PIRSA Fisheries & Aquaculture
Services delivered by the Aquaculture, Policy, Planning and Environment Unit, and the Aquatic Animal Health Unit for the Mussel Sector for 2013/14:
Resource Planning / · Completion of the Aquaculture (Zones—Lower Eyre Peninsula) Policy 2013 (aims to increase the tonnage of non-supplementary fed species (including mussels) to be farmed in Louth Bay).
· Development of an aquaculture zone policy for Tumby Bay, which will permit the farming of mussels (among other species).
· Ongoing liaison and consultation with relevant government departments, prescribed bodies and relevant stakeholders in relation to zone policy development.
· Provision of advice to stakeholders / members of the public in relation to existing Aquaculture Zone allocations (i.e. area).
· Provision of advice to Environment Protection Authority on the marine Aquatic Ecosystem Condition Reports relating to Spencer Gulf.
· Review of existing allocations within aquaculture zones and creation of a spreadsheet indicating availability of water.
· Internal policies developed following changes made in the Aquaculture Act 2001:
o Guidelines for the nomination of aquaculture zones as public call or non-public call areas
o Research lease and licence guidelines
o Aquaculture lease rehabilitation guidelines
o Emergency lease policy guidelines
o Amalgamation of aquaculture leased areas guidelines
· Prepare papers on the mussel sector for Aquaculture Advisory Committee meetings.
· Provided input to a range of State and Commonwealth Government environmental and conservation initiatives, to ensure aquaculture zone development objectives and aspirations were adequately taken into account and factored in to broader conservation policy development. Specific examples include:
o Review of external legislation/policy (Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources –over-abundant native species.
Aquaculture Leasing and Licensing / · Processing of Mussel sector applications (see table below).
Mussels: Application Type / Number Completed
Lease Transfer / 12
Licence Transfer / 1
Lease Renewal / 13
· Continue to support the implementation of Seedstock Collection Permit regulations being developed by PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture.
· Maintenance of internal licence audit functions, including auditing procedures (flowcharts, checklists and manuals) and performance relating to licences.
· Maintenance of systems and procedures to support day to day administration of leasing and licensing activities related to the mussel sector.
· Development of an agreement between PIRSA and EPA through workshops and meetings to discuss ways to increase efficiency and reduce red tape (e.g. site assessment requirements) for the mussel sector.
· Development of Performance Criteria guidelines.
· Processing of annual production returns from the mussel sector. This includes following-up on unreturned production returns to ensure licence holders meet their obligations under the regulations.
Legislation / · Input into the implementation of informed and legally valid administrative decisions in all program areas as required to ensure consistency with the Aquaculture Act 2001 and to promote efficient and transparent government administration.
· Input into development of policy and amendments of the regulations as a result of the changes to the Act.
· Review of existing Aquaculture Regulations 2005 with the aim of making it easier to comply with aquaculture rules, improve voluntary compliance and contributing to South Australia’s red tape reduction targets for the mussel sector.
· Review of existing lease and licence conditions policies to inform the creation of a standard lease and licence condition policy.
· Creation (in conjunction with DPTI) of proposals for revised sub-tidal navigational marking requirements.
Compliance / · Communication and monitoring activities are undertaken by PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture and related SA government agencies to ensure compliance by mussel aquaculture lease and/or licence holders with legislation (Act, other Acts, Regulations and policies) and conditions of leases and/or licences.
· Procedures and processes required for response to notifiable events (e.g. entanglements, high mortalities) in an efficient and timely manner are developed and implemented by all agencies concerned.
