BIAA SUBMISSION TO CONSULTATION ON PROPOSALS FOR
SOUTH WEST COMMONWEALTH MARINE RESERVES NETWORK
Boating Industries Alliance Australia is the national peak body for the recreational and light
commercial boating industry in Australia. BIAA members are the state-based Boating Industry
Associations in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and
Northern Territory. Together, the BIAA members represent over 1500 marine businesses, accounting
for 85% of the industry by turnover and employing some 28,000 people. The boating industry has a
turnover of approximately $8bn and is a leading sector of the Australian economy, encompassing
manufacturing, retail, service and tourism operators.
Recreational boating is one of the most participative and inclusive recreational activities and as a
lifestyle it provides more than 4 million regular boaters with an opportunity to enjoy their leisure time
with family and friends. A significant proportion of boat owners and boaters are also recreational
fishers, with some considering the boat and boating as a secondary aspect of going fishing. All
boaters, whether they be ‘simply’ boaters or fishers also, enjoy and respect the unique aquatic
habitats of the Australian coastline and are among the most supportive of measures to protect and
sustain this environment for the future.
However, there is a balance to be found between conservation and use of the amenity of the
environment. The BIAA, in representing its members, particularly in Western Australia and South
Australia as the states most closely impacted by the proposed South West Commonwealth Marine
Reserves Network, supports and concurs with the submissions made to the Consultation by a number
of partner and affiliated organisations, including the Boating and Fishing Council of Australia and
Recfishwest and additionally the Boating Industry Association of Western Australia’s own submission.
Question 1 Views on the Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network proposals
In answering Question 1 of the Consultation, the submissions above provide a comprehensive,
detailed response to the proposals, particularly concerning the objective, scale and location of specific
marine reserves, and highlight a number of key issues concerning the impact on recreational fishing
(and boating). BIAA believes these submissions provide the evidence to support the argument that
recreational boating and fishing in Australia, and specifically within the waters covered by the
proposed South West Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network, can and does exist in harmony with
not only the environment but also the objectives of the Australian IUCN Reserve Management
Principles as per the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
BIAA would replicate the analysis of each of these submissions concerning proposed Marine Reserves,
with particular attention to the recommendations to revise the boundaries and zoning of the
proposed: Perth Canyon Marine Reserve; South West Corner Marine Reserve, specifically the Marine
National Park zone near Margaret River, the Marine National Park zone near Walpole and the Marine
National Park Zone west of Esperance; and Western Eyre Marine Reserve, specifically the Marine
National Park zones to the south east of Streaky Bay and south east of Elliston.
In all instances, recommendations have been made to introduce minor, but effective from the point of
view of limiting the impact on recreational boating and fishing, modifications to the boundaries and
zoning of these areas, without negatively impacting the aspirations of the South West Commonwealth
Marine Reserves Network to protect important aquatic habitats in these areas.
Question 2 General feedback
In response to Question 2, BIAA, in considering common, national interpretation and implementation
of the Australian IUCN Reserve Management Principles would suggest that the wording, description
and depiction used in the documentation of the zoning scheme for the proposed South West
Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network is inconsistent with these principles and indeed the
approach taken in other, existing marine reserves and marine parks.
Specifically, the definition and use of IUCN Category II in the Consultation documentation would
appear to not reflect the concept of the categorisation of waters and their use envisaged in the
Australian IUCN Reserve Management Principles. The common, national understanding across the
boating and fishing sector and their representative organisations is that IUCN Category II excludes all
commercial activities and extractive recreational activities, which, conversely, as per the detailed
principles of the Australian IUCN Reserve Management Principles (principle 3.04 particularly) permits
non-extractive recreational activities, in this instance ‘no-take’ or ‘catch-and-release’ recreational
fishing.
Furthermore, the definition used for IUCN Category II within the proposed marine reserve network is
inconsistent with other IUCN Category II zones in other Commonwealth and State marine reserves and
marine parks across Australia. For example, the Commonwealth portion of Ningaloo Marine Park is
zoned IUCN Category II and is called a “Recreational Use Zone” which permits recreational fishing
activities consistent with state based fisheries regulations. This principle is repeated in a number of
other marine reserves and marine parks and in seeking to vary this definition and use of the IUCN
zoning concept, the Consultation risks seriously negatively impacting the current, effective
management and use of such zones in other areas and will contribute to a heightened level of
confusion among boaters and fishers using and transiting sea areas covered by marine reserves and
marine parks.
BIAA would strongly recommend that the proposed South West Commonwealth Marine Reserves
Network adopts the internationally agreed and nationally, commonly understood and successfully
tried and tested definitions for zoning of Marine National Parks and that non-extractive recreational
fishing be continued to be permitted in such areas under the principles of the IUCN Category II
concept and detailed definition.
Submitted by:
Nik Parker
General Manager
Boating Industries Alliance Australia
[email protected], 08 8212 6207
PO Box 10083, Adelaide BC, SA 5000
8 August 2011