Supply of local fish at risk if some offshore wind developments or more marine parks proceed
Two key fishing groups have said that trawl and shark fishing can survive if offshore wind is prioritised toward low-fishing areas.
Four of Australia’s six offshore wind zones impact the Commonwealth-managed trawl fishery and three impact the Commonwealth shark fishery. The trawl fishery is the largest supplier of local fresh fish into Melbourne and Sydney.
Popular species include flathead, blue grenadier and pink ling. The shark fishery supplies "flake" into south-eastern fish and chip shops.
The groups have called for the protection of fishing grounds that were granted to licence holders, decades before wind developments were proposed. Only this protection will avoid further harming the supply of local wild-caught fish.
"Commercial fishing and offshore wind can co-exist," said Richard Saul, the Chair of the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA). "However, the newly proposed areas like the Illawarra in NSW and the eastern parts of Gippsland in Victoria are critically important fishing areas in Australia that support fishing towns like Lakes Entrance. These proposed wind energy areas are poorly chosen and the crucially important fishing areas they overlay cannot be turned over to offshore wind.
"The Australian community does not need to choose between healthy sustainable local fish and electricity – it can have both. But this is only possible if the eastern part of the Gippsland zone and the Illawarra zone are not developed.
"The licences issued in the Gippsland zone can produce more power than Victoria’s current consumption so there is no need to develop fishing grounds."
While fishing grounds are being cancelled to facilitate offshore wind, different departments within the Australian Government are also proposing new marine parks. This other government decision-making is happening in isolation from offshore wind planning and ignores cumulative impacts.
"The shark fishery will be significantly impacted by proposed wind developments," added Stuart Richey, Chair of the Southern Shark Industry Alliance (SSIA). "There is no need to create new marine parks that further reduce the supply of flake. The proposal to create a new lock out called the Beagle Marine Park will impact 20,000 kg of flake annually in exchange for weak conservation gains."
Mr Richey said that If offshore wind and new marine parks occur in parallel, flake catch will reduce increasing the price of fish and chips adding to the cost-of-living crisis.
"The industry calls on Minister Bowen (Minister for Climate Change and Energy) and Minister Plibersek (Minister for the Environment and Water) to co-ordinate their plans and to prioritise offshore wind only in low fishing areas," added Mr Richey. "Fifty-two per cent of Australia’s marine estate is already protected by marine parks; new parks that further lock out the sustainable catch of flake are not required."