoes-fisherman/
If Only
Sharks Ate ‘Experts’
No surprise that sharks are attracted to
areas where food is plentiful and, likewise, learn to avoid dangerous
locales. In this regard they are far smarter than green-thinking alarmists,
who denounce netting while remaining pointedly unaware that a rotting shark
drives away fellow predators. Published at Quadrant Online, December 17,
2016
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2016/12/sharks-ate-experts/
Great Barrier Reef
Why We Don't Need to Save the
Barrier Reef
Australian Penthouse magazine July 1984.
Barrier Reef Blunderland,
blunderland being local
slang for GBRMPA's chronically poorly attended Reef Wonderland aquarium
(Unpublished MS, July 2003)
GBR
Science Summaries,
(prepared for The Fishing Party July-Sept. 04)
Threats to the Great Barrier Reef
Institute of Public Affairs, Backgrounder May 2005, Vol. 17/1 - shortened
versions in Go Fishing magazine Aug/Sept 2005 and News Weekly 18
June 2006.
Fishy Claims of Overfishing on the Great Barrier Reef
Professional Fisherman magazine September 2005.
Environmentalism,
How the Great Barrier Reef is mismanaged
(News Weekly 29 April 2006 - also published in
Ausmarine magazine
April 2006 and The Fishing Party Newsletter March 2006)
Coral Bleaching & The Reef
Originally posted on the Jennifer Marohasy web blog, 12 April 2006.
Exposing Environmental Myths About The Great Barrier Reef
NATIONAL OBSERVER No. 69, Winter 2006 - originally presented as a keynote
address to the Queensland state meeting of the National Civic Council in
Brisbane, 23 July 2006. Combines information from Fishy Claims and Status of Aust. Fisheries above.
Little Green Lies
Media release in response to claims of a dramatic increase in coral trout
numbers on protected reefs, 18 September 2006.
Selected Excerpts and Commentary on: 2006 Review of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Act 1975
Are
GBR Shark Populations Really Threatened?
A recent research report
purports to have found a
widespread and dramatic decline in shark populations on the Great Barrier Reef
due to fishing mortality. This report has attracted considerable media
attention and seems likely to become the basis for further restrictions on reef
activities. There are, however, a number of serious doubts regarding the
methods and conclusions of this study. .pdf copy as published in January
2008 issue of Go Fishing magazine , 1.2MB
(click here).
MS copy of the article with references cited. 41KB
(click here).
Green Manure Continues to Pollute the GBR
Media release in response to claims of declining water quality on the GBR
The Great Barrier reef and the Prophets of Doom
Commentary of another doomsday prediction for the GBR, ON LINE opinion, 8 May
2008.
Great Barrier Reef Water Quality,
problem, propaganda or delusion?
Ausmarine Magazine, May 2009.
The Good News and the Bad News
(The GBR remains pristine but resource mismanagement threatens the nation. Key
points regarding purported threats to the Great Barrier Reef.)12 May, 2009y.) 23
February 2009.
Danger, Reef Ahead!
Reply to response from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage. Water and the
Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett AM MP concerning water quality and fishing on the
Great Barrier Reef. 4 November 2009.
Extraordinary Claims in Great Barrier Reef Assessment Require Evidence
Evidence of serious scientific misconduct in report on GBR Green Zones is
presented. (Relevant correspondence included.)
Published at Quadrant Online, March 24, 2010.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2010/03/starck-barrier-reef
“Ship on the Reef”: A critical review of this season’s rerun
Published at Quadrant Online, April 12, 2010.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2010/04/farce-on-the-reef
Reefgate - or a spat between Scientists?
A review by Peter Scott of the concerns of serious scientific misconduct in a
report on GBR Green Zones raised by Walter Starck. (see above). Published in GO
BOATING Magazine, May 2010.
Fishy Science on the Great Barrier Reef
Quadrant magazine No.478, Vol. LV(7-8), July-August 2011.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2011/7-8/fishy-science-on-the-great-barrier-reef
UNESCO, butt out!
