Battle for our seas

Marine ecosystems are renowned  for their abundant and seemingly endless resources. However, despite the longterm importance of these ecosystems  in
protecting shorelines, controlling climate, being the basis of a strong marine industry and providing food and inspiration, the Australian Commonwealth waters are in crisis. This situation is particularly clear when one examines fisheries management regimes and more recently the bio-regional planning processes  currenly underway aimed at protecting these ecosystems.

The marine industry in Australia has been the quiet achiever in environmental stewardship for many years. While numerous international waters and fisheries are experiencing serious degradation, Australian seas have continued to thrive. In many respects this can be directly attributed to the environmental awareness and practice by the users. Notwithstanding this, we are now entering an age where one of the biggest threats to our oceans is in fact the very management regimes governments at the Federal and State levels are now seeking to apply to protect our oceans.

There are many diverse users of our oceans including fishers, tourism operators, shipping, military, mining and petroleum exploration, sea dumping, communications cables, researchers, conservationists and of course recreational users. It is not surprising therefore that from time to time there will be multiple-use conflicts.  

To respond to these demands, the Howard Government commenced a process that aimed to better understand our oceans. The primary reason for this process was so that the government could make better informed decisions on the sustainable use and protection of these valuable resources. This initiative was (and is still) strongly supported by the recreational and light commercial marine industry. It provides a wonderful opportunity to put in place world class management regimes for the ongoing sustainable use and protection of our marine environments.

But unfortunately, to date, the current bio-regional planning process seems to be taking us in the opposite direction – primarily driven by fundamentalist green politics and inefficient bureaucratic policy and planning processes.

Industry continues to strongly advocate for sustainable use and protection measures that enable continued economic growth, are socially responsible and environmentally sound. Central to the industry position is the concept of devolved co-management. In essence, this management approach applies local knowledge and expertise to local ecosystems to develop local solutions.

Counter arguments seek everything from closure to the imposition of significant restrictions on access and use of these waters. The management approaches under these proposals seek centralised management with strict policing and enforcement policies.

The role of government under the industry model is that of facilitator and supporter. Under the counter proposal it is policer and enforcer. Under the industry model education, awareness and local management measures is key. Under the counter proposal, threat and punishment is the primary management tool. The industry proposal is resource efficient and effective. The counter proposal is resource hungry, and very expensive to sustain. The industry model aims to bring communities together while the counter proposal is divisive.

The Coral Sea debacle

Off the back of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park rezoning and more recently the Moreton Bay Marine Park rezoning, industry and community confidence in Marine Park planning would have to be at an all time low. You would have thought that governments would have learnt some valuable lessons on community engagement. Not so! The sense of betrayal, shock and disgust still resonates strongly in communities all along the Queensland coastline.

The Eastern Bio-regional planning process encompasses Commonwealth waters from the tip of Cape York to Bermagui off the Southern NSW coast. The community engagement processes for this bio-region commenced in earnest in early 2009. It was with a high level of suspicion and some trepidation that industry engaged with the process. Government agencies continually encouraged industry and the community to trust the process and engage – everything will be okay they assured. But in May 2009 Minister Garrett, without any consultation with industry, unilaterally announced the declaration of the Coral Sea as a conservation zone.

The very process aimed at the gathering information and community views on these and adjacent waters had just been unilaterally derailed by a single stroke of the Minister’s pen. It was a completely premature and counter-productive announcement. And then, to add salt to the open wounds, the debate initiated in the Senate by Senators Boswell and MacDonald – in effect the highest Court in the land, to critically examine this decision is gagged. What a sorry state of affairs.

So as at December 2009 the bio-regional planning process is in total disarray. What an incredible lost opportunity to establish truly world class management and protection measures for our seas. Instead we now face probably one of the biggest threats to the sustainability of industry and significant social implications for regional communities reliant on these waters. But the real sting in the tail most incredibly, is that the environment itself will not receive the sophisticated protection measures that mainstream industry and regional communities want, expect and need.

Is all lost?

A critical meeting was held with Stephen Oxley – First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment on 11 December, 2009, in Canberra. The concerns of the marine industry were strongly conveyed on the importance of a truly effective and efficient bio-regional planning process for industry, regional communities and the environment. Assurances have been given to the industry that their concerns will be seriously considered by the Minister and that further discussions are to occur early in 2010. Time will tell but be assured that a policy tweak is far from what is required to breathe life back into a process that is terminally ill.