CPD’s Marine Economy Fellow Caroline Hoisington has analysed the areas proposed for the creation of fully protected sanctuary zones in South Australia’s marine park network. The ecosystem service values covered by the new sanctuaries are conservatively estimated as being worth $20.69 million per year.
Caroline notes that the sanctuaries are likely to deliver several benefits, both environmental (because healthier marine systems are more resilient) and in terms of productivity (improved fishing, increases in tourism), which have not been calculated in this report.
The value of the fisheries that will be displaced by creation of sanctuary zones are estimated at $5.781 million/year, with impacts varying widely within the region. Displaced fishing is a very small percentage of the Gross Regional Product (less than 1%) but will have regional impacts. This report debunks some of the claims made recently that predict excessive losses.
Zoning South Australia’s marine parks concludes that the proposed sanctuaries are an important investment in the future of South Australia’s marine resources.
In 2009, South Australia created a network of marine parks covering 26,655 km2, which is 44% of SA’s state-managed marine waters. In 2012, the zoning within the marine parks was proposed, including the fully protected “Sanctuary Zones” (SZ) that cover 6% of the total State-managed waters.
