SDFSA: Issues of importance

Update September 2018: The wreck of the Oceanlinx wave energy generator at Carrickalinga will be dismantled and the submerged portions turned into an artificial reef.

SDFSA supports Marine Parks as important to the propagation and protection of marine life and the conservation and regeneration of habitat. SDFSA monitors State and Federal initiatives to protect the marine environment. Rules for South Australia’s current Marine Parks, including maps and permit information can be found at https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/marineparks/home.

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has set as a target 10 percent protection of the world’s oceans by 2020. The IUCN World Parks Congress in 2014 recommended a target of at least 30% in order to protect biodiversity and fish stocks. At present only 6% of global oceans is set aside in marine protected areas. (Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-03-percent-ocean-benefits.html#jCp).

Australia has a marine estate of 8.2 million km2 and 60,000km of coastline. In 2012, Australia designated 36% or 2.4 million km2 as marine parks, one of the world’s largest networks of marine parks. In 2017, the protections for those parks were significantly reduced, including allowing commercial fishing in a significant percentage of the parks.

According to Primary Industries and Regions department of the South Australian government, there are over 160 species of sharks in Australian waters (see http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/sharks).

The SDFSA believes that sharks, as apex predators, are important to the health of marine ecosystems, and guidelines set by PIRSA should be observed.

Divers should be aware that White sharks in particular are a protected species in South Australia, including prohibitions on take, harm, harassment, sale, purchase or possession of sharks or parts of sharks. (See Section 71 of the South Australian Fisheries Management Act 2007).

Update September 2018:Australia’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018(UCH Act) became an act of parliament on 24 August 2018. It is anticipated that the UCH Act will come into force on 1 July 2019.

Update August 2018: It was announced in the Advertiser on 5th July that the site of the 1837 wreck of the South Australian at Victor Harbor has been established and will now have a 30m exclusion zone around it for protection.

SDFSA is committed to the protection of South Australia’s underwater cultural heritage, and believes the Federation has an important role to play in informing the diving community of the rules surrounding designation, access and use of sites.

Highlights of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 for divers

1. The Act expands coverage from shipwrecks to submerged aircraft and other types of underwater cultural heritage along with their fragile natural environments.
2. The Act also guides actions by Australian divers in waters outside Australian jurisdiction, helping protect sunken Australian vessels and aircraft overseas.
3. The Act will now provide protection for associated human remains.
4. The Act improves the government’s ability to declare an area containing underwater cultural heritage to be a protected zone by allowing the size of the zone to be tailored to suit each individual siteand the prohibited conduct in each zone to be specific to the site’s need for protection or for environmental conditions.
5. The Act provides for a simple online process to apply for permits to access protected zones.
6. It will also be easier to transfer artefacts – once applicants have received a permit under the new Act. The new transferable permits system will reduce the burden on individuals in possession, custody and control of protected underwater cultural heritage artefacts and enable better regulation of their movement.
7. All six States and the NT have agreed to align their legislation with the Act: this will give clarity to obligations wherever divers are located in Australia.
8. The Act has been aligned with the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage to facilitate Australia participating in global responses to illegal salvaging, looting and trafficking of marine artefacts.

The Trails Committee of Recreation SA encourages “the planning, design, management and use of recreational trails in a wide range of environments.” SDFSA sits on the committee to advocate for recognition, promotion and maintenance of underwater trails.At present, the Committee’s 2016 Guidelines for the Planning, Design, Construction and Maintenance of Recreational trails in South Australia[www.southaustraliantrails.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Trail-Design-Guidelines.pdf] recognise water trails users (such as kayakers and scuba divers) but make little reference to how those trails should be developed and maintained. SDFSA is working with the committee to advance good practice in underwater trails.

Underwater trails are as important as land-based trails to help guide explorers through the history and natural environment of South Australia. For example, “the Adelaide Underwater Heritage Trail includes four shipwrecks off the Gulf of St Vincent – the Grecian, Zanoni, Star of Greece and Norma. The wrecks represent a variety of vessels associated with trade and development in South Australia during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries” [www.southaustraliantrails.com/activities/scuba-diving/].

Other trails include the 60+ shipwrecks around Kangaroo Island, the Port Noarlunga Reef Diver Trail(with markers) and the EwensPonds Conservation Park. The Trails SA website is supported by Recreation SA with funding through the Office for Recreation and Sport and includes 14 sites designated as underwater trails at the present time.

Update November 2018: SDFSA member Carl Charter has had a front cover and story on diving in South Australia published in the November 2018 issue of Diver (UK) https://divermagazine.co.uk/.

SDFSA is committed to promoting South Australia as a world class diving destination.