MARINE BIOSECURITY

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:33): I seek leave to ask the Minister for Regional Development a question about biosecurity.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: The government has set out as one of its priorities premium food from our clean environment. Doubtless, all South Australians are proud of our beautiful environment and want to maintain this competitive edge. Can the minister advise of an aquatic development which will help maintain this environment?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I have no doubt that the member is correct in identifying the pride with which South Australians regard their surroundings, and Biosecurity SA, which is part of the PIRSA agency, works tirelessly to help ensure that we maintain this.

I was recently advised of a method that can be used by boat owners to help ensure that they do not bring unwanted visitors with them when they travel into our waters. Biosecurity SA has been investigating a boat sleeve since 2011, and I am pleased to say that I have been advised that the two trials undertaken so far have been very successful.

The IMProtector means that boaties can clean boats without taking them out of the water, while also doing their bit for the environment and the fish that live in it. Some marine pests can damage boat engines, reduce vessel performance, damage the environment and deplete fishing grounds—something I know would concern you, Mr President—and prevention and early detection are vital to prevent this.

An introduced marine pest protector is a heavy polypropylene tarpaulin with built-in ropes, weights and floats. It is wrapped around a vessel that may have pests on its hull as marine growth (or bio-fouling) and pulled up tight around the hull, and then nature does its work. The tarp forms a sleeve around the hull to stop pests escaping and to kill them. It traps a small volume of water, starving the marine growth of oxygen and blocking sunlight for photosynthetic organisms. As the growth dies it kills off any marine pests in the process naturally.

I am advised that two to four people can install it in about 45 minutes, and it comes with a small petrol-driven water pump to remove excess water to help speed up the process. I understand that the South Australian government trials of the boat sleeve were undertaken in the middle of winter, and all growth was dead after two weeks. However, I am advised that if used in warmer conditions it would process even more quickly.

Boaties will not entirely get out of the job of slipping their vessel to replace anti-fouling coating; however, it can help keep marine growth to a minimum, reducing the risk of marine pests attaching to the hull. It will decrease the time and effort required by boaties to anti-foul their vessels, as they would usually have to charter their vessel to the slip, leave it there for treatment, and then return to bring it back to their marina. The added benefit of this technique is that it can also be used in emergencies, when a new pest has been found, to quarantine a vessel and prevent the marine pest from spreading.

I am advised that Biosecurity SA is working on making the boat sleeve available for public rental. Biosecurity SA developed and procured this first lightweight, government-owned version of the IMProtector in Australia. The concept has since been adopted by Western Australia Fisheries, which has bought several of the sleeves. Other regions may also soon take up the idea.