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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Community campaigns to protect reef by extending boundaries of Victoria's smallest marine park
A dip in what's known as The Crystals, on the eastern side of one of Melbourne's most popular bay beaches, is a daily ritual for sisters Fiona Lloyd and Kate Robinson. From seagrass beds, seahorses, stingrays and juvenile marine creatures, the pair, who call themselves the "Snorkel Sisters", document their discoveries online in the hope of increasing people's awareness. The sisters are also part of a community push to protect The Crystals at Williamstown beach by campaigning to expand the boundary of the Jawbone Marine Sanctuary — just a few hundred metres away. More than 3,600 people have so far signed a petition calling for the expansion. The group is hoping for what they call a modest increase of the Jawbone's footprint to better protect The Crystals, which they believe is under-appreciated and under threat from rubbish dumping, overfishing and fishing waste including abandoned lines and hooks. "We are petitioning to extend [the sanctuary] because it's such a small area," Ms Lloyd said. "Sometimes you will see things like stingrays or banjo sharks that are stuck [in the Crystals] and sometimes they are still alive and they are just stuck on the bottom — that's pretty heartbreaking. "A lot of the animals that are found here aren't found anywhere else." Victoria has 11 marine sanctuaries, which are smaller than marine parks but have similar restrictions around fishing and rubbish dumping. Covering just 30 hectares, The Jawbone is the state's smallest. It packs in rocky basalt reef, seagrass beds, saltmarsh and the largest area of mangroves in Port Phillip Bay. Deakin University Professor of Marine Biology and Aquaculture Tim Dempster described the marine sanctuary as small but mighty, punching well above its weight. "It does a great job." Mr Dempster agrees The Crystals would have similar biodiversity values to that of Jawbone, but acknowledged while the group may have an argument in expanding its boundaries, there was tension around its shared use. "There is probably a little bit of conflict there over the use of that area; there are others who like to use [the Crystals] for spear fishing and abalone collecting," he said. "They may have a case just on the fact that it's a very heavy use area … and based on community values that it is a special area." "It's not as complicated as creating a whole new marine park, so it's in the bounds of possibility, but there would be quite a bit of community consultation that would have to happen." He also said the larger a marine park, the better it is at protecting what's inside. Local swimmers who regularly use The Crystals are worried about safety and interactions with some fishers. Jason Bryce has been swimming in the area for 15 years, and instigated the petition. "We're concerned about spearfishing in particular and some of the less responsible line fishing," he said. A state government spokesperson and the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) did not respond to questions about whether the expansion would be considered. But VFA said it encouraged all fishers to do the right thing and dispose of line and gear responsibly, no matter where people were. While Mr Dempster believes there are hurdles in getting the concept over the line, he would like to see government consider a review of how all Victoria's marine parks and sanctuaries are faring. With Australia now a signatory to a global target to reach 30 per cent protection of marine areas by 2030, he said it was particularly important with Victoria lagging behind. "We are roughly at about 12 per cent in terms protecting coastal space and that's a lot lower than many other places in Australia and globally," he said. "[And] It was almost a quarter of a century ago since we last looked at the marine park situation in Victoria.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Victoria's smallest marine park
A Melbourne community is calling for the expansion of Victoria's smallest marine park to include the fragile Crystals reef.
SBS Australia
9 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Great Barrier Reef still under significant climate stress
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