There is evidence that the fishing amnesty in several Batemans Marine Park sanctuary zones is harming biodiversity.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The marine park was declared in 2007 with less than 20 percent being sanctuary zones where fishing was prohibited.
Over time the sanctuary zones have been whittled down.
First fishing was allowed on previously protected beaches and headlands.
Then in December 2019 the NSW government announced an amnesty.
It allowed fishing without prosecution in six of the larger sanctuary zones, including around Barunguba Montague Island and Wagonga Inlet, creating habitat protection zones.
Habitat protection zones ineffective
Dr Jane Elek, a scientist and former president of Nature Coast Marine Group (Eurobodalla), said research showed that sanctuary zones where marine life is fully protected are the only areas showing improvement since marine parks opened.
"Habitat protection zones are no different to the general-use zones in terms of the size of the fish and number of species," she said.
A NSW Department of Primary Industries spokeperson said the results of long-term monitoring within the park have shown the positive effects of sanctuary zones on targeted species compared with habitat protection and areas outside the park.
"Abundance of targeted species including snapper, red morwong, wrasses including blue groper, silver sweep and abalone have been found to be increasing.
"Sizes of target species have also been increasing for species such as snapper, blue morwong and silver trevally."
Other research using genetic testing found that around 10 percent of fish up to 40 kilometres from sanctuary zones originated from those sanctuaries.
"These studies show that sanctuaries provide valuable spillover into adjacent areas," Dr Elek said.
Meanwhile surveys found a high degree of community support for sanctuary zones, including a majority of fishers.
Dr Elek is concerned that the amnesty has undone what would have been 16 years of protection and rendered the data for baseline research irrelevant.
Park not meeting key principles
Dr Jen Thompson, also of NCMG, questioned whether the marine park met NEOLI - five principles for assessing the effectiveness of marine parks.
These are No-take zones, Enforcement, Old because it takes time for the benefits to come through, Large areas with interconnectedness similar to terrestrial wildlife corridors and Isolated from human activity.
"It is reasonable to argue some of these principles are not being met," Dr Thompson said.
"The amnesty has further reduced the less than 20 percent sanctuary zoning and is well short of the scientifically recommended 30 percent."
She said there are insufficient enforcement officers for the park's 152-kilometre coastline.
Dr Thompson said the marine park is young and time is needed for sanctuary zones to work so fish can grow old and ecosystems recover.
Evidence from other marine parks show decades are needed for benefits to show.
"Being close to an ever-increasing human population, particularly given the advances in fishing technology, makes the park's isolation questionable," Dr Thompson said.
NCMG members recently undertook Reef Life Survey training.
Insights into what is happening in the marine park will emerge from their longitudinal research, comparing previous surveys with those soon to be done.
