The most fundamental of its many recommendations include:

• The current system of Marine Parks as established in NSW be maintained and mechanisms be found for enhancing the protection of biodiversity in identified gaps, namely within the Hawkesbury and Twofold Shelf Marine Bioregions.
• Bringing the governance of the NSW Marine Estate (all marine and estuarine waters of NSW out to the three mile offshore boundary) under one legislative and administrative structure closely aligned with the five catchment management authorities covering the NSW coastal drainage systems.
• The formation of an Independent Scientific Committee to oversee all research in the NSW Marine Estate with locally-based Scientific Committees to advise on local area marine parks.

“These and many other recommendations of the Report re-affirm the value of years of effort expended by conservation bodies including EcoNetwork to make the Port Stephens/Great Lakes Marine Park a reality,” Iain Watt, marine ecologist and spokesperson for EcoNetwork-Port Stephens said. “It generates new hope for the future of our marine environments and biodiversity.

“It also sends a clear, unqualified message to the NSW Government, general public and marine park opponents that the science unequivocally supports the system of marine parks.

“This Independent Audit and Report has delivered a comprehensive framework for the future operation of marine parks in NSW. It is now incumbent on Ministers Katrina Hodgkinson, Robyn Parker and Premier Barry O’Farrell to provide the resources for implementing its recommendations.

“The report will help shape and influence the first 5-Year Review process for the Port Stephens/Great Lakes Marine Park but the major changes to governance infrastructure will probably delay many of these processes.”

The full Report is available on- www.marineparksaudit.nsw.gov.au  and the main recommendations are summarised in the Executive Summary. Public submissions close on 30^th June 2012 and can be made via- yoursayonmarineparks@dpc.nsw.gov.au

Further information: Nigel Dique, secretary, EcoNetwork – Port Stephens Inc.
0423 024819; Iain Watt 0429487130

President Dr Bruce Pease sent the following letter on 5 March 2012 to the Hon. Katrina Hodgkinson MP, Minister for Primary Industry:

SUMMARY

As you have stated publicly, the pipi population is in decline on the whole east coast of Australia, some say to an alarming degree, indicating significant recruitment failure. This being the case, it is imperative that spawning stock be protected from all harvesting activities. Closure to commercial harvesting for six months, while a positive move, will not provide the required protection, nor allow time for effective scientific monitoring to determine causes of decline and assess recovery of the population. Accordingly, we call on the NSW Government to extend the 6-month closure of the commercial fishery to a minimum of two years, with an accompanying scientific monitoring program followed by a review of pipi stocks prior to re-opening the commercial fishery.

We further recommend that regardless of whether pipi stocks reach a ‘sustainable, viable and healthy level’ as you have stipulated, all ocean beaches in all NSW marine parks be closed to hand gathering by both commercial and recreational fishers indefinitely to provide long term conservation of pipi spawning stocks in NSW. Closures should be reviewed for renewal every five years in conjunction with the existing marine parks review process. We also believe that a sampling program to monitor the pipi population in NSW must use documented sampling protocols that are scientifically rigorous enough to assess natural variability and the impacts of overfishing, diseases, parasites and 4WD activities.

SUBMISSION

Econetwork – Port Stephens Inc. is a network of citizen groups promoting environmental sustainability and conservation. While our primary focus is on community and environmental issues in the Port Stephens region, we understand that these issues are often part of a much bigger problem.

We have grave concern for the status of pipi (Donax deltoides) stocks on the ocean beaches of New South Wales. The closure to commercial harvesting across the state you announced on 9 December to last only six months indicates that you are not convinced that our pipi stocks are in grave danger. Your concern seems to be based mainly on anecdotal information from recreational and commercial fishers, rather than on quantitative information in the 2008/2009 Status of Fisheries report from your Fisheries Department. This report assigned a status of “uncertain” to pipi stocks despite a long-term decreasing trend in the relative catch rate of the NSW commercial fishery throughout the period that catch statistics have been recorded for this species and a decline in total reported commercial catch “from more than 500 t in 2004/05 to less than 100 t in recent years”. The information in this report shows that the pipi population in New South Wales may be suffering from a significant decrease in the recruitment of juveniles.

The PhD thesis research and associated scientific publications by Dr. Sue Murray-Jones provide very useful population biology information for the species in New South Wales. Her paper in the journal, Marine Biology (1997, volume 128: pages 83-89), shows that larval dispersal and recruitment occur over large regional distances and is not restricted to individual beaches. Therefore, the fisheries in NSW operate on a single east coast pipi population. Her paper in the journal, Fisheries Research (2000, volume 44: pages 219-233), shows that the recreational fishery for this species is significant and accounted for almost 20 per cent of the total pipi harvest from Stockton Beach in the late 1990s. Based on this information and the fact that the commercial pipi harvest has remained very low during the last four years, we believe that a closure of the commercial fishery in NSW for six months will do very little to protect pipi stocks in NSW during the course of population assessment studies.

