Outboard split used by greens

THE ongoing rift between outboard manufacturers has entered a new phase of tit for tat confrontation with industry stalwart Ken Evans warning that the rebel Australian Engine Manufacturers Council (AMEC) could be damaging the boating industry via a mainstream media blitz by one of its consultants promoting pollution levels emitted by "dirty" two-strokes.

Evans, a key spokesman for the Outboard Engine Distributors Association (OEDA) and a long-time outboard executive for Mercury, is worried extreme environmental groups lobbying for marine park lock-outs could use the anti-two-stroke claims to create more no-fishing zones.

Reports suggest Green parties have picked up on comments by Queensland-based marine industry consultant Gary Fooks, who is closely linked to AMEC, that two-stroke outboard usage in Queensland is significantly more polluting than last year's Pacific Adventurer oil spill disaster.

Fooks' claims that two-strokes release up to 30,000 litres of raw oil into the environment have been discredited by Evans.

"Gary Fooks ... equates two-stroke outboard usage in Queensland to some five times the Pacific Adventurer disaster of last year. He also uses total emission outputs of two-strokes as oil pollution when in fact the oil output is around 2 per cent, as advised (to OEDA) by the Orbital Engine Company.

"If we are conservative and take that 2 per cent figures up to 10 per cent to produce 30,000 litres of raw oil (as claimed by Gary Fooks) we would need to use 15,000,000 litres of fuel each month in Queensland alone. "
Evans said government figures showed two-stroke engines consumed 6,500,000 litres of per year or 541,000 litres per month.
Evans said the "misleading" claims from Fooks had the potential to significantly damage the entire boating industry.

"Last week the SA Environmental Minister mentioned the dirty two-stroke presentations as being picked up by the Greens and being used to add to their promotion of extensive marine parks and boating/fishing exclusion zones," said Evans.

"We are waiting on the RAS, the Government Regularity Impact Statement, which is due out this month. Then AMEC can reply to the government. That's what they should be waiting on instead of running this sort of campaign and damaging this industry."

Fooks, who received this criticism after making the claims on ABC local radio, said the green side of politics has been aware of the high pollution level of two-strokes for at least 15 years.

"The numbers were well publicised in the USA and Europe. The reason the green political forces have not called for emissions regulations on marine engines is that they want to see the end of all fishing," said Fooks.

"So the ‘dirtier" the recreational fleet, the more leverage they have to ban all recreational boating. This is no idle guess - it's direct from two semi-public meetings during the Moreton Bay Marine Park rezoning."

Fooks told Marine Business his radio interview comments were not presented on behalf of AMEC.

Listen to Fooks' radio interview here - http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/bfast-041109-boat-motor-pollution-calls-net.mp3