Fur Seals

In reply to the Hon. T.A. FRANKS (27 October 2015).

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change): The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation has received this advice:

1. The South Australian Government takes seriously the occupational health and safety of South Australians.

Business owners are responsible for health and safety in the workplace and, as such, the workplace health and safety of the fishers operating in the Coorong and Lower Lakes is the responsibility of the fishers.

However, the state government has in place a system for recording incidents involving seals. As part of the normal reporting associated with commercial fishing in South Australia, fishers are required to fill in logbooks when an interaction occurs with a threatened, endangered or protected species (TEPS logbook). Within these logbooks, fishers provide comments on the type and nature of interactions with these species.

2. The South Australian government has taken a number of steps to help fishers and local communities mitigate the impacts of fur seal interactions. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) and Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) are working closely with the Southern Fishermen's Association on a plan to mitigate impacts.

The state government has invested $100,000 in research into fishing gear, methods and deterrent devices. Along with a contribution made by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, approximately $260,000 of funding has now been secured to investigate alternative fishing gear and practices, and to trial different seal deterrents.

The government has also waived 2015-16 fishing licence fees, as well as made other changes to provide fishing operators with additional flexibility, including:

increasing the season length in which hauling nets may be used in Area 1 of the fisher by 106 days;

permitting drum nets to be used by all Lakes and Coorong Fishery licence holders; and

increasing the number of relief days per licence holder from 28 to 90 days.

The government has also established a Long-nosed Fur Seal Working Group, which has put in place measures to provide mental health support to the Coorong and Lower Lakes commercial fishers through Rural Business Support, which comprises Rural Financial Services SA. Rural Business provides fishers with free, independent and confidential financial information and business support, along with referrals to other professional services, like personal and social counselling.

The Coorong District Council has a community wellbeing programme that complements the Rural Financial Services program. The Coorong District Council has held several information sessions for the fishers and the wider community.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources held a community open day on 10 December 2015 at Meningie, which allowed the local community to share information about long-nosed fur seals in the region. Representatives from Centacare Catholic Family Services also attended the open day.