September 07 Update
The Moreton Bay Access Alliance has been hard at work on two main fronts as a part of our program to ensure that the problems and concerns experienced in previous marine park developments are addressed in the process of completing the 2007/08 review of Moreton Bay Marine Park.
Advocacy re EPA’s Review Process
Firstly, we have continued to represent the interests of the boating and fishing public, the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries, charter and tourism operators and of course the wide range of marine industries that serve them. MBAA’s six representatives on EPA’s Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) have worked hard to ensure that EPA is thoroughly informed about the potential impact of fishing closures on our stakeholders.
EPA released a draft habitat map of the Bay delineating what they considered to be the 16 different habitat types that make up the Bay’s different ecosystems. Bear in mind here that the Government has accepted their expert scientific advisory panel’s recommendations, one of which is that at least 10% of all habitat types in the marine Park be protected in “no take/no fishing” (green) zones.
Knowing this, MBAA’s scientific team also developed our own habitat map and soon discovered that EPA’s map was based on just one study and did not take into account more recent and detailed studies, the result being some glaring inaccuracies. MBAA’s research team met with EPA’s scientists in August just before the Brisbane International Boat Show to review this work and as a result, EPA accepted the vast majority of our changes and updated their habitat map – a good sign that they are taking our research seriously and seem willing to make changes based on solid data.
EPA also presented their 35 “areas of interest for possible greater protection” in the Marine Park to the SRG. However they refused to publicly release a map showing these areas to stakeholders to enable them to properly consult with their members. MBAA representatives pushed hard and EPA eventually agreed to release GPS coordinates for a number of these areas, although because some areas boundaries followed depth contours, some of the areas boundaries were not provided.
Not surprisingly, the GPS marks EPA provided were quickly plotted by various groups and unofficial maps of these areas soon began to circulate on the net, causing great concern in many circles. EPA responded with a newspaper and radio campaign to try to reassure anglers that the areas of importance to them would not be closed to fishing, however feedback in fishing circles is that this message has not achieved its intended outcome.
In the meantime, MBAA representatives met in individual stakeholder groups with EPA to provide them with our views on the “areas of interest” and to advocate for alternatives where our research and knowledge showed that they would cause an unacceptable impact on fishing and associated activities or where the environmental benefits were questionable. The initial response at these meetings of EPA staff saw MBAA at an urgent meeting with (then) Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr. Since then, we have found a much more accommodating attitude in EPA, with an apparent willingness to consider changes and alternatives that our stakeholder representatives have put forward. At the end of the day, however, it will only be when the EPA releases their draft zoning map when we truly know whether this was real or a token effort.
MBAA has been busy on many other fronts too numerous to mention here, a couple of examples include on-on-one meetings with nearly every State MLA whose electorate faces onto the Bay to advocate for our interests and meeting with outboard distributors at the Boat Show to outline our strategy and to bring them up to speed with what’s planned.
MBAA’s Research Project
This project represents the second prong in our approach to the review. The aim of this project is to produce a zoning plan for the MBMP that achieves the Government’s environmental objectives whilst at the same time minimising impact on fishing, and is supported by all stakeholder groups. A key here is that all sectors – recreational, commercial and marine industries are working together in a united team, and are 100% committed to producing a result that we all support.
It is also pleasing to note that the Government has extended their review timeframes to allow EPA enough time to review and consider our proposals before they release their draft zoning plan for public comment, which is now expected towards the end of 2007. Minister Nelson-Carr also committed EPA to working through our project results in detail with our team before their draft is released.
The research will quantify exactly what happens in the Bay and what the flow-on effects are to the south east Queensland economy and local communities. The total project value is $226,000, which hasbeen jointly funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, (FRDC) who we are most thankful to, industry and recreational fishing groups.
Where are we at now?
At mid-September, we have completed our data gathering and analysis stages, and have produced habitat maps and maps of key fishing and boating locations. This has included surveys of all sectors (recreational fishing and boating, commercial fishing and charter boat sectors, tourism, seafood retail, recreational fishing tackle, and indigenous groups, and sourcing data from EPA, DPI Fisheries, and the Department of State Development.
These data sets have been translated into GIS layers to add to the maps of economic and social activity in the Moreton Bay Marine Park. These maps have been assessed by the project researchers in conjunction with industry leaders and experienced recreational sector representatives to identify gaps in information.
Habitat Data has been gathered by reviewing available research and verified by site visits where required. This information has been transferred into GIS layers to create a habitat map. This map is being used to ensure that the final outputs of this project meet the conservation goals of the EPA.
In early September we commenced the analysis phase, and by the end of September will have completed the “challenging” process of working with all sector representatives to come up with a consensus on a draft zoning map and report. This involves industry, community, recreational fishing and conservation representatives sitting around a table over several meetings to negotiate on where protection zones could be placed to achieve EPA’s conservation objectives, whilst minimizing impact on industries.
Excellent progress has been made in the two workshops that have been completed, and we are confident that the final meeting scheduled for this coming weekend will complete the work required. It’s been pleasing to see all sectors working so well together and striving to accommodate all perspectives, views and needs.
The aim of this final meeting will be to finalise exact coordinates & locations for areas that have been agreed on, evaluate the percentages of each habitat type that we have already set aside as highly protected areas through the last two meetings, and decide on what is still required to satisfy EPA’s and our own requirements. Blue and yellow zones will also be discussed.
The aim is to have a map by the end of the meeting that we are all in agreement on. Once all groups finalise their agreement, the map and research report will be submitted to EPA. Time is very tight – all this needs to occur by Friday 5 October 2007 to have the report to EPA in time for them to consider it before their draft is finalised.
Our aim, of course, is to convince Government of the obvious benefits of accepting a well researched proposal that is backed by defensible science and is supported by all key stakeholders. We have arranged a meeting with the new Minister Andrew McNamara MLA next week to further this process.
Grant Bennett
Deputy Chair MBAA
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Originally Posted by Fafnir