Published at Quadrant Online,
June 22, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/06/unesco-butt-out
Reef Alarmists Jump The Shark
Published at Quadrant Online,
October 9, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/reef-alarmists-jump-the-shark
Dredging up Another Bogus Threat
Published at Quadrant Online,
November 5, 2013
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2013/11/dredging-another-bogus-threat/
It's the science, not the reef, that is being polluted
News
Weekly, September 27, 2014
http://newsweekly.com.au/issue.php?id=400
Fishy Tales of the Great Barrier Reef
Among the many life forms
thriving in the waters off Queensland's coast, environmental activists and
academic careerists are by the far most adaptable. Despite voluminous
evidence that the Reef is healthy, they extract careers, grants and
donations from dumb coral -- and dumber journalists. Published at Quadrant Online,
September 24, 2015
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2015/09/fishy-tales-great-barrier-reef/
The
Reef’s Self-Serving Saviours
ll the many and varied claims of
threats are based on speculation and the flat-out fabrications of
researchers, bureaucrats and activists seeking grants and donations. Let us
hope that a political leader emerges to decry and defund the gold-plated
alarmists and the immense harm they are doing. Published at Quadrant Online, June
17, 2016
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2016/06/reefs-self-serving-saviours/
More
Green and Muddy ‘Thinking’
The perennial environmental concern
over dredging for ship channels has again erupted regarding a planned
upgrade of the Townsville Harbour. And, as usual, the standard platoon of
know-nothing suspects is at the fore of this latest effort to crimp
prosperity in the name of a notional “threat” to the environment.Published at Quadrant Online,
March 2, 2017
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2017/03/green-muddy-thinking/
The Great Barrier Reef is dying? ... Again?
Every year for the
past half-century news reports have bannered dire announcements by academic
“experts” and environmental “activists” proclaiming imminent threats to the
Great Barrier Reef. As in the fable about the boy who cried wolf, the public
has largely become inured to this noise.. Published at News Weekly, June 17,
2017
http://www.newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=57707
Fisheries Management
The Status, Importance and Future of Australian Fisheries
Fishing Boat World magazine February 2006. Copy here is slightly longer
MS version with references.
Models, Motives and Management
Ausmarine magazine May 2006.
Marine Resources and The Growing Cost of Precaution
address to
Australian Environment Foundation Inaugural Conference,
Brisbane 23 Sept. 2006. Also published in
Ausmarine magazine Feb. 2007.
Where Our
Fish Comes From,
Thai fisheries,
from an Australian perspective
Australia has the world’s third largest EEZ and lowest fishery harvest rate.
Seventy percent of domestic seafood is imported. Thailand, which has only 1/20
the EEZ area of Australia, is Australia's largest supplier. This is an overview
of the Thai fishing industry from an Australian perspective with particular
reference to comparative conditions, resource management and outcomes. .pdf copy
as published in a four part series in the March, April, June and July 2007
issues of Ausmarine magazine, 4MB
(click here).
MS copy of the article with higher resolution graphics,
2MB
(click here).
DVD video on Thai Fisheries, 71 min.
(click here)
Straight from the Horse’s Orifice,
What the managers really think about themselves and the Australian fishing
industry
( Revelations from an extraordinarily frank seminar not intended for public
consumption, Ausmarine magazine May 2007 )
Thou Shalt Not Fish
Essay on Australia's growing problems in marine management.
Club Marine
magazine, June 2007.
Choked by a Bloated Bureaucracy
Editorial in
Ausmarine magazine on the ongoing decline in Australia's
fisheries and aquaculture, October 2007.
Seafood and Health:
Government's state of confusion
(Government is encouraging greater seafood consumption while increasingly
restricting already inadequate supply, Ausmarine magazine, December 2007)
Enmeshed in a
bureaucratic delusion
Critical review of a new study from the influential Lowy Institute for
International Policy which claims that the fisheries of our near neighbours in
S.E. Asia and PNG are overexploited and headed for collapse. The high quality of
our own management is asserted and the suggestion is made that with due
diplomacy we can show them how to do it right. Reality presents a different
picture.
