Fishing and Aquaculture
South Australia's marine environments are unique and precious resources, containing some of the most biologically diverse waters in the world. They are also a highly valuable resource for both State and regional economies, supporting an array of activities from fishing and aquaculture to shipping and mining, while at the same time providing important tourism, recreational and cultural opportunities. Effective management of our coast, estuarine and marine environment is needed to ensure continuing opportunities for sustainable industry development, whilst simultaneously preserving the biological diversity for the benefit of current and future generations. A basic principle in the development of South Australia's marine parks is the recognition that marine parks will be zoned for multiple use. Multiple use marine parks will provide for ecological sustainable use, whilst at the same time providing for conservation and protection of the marine environment. Most activities, including aquaculture operations and recreational and commercial fishing, will still be allowed within a marine park boundary, however, there will be particular zones or periods of time where some activities will not be permitted. Areas with high conservation values will be designated as either Restricted Access Zones or Sanctuary Zones to provide the necessary level of protection for habitats, species, ecological and cultural features. Both Restricted Access and Sanctuary zones will exclude aquaculture operations and recreational and commercial fishing. Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture
Whilst it is intended that any social and economic impacts arising from marine park zoning will be minimised, the State Government recognises that the development of marine parks requires changes to resource sharing arrangements which may displace existing use in some areas.
New marine parks legislation (see Draft Marine Parks Bill 2006 [400Kb PDF]), will provide for the dedication, zoning and management of marine parks, including the fair and equitable management of any displaced commercial fishing or aquaculture effort. Mechanisms which may be used to address displaced effort for commercial fishing and aquaculture include:
If the options of re-zoning or relocation are deemed to be not viable, then displacement payments may be utilised:
Catch quota or gear entitlement buy-out: where DEH would
work with PIRSA to buy out an appropriate amount of fishing quota
and/or effort. For more comprehensive information about the mechanisms to address any displaced commercial fishing or aquaculture effort as a result of new marine parks please refer to our information papers: Marine Parks and Commercial Fishing (50Kb PDF) and Marine Parks and Aquaculture (50Kb PDF). Recreational Fishing
The balancing of conservation with extractive resource use is a complex equation with key stakeholders needing to be informed and involved in the decision making process. Thorough planning and pragmatic zoning of marine parks, incorporating local community input will ensure that South Australia's marine parks have the least possible impact on existing marine users, whilst at the same time protecting the health of the marine environment. There are a number of opportunities for recreational fishers and other members of the community to be involved in the development of zoning within marine parks. Local community input will help to minimise (where possible) the areas where Sanctuary and Restricted Access zones may coincide with popular recreational fishing areas.
Members of the community are encouraged to participate in the marine parks development process (see Community involvement) by nominating for local consultative committees, attending public information sessions and providing local information to incorporate into zoning arrangements. For more information on recreational fishing in marine parks, see our Fact Sheet: Marine Parks and Recreational Fishing (100Kb PDF).
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