According to David Llewellyn, the Primary Industries and Water Minister, expressede that the Government intends to establish a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas. He added that this MPAs will ensure the management of the region’s biodiversity and also allow sustainable commercial and recreational fishing to continue.
Llewellyn explained that recreational and commercial fishing therefore will not be adversely affected by the new MPAs. He accept the Resource Planning and Development Commission recommendations that the ‘no take’ boundaries of the existing marine Nature Reserves at Tinderbox and Zone A Ninepin Point be extended. According to him all other areas recommended by the RPDC will be proclaimed under the Nature Conservation Act as conservation areas and will be subject to management prescriptions that most closely correspond to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) status Category VI.
Llewellyn said that new recommendations mean the conservation areas will be managed to ensure long term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while providing at the same time a sustainable flow of natural products and services to the community. He pointed out that minor adjustments will be made to the boundaries of the Fortesque Bay, Tinderbox, Roberts Point and Waterfall Bay MPAs as recommended by the RPDC.
It is told that the14 new MPAs capture the region’s unique biodiversity and are based upon sound, evidence based science. The Government recognises that the development of a generic management plan and baseline assessments of biodiversity should be undertaken on all MPAs in Tasmania, including the new ones.
