Latest news with #PortMacDonnell
ABC News
30-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
SA seafood still safe for purchase during algal bloom, producers say
South Australian seafood producers in areas not impacted by the algal bloom are calling on customers to keep supporting the local industry. The widespread harmful algal bloom in Gulf St Vincent and parts of the Spencer Gulf is having a major effect on fishing industries in some of those areas. To the south-east, along the Limestone Coast, waters have not been affected by the bloom, but there are concerns about how it may impact the state's reputation and sales. "Ninety per cent of what we do down here is exported internationally, and it's sourced from an area that's not affected by the algal bloom," said Tom Ryan, who works in the seafood industry at Port MacDonnell. "But in Adelaide I have heard of people that have been affected because there's been misinterpretations of where the seafood's sourced. "There's been people where their business and turnover has slowed down because people assume the seafood comes from affected areas, when in fact it's actually come from areas that haven't been impacted whatsoever. On the Limestone Coast, the lucrative rock lobster industry has just emerged from a difficult period due to COVID and a ban on exports to China. Andrew Lawrie has been exporting lobsters from Robe since 1997, and said the past few years had been fairly trying. "The domestic market's been really good," he said. "They've supported industry through the three or four years we could not export." With the lobster industry currently in its off season, Mr Lawrie said he hoped the state government could "get it under control before it spreads too far" towards the south east. "Our industry with the lobsters is substantial – we can't afford to risk that," he said. "The tuna industry would be very concerned, but hopefully they're almost through their harvesting now, so then they can change their strategies if it does move in. Depending on where and how severely the bloom impacts other parts of the state, however, economic losses could be high. BDO economist Anders Magnusson said in certain parts of SA, lost production could cost millions. "The production [of seafood in SA] is close to $500 million," he said. "Definitely there are locations where if they're affected there's tens of millions of dollars to be lost." As part of a $28 million support package from the state and federal governments, grants of up to $100,000 for affected commercial fisheries and licence holders have been made available. SA Environment and Water Minister Susan Close said it was important to get the message out that seafood from South Australia was safe to consume. "In fact if you wanted to help people through this bloom, go holiday by the coast and buy seafood that is South Australian," she said. "That's the best thing you can do."
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Poet Adam Lindsay Gordon's Dingley Dell cottage awaits glamping decision
The home of one of the first Australian poets to be recognised internationally has sat mostly closed to the public for the past five years amid a stoush over a former dot-com-boom millionaire's bid to install glamping tents. South Australia's National Parks and Wildlife Service is set to reveal its plans next month for the Dingley Dell Conservation Park, in which Adam Lindsay Gordon's house sits. Gordon was born in England in 1833, moved to Australia in 1853 and bought Dingley Dell, near Port MacDonnell, in the state's far south-east, in 1862. His poems that romanticised the Australian bush and particularly horse racing were first published locally in 1864. His most well-known work, Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes, was published in 1870, just a day before he died in Melbourne. He is the only Australian poet to have a bust at Poets' Corner in London's Westminster Abbey. Apart from a few open days, the Dingley Dell cottage has mostly been closed to the public since the operators gave up their lease in 2020. In 2021, amid a push to find more innovative uses for parks during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen Moignard was given $233,000 by the previous state government to set up 20 glamping tents within the 6-hectare Dingley Dell park. Mr Moignard's company Davnet brought high-speed internet to Australia before failing in 2001. He has also run several other internet-based businesses and now owns the Coonawarra Bush Holiday Park, which also offers glamping in the South East. Work on Mr Moignard's project was delayed while a new park management plan was being developed. The National Parks and Wildlife Service said last year it would be completed by the end of 2024, but has since said it should be released in June. The Adam Lindsay Gordon Commemorative Committee held an open day at Dingley Dell on Saturday. Treasurer Lorraine Day said she wanted the cottage to be open more often. "We hope so but we need to attract the right person with the right interest to … carry the cottage forward with what it should be," she said. She was sceptical of Mr Moignard's plan. Asked if she approved of the proposal, she said, "Not particularly, no". Mr Moignard told the ABC he was frustrated by the time the National Parks and Wildlife Service had taken to develop the plan and allow his operation to start. "But we're inching forward with it now," he said. The service's manager on the Limestone Coast, Nick McIntyre, said he was still trying to make everyone happy after last year's consultation. "There were some community interests which were made known to us through that process and then of course it becomes a matter of trying to join and relate and work through those various issues that are raised to work out what best sits within the plan and what doesn't fit within the plan and just trying to get a good match of some of the aspirations for the site," he said. The previous plan for the park was approved in 1994. It noted that attendance was low. Mr McIntyre said open days worked better than regular opening hours to entice visitors interested in Gordon's life and poetry. "Not only does it build an awareness of the history and the heritage associated with Dingley Dell, it keeps the memory and the spirit of Adam Lindsay Gordon alive," he said. "It also is probably a pretty good use of time, as well, because you're getting quite a number of people making the most of the opportunity to attend due to the advertising." About 70 people attended Saturday's open day. Peter O'Rourke visited from Mount Lonarch, near Ararat, in Victoria. He said the cottage and the garden gave a real feel of what it would have been like when Gordon lived at the cottage. "I think that something like glamping or similar development would really spoil it," Mr O'Rourke said. Angela Goode, from Mount Gambier, has written a film script about Gordon. She said his poetry was popular at the time but now was "past its used-by date" . She said his life as an "eccentric toff" who became a police officer in South Australia and then later a politician and horseman was more interesting. "He was a very strange muddled mix of many different qualities and I think an enigmatic character that perhaps we could learn something from or admire or feel sorry for," she said.