· Site surveillance inspections are undertaken by PIRSA Fisheries Services Officers on behalf of PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture pursuant to a Service Level Agreement to ensure lease and licence holders comply with the Act, associated Acts, Regulations, policies and specific lease and licence Conditions, to investigate complaints from the public, or to ensure appropriate rehabilitation of surrendered or expired sites. Surveillance activities include:
o Routine site inspections undertaken by PIRSA Fisheries Services Officers.
o Marine compliance inspections require a minimum of two officers and a suitable vessel to complete each inspection. They also involve photographing and plotting the site markers to ensure that it is in compliance with lease and licence conditions and spatial description (includes compliance with navigational standards and lease performance criteria) of the site by Fisheries Services officers.
o Reports made to PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture subsequent to compliance inspections outline any compliance issues with a site and include photographs and site waypoints.
o Follow up inspections are required for sites that have identified compliance issues.
o These inspections are carried out within a reasonable timeframe, with due consideration of the risks to other users of the waters or resource.
o Inspections are also undertaken on sites that have been or are due to be, rehabilitated by lease or licence holders or contractors of lease and/or licence holders on an as required basis.
· PIRSA Fisheries Services respond to various reactive compliance issues that arise from complaints by members of the public, or from aquaculture lease and/or licence holders, in regard to operational infrastructure, interactions with protected species, aquaculture stock, escape events and possible disease outbreaks. PIRSA Fisheries Services Officers report to PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture staff within specific timeframes, as per the arrangement within the Division.
Aquaculture Systems / · Accurate and efficient systems maintained and enhanced to provide effective and efficient management and administration of the mussel sector, in accordance with the Aquaculture Act 2001.
· Provided public transparency of use of the States aquaculture resources (e.g. Public Register is available on the PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture website for all stakeholders, including the mussel sector, relevant government Agencies and general public).
· Safeguarded licence holder details by adhering to broader government guidelines (e.g. records management requirements for public service document standards and freedom of information requests).
· Included in management of the PIIMS database is assessing reporting functionalities, liaison with the PIRSA IT group, testing updates to the database, reporting of functional issues and troubleshooting with system users.
· Included in management of the Public Register system is rollout of updates, reporting of functional issues to the PIRSA IT group, testing when updates occur and troubleshooting with system users both internally and externally.
· Included in the management of ArcGIS is the rollout of update software, appropriate training for use of the program, recognition, requests and testing for software fixes, liaison with the PIRSA spatial group, reporting spatial information and troubleshooting with system users.
· Management of the Microsoft Access Database includes alignment of databases annually to reflect data requirements of Environmental Monitoring Reports for mussel sector.
· Management of records management systems (e.g. Objective) may include testing of various functionalities, liaison with the PIRSA IT group and requests for further updates to systems and software.
· Development of an electronic lodgement system for environmental monitoring program and production return data for the mussel sector.
Aquatic Animal Health / · 12 mollusc related mortality investigations (including 9 oyster investigations). A number of samples submitted to the laboratory and tested to rule out disease. No significant or notifiable mollusc diseases detected including those that infect mussels.
· Livestock translocation requests: 2 applications assessed and approved for mussel sector.
· Maintained passive surveillance systems, including summarised relevant pathology reports from the State Vetlab, summarised batch test results, fish kill and aquaculture mortality investigations in PIRSA databases.
· Primary author of the final report titled “fish kill investigation – Coffin Bay harmful algal (Karenia mikimotoi) bloom February 2014”: http://pir.sa.gov.au/biosecurity/aquatics/mass_fish_die-off
· Emergency Disease Response training and update of PIRSA Emergency Response Plans (including mollusc specific plans) with PIRSA Biosecurity SA
· Contributed to review of the Aquaculture Regulations 2005 and development of the stock enhancement policy guidelines.
· Lead a project team to develop and draft the PIRSA Emergency Lease Policy Guidelines
· Ensured risks to the mussel industry with veterinary medicine use in adjacent sectors were mitigated.
· Mollusc disease risk assessments undertaken in related sectors (abalone and oysters) which provided information for the management of mollusc aquaculture (disease prevention, preparedness, response and recovery strategies)
· Review and update the Notifiable Disease list (declared under the Livestock Act 1997).