.pdf copy of condensed version published in the February 2008 issue of
Ausmarine magazine, 1.2MB
(click here).
MS copy of full article with higher resolution graphics, 2.6 KB
(click here).
The Northern Demersal Scalefish Fishery, A review and recommendations
Here in Australia we have a situation in which a vast fishing ground with
abundant stocks of deep water snappers and groupers on our NW shelf is being
fished by only 6 boats. Despite excellent ongoing catches, increasing
restrictions have been imposed. These have been deemed necessary based on
outcomes from modeling conducted by office workers located a thousand miles from
the fishery and who, in 18 years of management, have never actually seen it.
This document is a review report prepared for the fishermen's association in
September 2008).
Australian Fisheries Management, Worlds best or worst?
Over recent years Australian fisheries managers have repeatedly proclaimed
their's to be the "world's best fisheries management". This claim to the
supurlative is made all the more remarkable by Australia's
having the world's lowest harvest rate and minor status as a producer despite
having the world's third largest fishing zone. This article published in the the
leading industry trade journal examines outcomes for the industry as well as the
condition of the resource itself with conclusions supported by telling evidence.
The world can now decide for itself whether Australian fisheries management is a
model to be followed or a disaster to be avoided. The Broome trap fishery
immediately above is prominently featured as a case study. For anyone with an
interest in the management of Australia's natural resources the attached .pdf
copy of this article is worth reading. Fishing News International, January 2009.
A perspective on Queensland Draft Fisheries Strategy
The Queensland government is finally recognising that something is wrong in our
fisheries management; but, the proposed remedy is more of the same. (This
document is in response to an invitation for public submissions.) Go Boating
Magazine, July 2009.
The Western Rock Lobster Fishery (WRLF) Overfished or over managed?
(Overview of Western Rock Lobster Fishery, Australia's most valuable fishery.
Published in condensed form in Ausmarine Magazine, August 2009).
Western Rock Lobster Industry, The Best Managed Fishery in the World - Myth,
Science or Guesswork
An open letter to the Minister for Fisheries, Western Australia. Emailed 30 July
2009. Published in The West Australian newspaper, 11 August 2009.
Clarification of More Moore Misstatements
Letter of 2 November 2009. Emailed widely to Western Australia fishing
industry.
Australian Fisheries Management – A Comparative Assessment-Updated
Report to Western Australia fishing industry, 6 December 2009.
Western Australia Fisheries in Decline - From over management, not overfishing
Published in two parts in
Fishing News International, London, December
2009 and January 2010.
The Green Torpedoes That Sank the National Fishing Fleet
The effect of fisheries mismanagement on national health.
Published in Quadrant Magazine, June 2010.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2010/6/the-green-torpedoes-that-sank-the-national-fishing-fleet
Also published in GO BOATING Magazine, June 2010 (pdf.
here)
The End of the Line - Film Review
Review of the documentary video, "The End of the Line" presenting what
is represented to be a global crisis threatening the total collapse of world
fisheries.
Australia's Unappreciated and Maligned Fisheries
Published as a
printed report for the Australian Environment Foundation and sent to all
Commonwealth MPs, May 2012.
Of fish and Foul Logic
Comment on the supertrawler fiasco.
Published at Quadrant Online,
September 12, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/09/of-fish-and-foulhttp://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/09/of-fish-and-foul-logic-logic
Are Fisheries or
Science in decline?
From a talk given at the Australian Environment Foundation Annual
Conference, Sydney, October 20, 2012.
Marine Protected Areas
MPA Mania
Ausmarine magazine August 2006.
MPAs – A Problem Not a Solution
(Media release on proposed Moreton Bay MPA expansions, 23 August 2007)
Comment on proposed Coral Sea Marine Park
Bluewater Boats &Sportfishing, Issue 70 (Dec/Jan 2008/09).
