IN the wake of promised restructuring of NSW government departments, the O’Farrell government is set to close the long existing Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre.
The Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson confirmed this week that the Fisheries Research Centre is to be relocated to a regional coastal area, a move that looks to threaten jobs and ongoing fisheries research.
Ms Hodgkinson said a new committee would be formed to better accommodate the needs of all offices that come under the new Department of Primary Industries. A new “super-department” is exepected to join the NSW Office of Water, Crown Lands and Catchment Management Authorities with Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests NSW.
The NSW opposition has said the government’s decision to relocate the fisheries research centre to a regional coastal area does not guarantee the jobs of up to 157 people currently employed in Cronulla.
The opposition spokesman for Primary Industries, Steve Whan, said the planned closure of the Cronulla centre would also threaten fisheries research.
“The Cronulla facility undertakes vital research specific to the waters around Sydney – including important work on bull sharks,” Whan told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Tagging and tracking sharks, along with long-term research on fish species and growth and development is all undertaken from the Cronulla facility.
The primary industries minister said the decision to relocate the research centre has been welcomed by the fisheries industry.
“The decentralisation of the centre will allow for greater interaction between fishers, scientists and fisheries managers in regional coastal NSW,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
According to a report in the Sutherland Shire-based Leader, the around 150 staff at the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre were only told of the decision to close the facility on arrival at work late last week. Many employees were reportedly shocked at the decision and are refusing to move to another location.
Affected workers have launched a campaign to rally support in a bid to prevent the closure of the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre – see below.