· Meetings, review national documents and represent South Australia on the national Sub-Committee on Aquatic Animal Health (SCAAH).
· Hosted the national SCAAH meeting and workshop in Adelaide, February 2014.
· Member of the national Bait & Berley Working Group (SCAAH). Drafted the national guidelines for domestic bait and berley use, with specific reference to the disease risks of molluscs.
· Contributed to the development of Australia’s national AQUAPLAN 2014-2019:
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/animal/aquatic/aquaplan
· FRDC project proposal developed and funding secured to attend a fish kill training course (FRDC 2009/315.29). Western Australian fish kill course attended by 3 PIRSA staff.
Environmental Monitoring and Management / · Development, assessment and processing of annual Environmental Monitoring Program reports for 38 mussel licences.
· Respond to environmental issues related to the mussel sector, including marine debris, pollution, escapes of aquaculture stock and interactions between marine mammals and seabirds.
· Maintenance of reporting databases for environmental compliance matters, escapes of stock, ecological interactions and marine debris for the mussel sector.
· Explored the use of a new video software program for Environmental Monitoring assessments of mussel leases.
· Contribution to a research project in conjunction with the Environment Protection Authority to identify the requirements for benthic transect information to enable effective assessment of mussel licence applications.
· Contribution to, support for and implementation of various research projects to assess environmental impacts relating to mussel aquaculture:
o FRDC 2009-046 – Carrying Capacity of Spencer Gulf: A Hydrodynamic and Biogeochemical Model to inform management of aquaculture
· Project finalised in January 2014. Modelling data from the project was used to inform site locations and development of a new environmental monitoring program
· Contribution of Innovative Solutions funds in 2013/14 (125,000)
o FRDC 2011-263 – A review of aquaculture environmental monitoring program in South Australia
· Draft Final report submitted in July 2013. Implementation of recommendations (where appropriate) to develop a new environmental monitoring program
· Contribution of Innovative Solutions funds in 2013/14 (25,000).
· Assessment of environmental and ecological aspects as part of the review of the Aquaculture Regulations 2005, including provisions relating to pollution, debris, marine mammal and seabird interactions, infrastructure, record keeping, environmental monitoring and chemical use.
· Planning and revision of site audit program, which includes designing of compliance field data sheets, assessment of data that is required from compliance inspections.
· Liaison with compliance officers for environmental issues related to mussel aquaculture sites. This also includes organisation and planning of equipment, vessels, personnel, weather, accommodation etc. and provision of technical input regarding environmental compliance and development and operation of sites.
· Spatial analysis and reporting for site audits. Spatial analysis is undertaken to identify sites that are to be inspected. Information relating to these sites is reported from PIIMS (i.e. contact details for licence holders to receive notification of site visits etc.).
Program Management and Administration / · Provision of relevant, accurate and timely advice to the Chief Executive of PIRSA and Minister so they are aware of current and emerging issues faced by PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture and the mussel sector.
· Develop, review and implement cost recovery procedures for the mussel sector for 2014/15 that are transparent, evidence-based and are developed in a consultative manner.
Other Related Activities / · Incorporation of mussel sector data in the annual production an economic report which is made publicly available through the PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture website.
· Collation of data and input into EconSearch report for 2012/13.
· Attendance and participation at National Aquaculture Committee meetings and helped host the World Aquaculture Conference in June 2014
· World Aquaculture Conference 2014. Presentations: emergency disease response in aquaculture, and effective veterinary medicine use in aquaculture (S. Roberts Aquatic Animal Health Officer). 90 Day Initiative (L. Fraser Program Leader, Aquaculture Environment Program). Environmental Monitoring Program Review (P. Lauer, Manager Aquaculture Policy, Planning and Environment Unit). One Stop Shop Approach (S. Sloan, Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy).
· FRDC Australasian Aquatic Animal Health conference (2013). Presentation on State-wide fish kill investigation in South Australia. (S. Roberts Aquatic Animal Health Officer).