A Coral Sea MPA, our gift to Asian fishermen
Text copy of of a talk given on 29 April 2009 at a meeting in Cairns of about
1000 people passionately opposed to the PEW Foundation proposal to create a
million Km² no take MPA in the Coral Sea. It was very well received and the
reception of the representative for the Department of Environment and Heritage
was notably hostile. With the unfolding economic reality starting to bite, it
seems that people are finally ready to push back against the endless tide of
bureaucracy and mindless environmentalism.
Are extensive Marine Protected Areas necessary or even desirable?
In recent discussion with regard to the matter of a greatly expanded network of
large MPAs right around Australia, Department of Environment and Heritage
personnel have claimed that these MPAs are necessary to meet international
obligations to which Australia is committed. In order to better understand the
specific nature of such obligations Mr Wayne Bayne of the Fishing Party
requested from DEH a list of the relevant treaties and conventions. These were
supplied and Wayne then requested my comments on them. This Memorandum dated 5
June 2009 is my reply.
Coral Sea MPA - A bad solution to a problem that doesn’t exist
Key points regarding proposed Coral Sea MPA. Essay of 23 September 2009. Emailed
to various political and opinion leaders.
Climate Change
By Way of Self Introduction,
comments on Global Warming
(Originally posted on the Climate Skeptics discussion list, 11 March 2006.)
Fuel for Thought,
How to make Australia energy self-sufficient
News Weekly 10 June 2006.
AGW not a paradigm,
a skeptical view of global warming
Climate Skeptics discussion list and
Jennifer Marohasy weblog
August 2006.
Energy Crisis:
The real threat of global warming
Cover story - News Weekly, 13 October 2007.
Global Warming - Myth, Threat or Opportunity
The most critical problem we face is not global warming or how to make fuel more
expensive so we will use less, but providing enough at affordable prices to keep
our economy going until alternatives can become reality. Go Boating
magazine, August 2008.
The Eco-salvation Industry and AGW,
in Australia's tropics
(Unpublished essay dated 2/12/08)
The Climate Craze - Global Warming, a Mass Mania
Published at Quadrant Online, 11 August 2009.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2009/08/walter-starck
Shrinking birds? Does GW Really Cause Birds to Become Smaller?
Published at Quadrant Online 16 August 2009
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2009/08/starck
No We Can’t
Some unmentioned realities in carbon emission controls. (Unpublished essay.) 6
July 2009.
When are we going to wake up? Six degrees and rising: I’ll call your 2 degrees
and raise it to 6
Published at Quadrant Online, 23 November 2009.
https://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2009/11/six-degrees-and-rising
Climategate: Trivial break in or devastating break out?
Quadrant Online. 30 November 2009.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2009/11/a-crime-against-humanity
Marine Scientist Thinks Global Warming All Wet
Condensed version published in
The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 9 December
2009.
Observations on Growth of Reef Corals and Sea Grass Around Shallow Water
Geothermal Vents in Papua New Guinea
Published at Quadrant Online, 15 March 2010.
Who are the climate denialists now?
Published at Quadrant Online,
January 2, 2011.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/01/who-are-the-climate-denialists-now
Climate
looters
Published at Quadrant Online,
January 31, 2011.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/01/climate-looters
The stolen election
Published at Quadrant Online, March 22, 2011.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/03/the-stolen-election
Neglected truths of
climate change
Published at Quadrant Online, September 8, 2011.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/09/neglected-truths-of-climate-change
More climate madness
Published at Quadrant Online, January 8, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed‐planet/2012/01/more‐climate‐madness
The real threat of
climate change
Published at Quadrant Online, January 31, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/01/the-real-threat-of-climate-change
Heartland vs. Climategate
Published at Quadrant Online,
February 28, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/02/heartland-vs-climategate
Speak loudly and carry a busted hockey stick
Published at Quadrant Online, November 19, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/11/speak-loudly-and-carry-a-busted-hockey-stick
A fanatic with an ABC microphone
Published at Quadrant Online, November 27, 2012.
