Seaweed Harvesting

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:31): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question about seaweed production.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In a press release on 10 September 2015, minister Gago described the benefits of a Chinese/Flinders University agreement to boost SA's seaweed industry. Australian Kelp Products, which has operated on the Limestone Coast since the 1990s, has the sole licence for harvesting seaweed in South Australia. Australian Kelp Products' parent company has indicated it plans to invest $21 million in seaweed harvesting and processing using the Flinders University technology.

With significant investment in this industry, it is hoped that South Australia will become a key player in the industry, which is worth $2 billion annually. Technological development and investment are welcome. The industry also needs to be environmentally sustainable. Qingdao China is experiencing the arrival of up to a million tonnes of green biomass onto its beaches each summer. The city experiences waves of sea lettuce to its beaches whenever the water temperature climbs into the 20s.

Biologists suggest that the green tide is connected to a combination of seaweed farming and the water pollution to the south of Qingdao. Such large quantities of algae choke marine life and cost millions in damages and clean-up. My question to the minister is: what regulatory oversight is in place to ensure the development of the seaweed industry in South Australia proceeds without negative environmental impacts?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his fantastic question, and I commend him for his interest in this very important area. Primary Industries and Regions SA has recently been granted an export permit by the commonwealth Department of the Environment under part 13 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 for the state beach-cast marine algae fishery.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources was involved in the assessment of the proposed export licence. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources provided comment to the commonwealth on the export licence proposal, which identified that a number of environmental matters would need to be considered and addressed in the granting of an export licence. These included potential impacts to migratory bird species and impacts to the foreshore through any potential sand removal.

Australian Kelp Products Pty Ltd currently holds a South Australian miscellaneous fishery licence for the South Australian beach-cast marine algae fishery from Cape Jaffa marina to eight kilometres into Rivoli Bay in the state's South-East near Kingston. Australian Kelp Products is also seeking to expand their existing miscellaneous fishery licence to the Victorian border under an exploratory permit application. This is, I am advised, a preliminary stage process. However, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has been working with the Department of State Development and Primary Industries and Regions SA to discuss management strategies that would allow the licence holder to operate over a larger area, whilst ensuring appropriate environmental protections are in place to minimise any impact.

As the proposed expansion is only proposed at this stage, no public consultation period has yet occurred on this proposal. Public consultation began at the beginning of this month for five to seven weeks. I am advised that a public meeting is planned to be held in Millicent. I am advised that, as part of the approval process for the licence, Primary Industries and Regions SA conducted an ecologically sustainable development workshop in Millicent in January, earlier this year, with a select group comprised of government agencies, local government, NGOs and individuals, who all have an interest in the beach-cast marine algae fishery.

As the honourable member said, there are important environmental conditions that need to be satisfied, not the least being nesting for the important birds that utilise the beaches but also the ecological impact of removing seaweed in relation to, for example, the absorption of energy from waves crashing on beaches and erosion. The department is working very closely with the other agencies to make sure that, in the proposal that comes forward, these ecological interests are protected.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, Mr Parnell.