South Coast Algal Bloom

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:57): Supplementary: has PIRSA provided all relevant details about the closures to other agencies, such as the EPA?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:57): In terms of information and sharing of information around algal bloom, I know there has been a lot of work cross agency. Obviously, this is something that has impacts not only on fisheries but also through the EPA and so on.

According to our advice, the human health impact of the algal bloom is that there is nothing long term, which is a very positive thing, but there can certainly be reactions to the algal bloom, particularly for people who are susceptible to respiratory illnesses and so on. We are advised, and the public health advice has been out there, that, if people, for example, have been walking along the beach where there is the foam and they have an allergic reaction on their skin, as long as they wash it off quickly it generally will not last for a long period of time. So the short answer is that there has been cross-sector work on all the aspects of algal bloom that we have information on.