Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 8:51:37 to 8:56:53
Examination of the 30 by 30 policy for marine protected areas, current protection levels, and preliminary consultation with the fishing sector.
Topics: Marine parks, Fisheries, Food security
Speakers: Speaker 4, Speaker 23, Speaker 8, Speaker 12, Speaker 17, Interjection
few to finish off. >> Thank you. I want to ask about the policy to declare 30% of uh our oceans uh to highly protected areas 30 by 30.
>> Yes, Senator, we might um we might struggle. We as far as I understand this is a DQ um kind of led commitment. Um so in that context we'll be we'll assist as much as we can but we might tap out pretty
quickly >> 24%. >> Um yeah so look I'll ask my questions because they are about what input you might have had into it. Um currently 52% of Australian waters are marine protected areas with 24% are uh in highly protected areas or no take areas. And I understand that these highly protected areas mean that no commercial uh no fishing commercial or wreck are permitted. Is that your understanding as
well? >> Uh where it's a yeah highly protected. Sorry I missed what you're saying but highly protected is no take.
>> No take. So that that's for commercial and wreck as well. All fishing,
>> correct?
>> Yes, that's right. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Uh so this would mean that DQ would need to ascertain another 6% of protected areas to be no take areas to get to 30. Is that correct?
Simple maths obviously. >> Yeah, that's right. So 24% as we understand it, that's right, is
currently under highly protected. So has DQ consulted with you with your department in relation to this plan to increase the 24% of highly protected marine parks to 2030 uh 30% by 2030.
>> Yes, we have had some uh engagement with DQ um on that. In terms of the specifics of that, I might uh throw to my
colleague. Uh at this stage it's preliminary discussions uh with Parks Australia as part of the uh Department
of Environment. >> Okay. Can you just outline the put a bit
more color on the >> discussions? It's it's outlining the process where they're up to in terms of their work and how they'll consult with the fishing sector. Uh so our engagement is to make sure that the fishing and agriculture sector have been involved in consultation and outline any key fisheries issues in areas that are being identified but we haven't seen any of those areas yet.
>> Okay. And are you have you looked at what the impact would be upon uh commercial fishing industry
>> if we had increase to 30%. Well, I think that will depend on the the nature and location of where the any uh extension
of parks are. >> Yes. So, has there been discussion then on the locations? >> I don't think we're there yet. No. >> Um, so has there been any uh particular marine parks that have been looked at to to be expanded >> or is it at the moment just at a higher level? Can you again just give me a bit more color as to the the extent of these negotiations or or outlining?
>> Yeah, it's to do with uh the review of management plans for marine parks. So there's the tempered east, the north, the northwest and southwest and the coral sea marine park. So it's really around the >> yeah excluding the southeast which has been done recently but it's the rest that in involve 44 marine parks in
total. So 30 by 30 what what's the what's the science behind that? And I I want to put this to you that like obviously two very round numbers. One could argue that uh that it's just a slogan that it's it's sort of conveniently put together 30 by 30 like why does it need to be 30% and why is it by 2030 these sort of nice neatly
come together figures >> this is where I might just um suggest that those questions might be better directed to DQ Senator O Sullivan um we're happy to talk to kind of the interaction in relation to fisheries but um we reserve comment on 30 by 30 more generally.
>> Okay. >> This is the same conversation as forestry. >> This is exactly the same conversation as forestry >> that we have with respect to native forestry and the activists who say just just say no. We've been through several cycles of this process since about 2010. The marine parks were declared in 2017 after ex two cycles of of consultation. So the where the where the fishing industry is is well understood by everybody because we went through it all. took 5 years, four years from 2013