Two island groups in South Australia are currently at the centre of a dispute between charter fishing operators and conservation groups.
According to The Australian this week the two groups are in dispute over islands in the Nuyts Archipelago, 25km south of Ceduna, and the Investigator Group of Islands, 30km south of Elliston. The islands, already listed conservation parks, are to be declared wilderness protection areas as they are breeding areas for Australian sea lions, osprey and sea eagles.
Wilderness Society South Australian campaign manager Peter Owen has urged Environment Minister Paul Caica to go further and declare the marine park waters around the islands sanctuaries, and close them to fishing.
“We’re really hoping to see that sanctuary zones are declared in the waters around these islands to complement what the minister’s done with the land,” he said.
Ceduna fishing charter operator Perry Wills said there did not need to be blanket declarations of sanctuaries around the islands.
“We’ve looked after it on our own. We’ve got good fishing here,” he said.
South Australia Recreational Fishing Advisory Council executive officer Trevor Watts said conservationists did not care about anglers.
Wills said declaring the islands wilderness protection areas would not change how they were managed by the Environment Department.
