GIANT CUTTLEFISH

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Regional Development about the catastrophic drop-off in cuttlefish numbers at Point Lowly.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: The future of the unique annual breeding aggregation at Point Lowly of the giant Australian cuttlefish is looking desperately bleak. Local diver Tony Bramley is quoted in the Whyalla News from 18 September as saying:

I believe we have lost this aggregation...This population in Whyalla is a separate genetic pool, we can't get more from Sydney or Perth...We have lost this separate genetic population, it can't be replaced. It's gone.

These words should be raising even more alarm bells in this government, which has known about the issue since at least 2009, when it was listed as a species of concern in the SA Strategic Plan under the 'no species loss' target. Yet from recent reports the government still appears to be in denial at the scale of this disaster. The Advertiser on 24 September this year reported:

Fisheries minister Gail Gago says preliminary figures suggest cuttlefish numbers have 'reduced by about two thirds'. A state government working group has been unable to establish a reason for the decline and recommended research 'should now focus on investigating broader ecological factors that may be influencing the population', she said. 'It would be prudent to await the outcomes of this further research.'

Although a temporary closure notice has been issued for the fishing of cuttlefish in a narrow zone around False Bay in Whyalla, anger is growing amongst scientists, ecologists and the Whyalla community at the lack of further action by the government in the face of this unique species and its associated eco-tourism industry, which are in collapse. Yet there is much that the fisheries minister can do and should do now before we wait for more research.

The first action would be to list the giant Australian cuttlefish as a protected species under the state's Fisheries Act, specifically for the Spencer Gulf region. I remind members that similar protection exists for the blue groper, which cannot be taken in Spencer or Gulf St Vincent waters, yet at the moment it is still possible to catch up to 45 cuttlefish per boat per day. Reducing fishing take would help maximise the number of cuttlefish reaching sexual maturity for next year's breeding season, a season that offers the last small chance to bring this population back from the precipice.

A second action would be to back the Conservation Council's call for the urgent preparation of an emergency cuttlefish recovery plan, and the third action would be to nominate the Upper Spencer Gulf population of giant Australian cuttlefish for listing under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (the EPBC Act). This would grant the species a higher level of protection and would also make critical funding for research into identifying and remedying the causes of the animal's decline more readily obtainable. My questions of the minister are:

1. Will you list giant Australian cuttlefish as a protected species under the state's Fisheries Act, and will you recommend that the species be listed under EPBC Act for the Spencer Gulf region and, if not, why not?

2. Can the minister confirm that the only research on giant Australian cuttlefish in the Upper Spencer Gulf done to date by government agencies has been counting and habitat mapping? If so, why has there been none so far to understand the precipitous drop-off in numbers?

3. Will you now direct the cross-government cuttlefish working group to commence work on an emergency cuttlefish recovery plan? If not, why not?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. Indeed, the giant cuttlefish is a very important species and is well renowned for its spectacular aggregation in the Spencer Gulf between March and September, and is something that is a significant tourist attraction. It has been known to be the largest aggregation of giant cuttlefish in the world, so it is indeed a very special event—a special phenomenon.

Obviously, the cuttlefish aggregate in this area because of their natural preferences in terms of habitat and breeding. They like hard, rocky substrate to lay eggs, and clear, calm waters. The presence of suitable prey species is also likely to have an impact. Natural variation and variability in cuttlefish abundance and recruitment are suspected to be influenced by the impacts of environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, water circulation and weather patterns, and variation in population numbers is considered normal.

As I have said in this place before, we don't have a longitudinal database, so we are not able to determine whether this change in numbers is part of any natural cyclic phenomena or whether it is a once-off phenomenon. But, we know that these variations do occur and that variations from time to time are normal. Indeed, the temporary closure occurred back in 2007, prohibiting the taking of cuttlefish from a certain area.

The closure has been renewed annually to help ensure that a large percentage of the spawning biomass is protected each year. The closure covers an area of up to around 98 per cent of the total statewide catch of cuttlefish which is historically taken, so it is basically all of the area. This area remains open to commercial and recreational fishers targeting other species. So, there are already significant protections in place.

There has been a very low level targeting of fishing for cuttlefish in South Australia since the majority of the spawning aggregation area was closed in 1998. Whilst it is permitted to take a number of commercial fish, the current statewide commercial harvest is considered to be negligible. So, at the moment there is, in fact, very little commercial fishing of cuttlefish occurring. In fact, the work done by SARDI also indicates that there is no evidence to suggest that recreational fishing is having any adverse impact on those aggregation numbers.

So, there is just no evidence to suggest that taking these measures the honourable member has mentioned is likely to have any impact whatsoever. There is no evidence for that at this point in time that I have been made aware of. So, given the spatial management arrangements that are in place through the closure, fishing is not considered, as I said, to pose a threat to the seasonal aggregation. We have scientific experts giving us that advice.

The closure is monitored by fisheries officers and patrols, and they advise me they have not detected any noncompliant activities for this season. However, in a move to afford additional protection to the cuttlefish aggregation ahead of the 2012 breeding season, information has been gathered to help us understand what is going on with the population, so there has been an extension to that fishing closure area under the Fisheries Management Act.

In 2011, the government received commonwealth assistance to monitor the breeding and habitat of the cuttlefish and SARDI obtained a grant of (I think) just over $74,000 in addition to its own contribution of over $30,000 to support a cuttlefish monitoring and evaluation program, with particular reference to population biomass, water quality and habitat condition.

A cross-agency group chaired by PIRSA's chief executive has met and considered relevant information about the cuttlefish and is identifying further actions that should be taken, so further work is being done. The working group agreed that addressing the issues associated with the cuttlefish is a whole of government, cross-agency responsibility extending to requirements in relation to expertise, obviously, resourcing and funding.

The work will necessarily involve work with other stakeholders including industry, research, local government and, obviously conservation groups. So far SARDI research has shown that the cause of the changes to the population is inconclusive. For example, they still do not understand whether perhaps the cuttlefish are in fact aggregating in another area that we are unaware of, so the work so far is inconclusive. It is not providing us with any evidence-based clear direction about what action or recovery strategies we should put in place.

It is very hard to launch into a recovery plan when what we need to do is the work to understand the causal factors or the underlying factors affecting this aggregation and address those. We need to be sensible and we need to use a scientific basis for this. To date, SARDI's research has shown that the species experiences natural variation in population and, as I said, in that species, the eggs particularly are especially vulnerable to changes in water temperature, I am advised.

I am also advised that a number of research gaps have been identified by the working group and, as a result, expressions of interest for further research were submitted to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. The project, led by researchers from the University of Adelaide and SARDI, aims to determine the movement patterns and finer scale population structure of the giant cuttlefish in the Upper Spencer Gulf.

In addition, the project will assess and evaluate the response of the cuttlefish population to environmental and anthropogenic factors in order to assess the variability of the population. That research will continue into the new year. The working group has also advised me that ongoing water monitoring and analysis undertaken by the EPA will continue.

Redmap Australia is a national range extension database and mapping project in which the public is invited to log any sightings of uncommon marine species. Redmap records and tracks shifts in the distribution of marine species. The addition of cuttlefish to this database will provide information on movement patterns of cuttlefish in South Australian waters, particularly the location of spawning aggregations, and the working group will also be engaged with the relevant conservation groups and councils. As I said, a great deal has been done already and we continue to pursue further research and monitoring to try to understand what is happening to this very important species.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Parnell has a supplementary.