Marine Park Sanctuary Zones

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:23): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement on the topic: release of regional impact assessment statements of marine park sanctuary zones show no region-wide impact.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The state government committed to carrying out a regional impact assessment statement process during the first year of marine park sanctuary zones for the regions of Port Wakefield, Ceduna and Kangaroo Island. The RIAS report was released on Thursday 1 October 2015 and shows that there have been no region-wide impacts of marine park sanctuary zones in those three regions.

These findings address concerns amongst fishers about anticipated negative impacts arising from fishing restrictions. The report demonstrates that some fishing communities, particularly the rock lobster fishers off Kangaroo Island, were shown to have experienced an increased fishing catch during the first three months of the first season of the sanctuary zones.

The RIAS process was undertaken to provide an early indication of any unexpected regional impacts. The government committed to taking immediate action to address adverse regional impacts if any were identified through the process. To ensure the process was independent and transparent, the Goyder Institute for Water Research was appointed to prepare the RIAS report.

The South Australian Centre for Economic Studies (SACES) is a joint research unit between the University of Adelaide and Flinders University and, as a partner of the Goyder Institute, SACES was engaged by the Goyder Institute as independent experts to undertake this work. The South Australian Research and Development Institute provided commercial fisheries data and technical advice.

The report's findings validate the work undertaken over the last 10 years in engaging the South Australian community throughout the development of marine parks and the creation of marine park management plans and zoning. This work ensured that any impact of marine park zones on economic and social activities was to be minimised.

The completion of the RIAS is the beginning of long-term work to understand the effects of marine parks. The report will be used to inform the marine parks monitoring, evaluation and reporting program and the review of marine park management plans, as required by the Marine Park Act 2007. Although the act requires reviews of marine park zoning every 10 years, the government has committed to commencing the first review within the term of this government, and this work has already begun.

Despite the RIAS report not finding region-wide impacts, individuals who believe that their statutory authorisation has been affected by the creation of a marine park zone can apply for compensation at any time. More information about making an application for compensation can be found at http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/haveyoursay/draft-marine-parks-statutory-authorisation-compensation-regulations-2015.

The Director of SACES, Associate Profession Michael O'Neil, has commented that further monitoring will reveal the positive impacts of marine park sanctuary zones on marine ecology and biodiversity. In light of the expected benefits from marine parks, Dr Mike Bossley has established the non-government organisation Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries (EMS) to raise awareness amongst children about our marine environment. The RIAS report and the government's response are available at http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/marineparks.