Fur Seals

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conversation about long-nosed fur seals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I was recently contacted by a constituent who advised that long-nosed fur seals are now inhabiting Lake Alexandrina and the Coorong. I am advised that long-nosed fur seals are known as the foxes of the sea and can be extremely destructive to the environment. Can the minister advise what action, if any, has been taken in response to these fur seals?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. The South Australian government does not support culling of long-nosed fur seals. In fact, it is important to understand that long-nosed fur seals are an important part of our South Australian environment. The honourable member across from me asked why the name was changed, and I will come to that in a moment, but she should understand that the old name was also changed about 80 or 90 years ago to the name that no longer stands, for reasons which I will come to in a minute when I get through my very long explanation.

Marine industries such as aquaculture and the Coorong and Lower Lakes fishery understand that they should invest in socially acceptable solutions for their industries. The reputation of these industries is central to their ability to market their produce domestically and internationally. The South Australian government, through Primary Industries and Regions SA and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, is currently working very closely with the industry to identify solutions.

It is very important to note that the industry itself has gone out of its way to get for itself a sustainable fisheries credential, and internationally recognised, so it is vitally important that we help them to control the issues in their fishery without resorting to culling, because the international outrage around the culling of seals would be tremendous and it would be very damaging to those local industries.

Historically, seals were hunted in Australia, and the population was decimated by the beginning of the 19^th century. Since hunting has ceased, the number of long-nosed fur seals in South Australian waters has recovered over the last 100 or so years to an estimated number now of about 100,000 animals across the state. This recovery of the state and nationally protected species has brought economic benefits to South Australia through wildlife tourism on Kangaroo Island and the West Coast region. If you just think for a moment about one of our great tourist assets or icons for the state, it is Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island. Can you imagine—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: If you go to Kangaroo Island, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, you will see three species of seal cohabiting together around Cape de Couedic and other parts, where they haul out onto the beaches and the rocks—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: That's what Cory was talking about!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —they inhabit together. I won't be distracted by salacious comments made by Senator Cory Bernardi that the Hon. Michelle Lensink is offering up to me right now. But, if she has a text message about that, I would love to see it afterwards.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Indeed. This recovery of state and nationally protected species has brought great benefits to the state. It also has the potential to impact some fish farms and wild catch fisheries, including the Coorong and Lower Lakes commercial fishery, which developed during a period when seal numbers were low. This impact is best dealt with by industry and government working together to identify solutions and through industry investing in new techniques, equipment and changing practices, not by killing seals.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources is currently working with Primary Industries and Regions SA, affected industry peak bodies and community groups, including the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority, as they all look to develop socially acceptable solutions that will work in the long term. The next meeting, I am advised, is scheduled for 9 June to further investigate the options available, such as the use of bangers, otherwise known as seal scarers, to deter seals from nets. Bangers are not lethal to fur seals, I am advised: they emit a soundwave that is uncomfortable. I am advised that bangers are currently used successfully by fishers in Tasmania when they have fish in the net and want to keep seals away.

Experience from Australia and elsewhere in the world has shown that site-specific lethal options for fur seal control are ineffective. The number of non-lethal options available to manage fur seal populations is limited, however. Sterilisation, of course, is technically very difficult, very expensive and may have welfare implications for individual animals. Translocation is not effective because seals can swim very long distances and often return to their original location. I am advised that improved fish farm design and changed fishing practices are very likely to be the most effective approach.

I know it is often tempting to grasp for short-term solutions, such as removing seals from local problem areas, but it is not a rational way to approach a complex environmental issue. It has been the subject of human interference for close to 200 years. Instead, we need to consider the complex marine systems and their interactions based on the science we have before us and the lessons we have learnt from other jurisdictions.

The government is well aware of the complexity of the issue and is, as I said earlier, working with stakeholders to arrive at a long-term and sustainable solution. The department is also currently working to develop a statewide policy to guide the management of long-nosed fur seals, and other pinnipeds, together with PIRSA, industry bodies and other stakeholders. This policy encourages a living with wildlife approach through using different fishing practice and/or fishing gear. I am advised that the policy will give industry clear guidance on any appropriate and legal means they may develop to reduce the impact of seal and sea lion species on fishing operations. I am advised that the draft policy is currently being circulated for stakeholder consultation.

In regard to the Hon. Michelle Lensink's not quite supplementary—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Salacious.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Indeed, salacious, as the Hon. Mr Wade highlights for me. The common name, 'New Zealand fur seal', is both misleading and inaccurate. Long-nosed fur seals are native to South Australia, as well as four other states along the southern Australian coast. Two prominent South Australian scientists from the South Australian Research and Development Institute and the South Australian Museum have proposed in the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science that the common name be changed to long-nosed fur seal. Using the name 'New Zealand fur seal' has led some members of the community to believe that this species is not native to South Australia and that it has indeed been introduced from New Zealand. As a consequence, there have been calls to cull seals as a feral pest—inaccurate and misleading.

My department has therefore adopted the new common name of 'long-nosed fur seal' for the species, as recommended by those two scientists I noted earlier, and I anticipate that this change in common name will help remove, hopefully, some of the misconceptions that this native seal species is an introduced feral animal: it is not.