WA Fishing Industry Council says new fishing ban ‘100 times worse than Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act’

The State Government’s handling of plans for a massive marine park have been labelled as “worse than the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act” amid fears they could “devastate” south coast fishers. The proposed South Coast Marine Park extends along almost 1200km of coastline from Bremer Bay to the South Australian border, and extends 5.5km offshore. There will be “no take” areas to prevent fishing in habitats of high ecological importance. But Western Australian Fishing Industry Council chief executive Darryl Hockey said the consultation process so far had been “abysmal”. Mr Hockey said trust “went out the window” after commercial fishers were duped into revealing their “secret spots” so sanctuary zones could be designed around them, resulting in these areas being “immediately locked up”. “Technically, I think it’s 100 times worse than the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act process,” he told The West Australian. “It’s looking like 3000 to 3500 square kilometres of water swallowed up. It will just devastate the south coast, the supply of fresh fish to the Perth community, to fish and chip shops. “I’m just really disappointed with the way things have gone.” Mr Hockey said the small commercial fishing sector in the area was already “totally sustainable”. And the typically long-established family-run businesses now held grave concerns for their livelihoods, with only small windows in which to fish each year in between treacherous weather. But Mr Hockey said no compensation had been mooted and a socio-economic impact assessment was only now being developed. Nationals MP Colin de Grussa agreed the area was well-managed with “a very small take”, saying the marine park plan would “wipe out a lot of these businesses”. “Basically, Esperance would have no commercial fishing operations,” he said. “We also heard of beaches being closed for fishing off the beach in some of the areas, which is obviously an impact for the recreational sector as well.” A management plan and zoning scheme promised for release for public comment in mid-2023 is overdue, with Environment Minister Reece Whitby now saying it would be released for a three-month public comment period later this year. “Clearly, the timeline has pushed out, which is unsurprising it was always going to,” Mr de Grussa said. “The last meeting of the consultative committee was supposed to see the final maps presented ... the whole process has been a sham.” Mr Whitby said the Government was continuing with its consultation process, which went “above and beyond”. “There are often strong views that may conflict and it’s the Government’s role to strike the right balance,” he said. “We’re not going to rush this process. It’s too important ... Our vision is for a world-class marine park that rivals Ningaloo and the Great Barrier Reef.” The Government said it had made some concessions, removing about 118,000ha of ocean and around 147km of coastline from the original candidate areas. “Five proposed sanctuary zones have now been removed completely, while 11 have been significantly amended and a further nine have undergone finer scale amendments,” Mr Whitby said. However, Mr Hockey said that reduced sanctuary zones from 34 per cent of the marine park to 26 per cent, which would still devastate commercial fishing in the area. It comes as Save Our Marine Life, an alliance of 27 conservation groups, released the results of a YouGov poll of 1027 West Australians that found 86 per cent of respondents supported the marine park. “Endangered southern right whales, endangered Australian sea lions, iconic sea dragons and a vast array of fish and seabirds all depend on the Great Southern Reef’s diverse ecosystems,” Pew Charitable Trusts WA oceans and rivers manager Monique Barker said. “The research shows West Australians appreciate the crucial role marine sanctuaries play in ensuring the south coast can remain healthy, to be enjoyed by generations to come.”