According to the secretary of the South Eastern Professional Fishermen’s Association it is quite disappointing on the part of the South Australian Government as it ignored the proposal for marine park boundaries. It is told that the Environment Minister Jay Weatherill has announced that the total area of the parks has been reduced from 46 percent of the state’s waters to 44 percent.
David Manser of the association the Minister’s concessions do not go far enough. He added that the threats have never been identified. Fishing is not a threat to anything in the marine environment in the southern zone, so as far as we’re concerned they’re not really addressing the issues that are there.
Neil MacDonald from Wild Catch Fisheries SA admits that the industry is disappointed but it will not give up fighting. He opined that they have been through the end phase of the process and the critical part will be the debate over the next two years about getting the design right and therefore coming up with more effective boundaries. Peter Owen says the most important debate will come when each park is zoned for different use.
