BIAA SUBMISSION TO CONSULTATION ON PROPOSALS FOR
NORTH 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 Northern Territory as the state
most closely impacted by the proposed North 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 Amateur Fishermens
Association of Northern Territory and additionally the Boating Industry Association of Northern
Territory’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 North 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 zoning of the proposed:
Wessel Marine Reserve – the proposal to zone the region to the east of Cape Wessel as an Marine
National Park is of particular concern as much recreational fishing activity has been displaced to this
region over recent years with changes to commercial fishing activity in neighbouring areas. There is a
concern that recreational fishers will seek to continue to fish in these waters general by extending
their voyages even further offshore with consequent increased risk. The issue may be remedied by a
review of the interpretation of IUCN Zone II definition and subsequent implementation, as noted
below under question 2, however in response directly to the proposed zone, it is considered
inappropriate that this be categorised as a Marine National Park and should be a Multiple Use of
Special Purpose Zone.
This recommendation has been made to introduce minor, but effective from the point of view of
limiting the impact on recreational boating and fishing, modifications to the zoning of the area,
without negatively impacting the aspirations of the North 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 recommend and strongly hope, that the
approach taken to subsequent development of marine park management plans for the North
Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network be consistent with these principles and indeed the approach
taken in other, existing marine reserves and marine parks.
Specifically, the definition and use of IUCN Zone II with regard to non-extractive recreational activities,
must extend beyond ‘passage of vessels and non-extractive tourism’ to include recreational and
charter fishing which is carried out under the very sustainable ‘no-take’ or ‘catch-and-release’
principle. It should be recognised that recreational and charter fishing provides one of the most
effective controls over illegal activity in terms of use of the proposed marine reserves by a
combination of a desire to protect the very waters in which they fish and often being the only ‘eyes’
out in some of the more remote locations covered by this proposed marine reserve network plan, with
the ability to report such activity to appropriate authorities.
BIAA would strongly recommend that the proposed North 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 Zone II concept and detailed
definition.
BIAA is pleased to have had the opportunity to respond to the consultation and hopes that the
recommendations and general comments expressed on behalf the boating industry in the North
marine region and more widely across Australia will be given due consideration in further
development of the North Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network.
Submitted by:
Nik Parker
General Manager
Boating Industries Alliance Australia
[email protected], 08 8212 6207
PO Box 10083, Adelaide BC, SA 5000
28 November 2011