MEMA 36 - summary minutes

May 2020

Dr Russell Reichelt chaired the meeting. Authority members or their nominees in attendance were:

• Chair, Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel
• Deputy Director General Fisheries, Department of Primary Industries
• A/Deputy Secretary, Environment, Energy and Science, Department Planning, Industry and Environment
• Executive Director, Centres for Road and Maritime Safety, Transport for NSW (TfNSW).

The Authority considered a range of matters at the meeting including those summarised below.

Marine Estate Management Strategy

The Authority noted progress on implementation of Stage 1 (2018-2020) of the Marine Estate Management Strategy (Strategy) with the quarterly snapshot report (1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020) being endorsed. Progress and risks were noted on the various projects being delivered across the marine estate.

Extreme weather events in January and February, followed by the emergence of COVID-19 resulted in delays to some projects, largely due to travel restrictions and social distancing requirements associated with COVID-19. Despite this, overall delivery of the Strategy during this time continued to achieve key milestones. Significant achievements are outlined the Strategy Snapshot - Year 2, Quarter 3. This snapshot is a new initiative of the Authority, to share its progress regularly with marine estate stakeholders. It will be published every three months on the marine estate website.

Collaboration continues to expand and strengthen across all initiatives, with our Strategy partners and stakeholders becoming increasingly engaged as projects mature and positive results are realised.

The Authority is developing an implementation plan for Stage 2 of the Strategy (2020-2021). It is expected this plan will be published on the website late August 2020.

More information on Strategy implementation and the range of initiatives and projects can be found on the marine estate website.

Marine Integrated Monitoring Program

Work on the Marine Integrated Monitoring Program (MIMP) continues, with considerable input from the Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel.

Consultants have been engaged to assist with research design and implementation of a long-term monitoring program on community wellbeing (social, cultural and economic elements) associated with the NSW marine estate. Engagement with key stakeholders and Aboriginal communities is a major component of this project.

A new governance structure for the delivery of the MIMP is being developed to ensure the MIMP implementation is collaborative, underpins management needs and informs the five-year health check of the Strategy scheduled in 2023. The MIMP’s monitoring and evaluation framework is available on the marine estate website.

Work continues on prioritising and filling key knowledge gaps, in cooperation with our partners.

Marine park management planning pilots

A new approach to management planning for NSW marine parks has commenced with pilot projects underway in Batemans and Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Parks. Planning will be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Marine Estate Management Act 2014. For the first time the plan will identify the environmental, social, cultural and economic values to be managed in the marine park, identify the threats to those values and outline management objectives and actions to conserve the values and reduce the threats over a 10-year timeframe.

Information previously collected from the community will also inform the plan, including the Marine Estate Community Survey and the statewide Threat and Risk Assessment. Stage one engagement with State, local government and local community representatives has concluded. A Batemans community and visitor survey and three workshops were held with stakeholders in Port Stephens-Great Lakes marine park in late 2019. These reports have now been published on the marine estate web site.

Further community engagement is underway with agencies, MEEKP and the marine park advisory committees to inform the draft plan.

Longreef Aquatic Reserve celebrating 40 years

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on Sydney’s northern beaches, was the first aquatic reserve declared in NSW. Since 1980, this aquatic reserve has played an important role in protecting rocky shore plants and animals and has been an important place for marine education, research and recreation. Thousands of school children visit the aquatic reserve each year on school excursions. Celebrations have occurred online due to COVID-19 and include:

• new webpages – why it was created, animal and plant cards, ecology and habitats
• 60 sec video showcasing the aquatic reserve, with a longer video being developed interviewing key stakeholders
• kids colouring-in competition

Other activities include:

• assisting Fishcare Volunteers who take tours at the reserve
• new posters and a brochure being developed.

Coastal reforms

Marine estate agencies continue to work closely with local government to ensure synergies between the implementation of the Strategy and the development of Coastal Management Programs (CMPs). The Authority continues to develop communication materials to assist local government understand the links between the Strategy and CMPs. These can be found on the marine estate web site.  The Authority provided local government with a detailed Marine Estate Management Strategy progress update on relevant projects to assist councils prepare their CMPs.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Authority is scheduled for August 2020.