The longer term

All of the marine parks in New South Wales have ocean beaches that potentially support pipi spawning stocks. Very small areas of ocean beach within some of the marine parks, including the Port Stephens – Great Lakes Marine Park, are designated as sanctuary zones where pipis are protected. Now that your Fisheries Department is responsible for management of NSW marine parks, we respectfully recommend that you extend the closure of the commercial pipi fishery to two years and that you use your management authority to close all ocean beaches in all marine parks in NSW indefinitely to hand gathering of pipis by commercial and recreational fishers. This is completely consistent with the concept that marine parks provide sanctuaries for populations of marine species that may be threatened by human activities and would provide protection of pipi spawning and recruitment on a more suitable regional scale.

We are not aware of the experimental design and methodology of the pipi sampling program you are implementing but are concerned that an under-resourced research program based on non-scientific volunteers will not be rigorous enough to determine a definitive cause for the apparent decline in pipi stocks. Despite the assertion by some recreational fishers that this decline is a result of overfishing by the commercial sector, we believe that there are a number of possible causes. The sampling program must be rigorous enough to detect and assess these, including 1) natural variability in spawning and recruitment, 2) overfishing by a combination of the commercial and recreational fisheries, 3) outbreak of a disease or parasite and 4) mortality due to other human activities, such as unrestricted recreational driving of four wheel drive vehicles on our beaches and the use of 4WD vehicles as an integral part of the commercial and recreational pipi harvesting method. The PhD thesis by Murray-Jones (1999, University of Wollongong) and the supporting literature provide a number of examples of significant spatial and temporal variation in the populations of closely related surf clam species that have been linked to natural variation, overfishing and disease. More recent literature, such as Schlacher and Thompson (2007, Coastal Management, 35:567-583) flags the potential impacts of 4WD vehicles on intertidal invertebrates, including pipis, on the beaches of eastern Australia and calls for more detailed studies of individual species. Dr. Murray-Jones found small post-larval and juvenile pipis relatively high in the intertidal swash zone, indicating that they may be susceptible to crushing from 4WD activity.

The pipi sampling program should be based on protocols developed and recommended by James and Fairweather (1995, Marine and Freshwater Research, 46: 1093-9) and Murray-Jones (1999, University of Wollongong) to obtain suitable spatial replication. Sampling should be carried out independently of the commercial and recreational pipi fisheries by well-trained scientific staff. Along with standard morphometric data, samples should be retained for age, gonad, and pathology analysis. These stock assessment studies should be fully funded by commercial (NSW Estuary General Fishery and Commonwealth Fisheries Industry Research and Development Corporation) and recreational (NSW Recreational Fishing Trust) fisheries funding sources. Associated studies of 4WD impacts should be funded and conducted in association with a university. The entire sampling program should be carried out for at least two years on multiple beaches in each of the major coastal bioregions in New South Wales in order to obtain suitable temporal and spatial replication.

I am happy to discuss the above rationale further with you or your officers at any time.

Yours sincerely
Dr Bruce Pease

The workshop sought the response of conservation groups to the submissions and documentation compiled by the Audit with respect to the management of marine parks in New South Wales.

Assoc. Prof. Bob Beeton (Chair), Prof. Colin Buxton, Prof. Peter Fairweather, Assoc. Prof. Emma Johnston, Dr. Roberta Ryan, Mr. Greg Cutbush and secretariat staff, were part of the audit panel.

Facing the panel with Dr Pease were representatives of the main conservation groups that made submissions to the Audit. These included Pepe Clarke (CEO) and Paula Brown (Marine Campaigner), Nature Conservation Council of NSW; Kevin Evans (CEO), National Parks Association of NSW; Keith Muir (Executive Director), Colong Foundation for Wilderness; and Marny Bonner (President) and Gordon Fraser-Quick (Campaigner), Australian Seabird Rescue.

“The Panel asked a wide range of questions regarding our views on the management of Marine Parks in NSW, including key threats to biodiversity, the adequacy and effectiveness of current management processes for protecting marine and estuarine biodiversity, governance issues and our suggestions for improvement,” reports Dr Pease.

“Our views were in general agreement and I felt that our contributions were respected and taken on board.

“The proceedings were recorded and a transcript will be circulated to attendees. Some interesting threads emerged and I would be happy to discuss the issues with anyone who is interested.”

For an excellent summary of available literature on the environmental benefits of Marine Protected Areas, Dr Pease recommends a reading of joint Submission 181 by Pepe Clarke, Darren Kindleysides and Kevin Evans on behalf of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the National Parks Association of NSW, at http://www.marineparksaudit.nsw.gov.au/submissions/submissions-received/

We were all enthralled, as these photos show.