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/11/a-fanatic-with-an-abc-microphone
Sue a warmist
Published at Quadrant Online,
April 24
2013
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2013/04/sue-a-warmist
Warmists Can't Stop
Themselves
Published at Quadrant Online,
November
15. 2013
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2013/11/warmists-please-shut/
Why Climate Change Doesn't Scare Me
Published at Quadrant Online,
June 6, 2014
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2014/06/climate-change-doesnt-scare/
Time to Put Warmists Under Oath
Published at Quadrant Online,
October 26, 2014
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2014/10/time-put-warmists-oath/
The Climate
Scam's Meltdown
Published at Quadrant Online, November 20, 2014
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2014/11/climate-scams-meltdown/
Ignore,
Dismiss, Excuse, Deny
Published at Quadrant Online, June 21, 2015
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2015/06/ignore-dismiss-excuse-deny/
Global Warming’s
Grand Inquisitors
The drafting committee for the party platform
of the Democratic Party in the US has unanimously adopted a provision for
the Justice Department to investigate businesses that question the threat of
dangerous global warming.Published at Quadrant Online, July 19, 2016
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2016/07/global-warmings-grand-inquisitors/
The
Climate Confabulators’ Sinking Ships
Global temperatures' refusal
to rise has obliged warmism's comfortably settled scientists to once again
fiddle the data. Published at Quadrant Online, January 17, 2017
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2017/01/climate-confabulators-sinking-ships/
Science & Economics
Postmodern science - a contradiction in terms
Special feature - News Weekly, 4 August 2007.
ENERGY: How Australia can become fuel self-sufficient
Few Australians realise that their country is ideally placed to develop new
energy and become fuel self-sufficient. News Weekly, 21 February 2009.
Unshackle Our Producers
Comments on the recession and a way forward. (Unpublished essay.) 23 February
2009.
This Time it’s Different
Economic booms, like third marriages, are a triumph of hope over experience.
Although booms always end in busts, every new one regenerates the belief that
this one is different. The recent boom was no exception. (Unpublished essay.) 16
March 2009.
Population growth in Australia
Posted on Jennifer Marohasy Blog (http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/)
– Peter Ridd on population policy, 17 August 2009.
The fishes of
Alligator Reef and environs in the Florida Keys:
a half-century update
An update of the checklist of fishes of
Alligator Reef and environs some fifty years after the first listing
provides an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate the species richness for a
limited reef area, as well as a unique opportunity to explore changes in
diversity over a half-century time scale. Published at Journal of the Ocean
Science Foundation 27, 74–117, August 30, 2017. (Note links to
important Supplemantary Material at end of main text)
http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.851651
Recreational Fishing, Boating, Wildlife & Misc.
A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way
Pictorial story on tame giant tarpon in the Florida Keys,
Go Fishing magazine, April-May 2008. Go Boating magazine version, June 2008 (HERE).
Lee Lafferty Eulogy
Presented at funeral service for Lee Lafferty in Miallo, QLD, 7 June 2015
The Nikon Coolpix P900 Superzoom,
a genuinely outstanding camera
A portfolio of images from
Magnetic Island, mostly wildlife, July 2, 2015 (27 MB)
Allahu Gay Bar
How
many Islamist suicide attacks are driven by the guilt of their perpetrators'
closeted homosexuality? We can never be sure, but the connection between a
homophobic creed's promise of instant redemption and eternal delight for
dying in the cause of jihad cannot be discounted. Published at Quadrant Online, July
27, 2015
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/07/starck-2/
Let’s Lift the Veil on Asylum Seekers
Better and far more
detailed information on immigrant success is badly needed. Naively accepting
large numbers of refugees from the most dysfunctional societies on the
planet, and doing so with scant assessment of the consequences, would seem
almost beyond belief were it not fact. Published at Quadrant Online, August
15, 2016
http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/08/lets-lift-veil-asylum-seekers/
****