Summary meeting minutes of the Marine Estate Management Authority.

Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Attendance

Authority members or their nominees in attendance were:

• Chair, Marine Estate Management Authority (Dr Russell Reichelt AO FTSE)
• Chair, Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel (Anthea Tinney)
• A/Deputy Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment – Environment and Heritage Group
• Deputy Director General, Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries
• A/Director, Maritime and Transport Safety Strategy, standing in for Chief, Centres for Road Safety and Maritime Safety, Transport for NSW

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

Authority annual reporting

The Authority released two annual reports in December:

• Marine Estate Management Authority Annual Report – 2021-2022
• Marine Estate Management Strategy Implementation Annual Report – 2021-2022

The Authority’s Annual Report documents the continued strong collaboration between agencies and partners who progressed an ambitious schedule of works in 2021-2022, that included marine park planning, Marine Estate Management Strategy implementation and a suite of research and monitoring guided by the Marine Integrated Monitoring Program (as summarised below).

In the Strategy Implementation Annual Report, the Authority reported on the progress of over 100 projects underway in year 4 of the 10-year Marine Estate Management Strategy. An investment of $30.7 million in 2021-2022 supported continued work to reduce the range of threats impacting the marine estate.

2021-2022 presented several challenges to the delivery of key programs in marine estate management. NSW continued to experience the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and other restrictions which affected projects involving on-ground works, field-based research, education and training, stakeholder engagement, and social research. The catastrophic NSW floods in February 2022 also delayed several projects, mainly in the North Coast region where field-based research and on-ground works were impacted. Despite these challenges intended outcomes were achieved.

All of the Authority’s achievements for all programs are published on the marine estate website.

Marine Estate Management Strategy Implementation Plan 2022 - 2024

The Authority endorsed the Marine Estate Management Strategy Implementation Plan 2022-2024, which outlines the delivery of approximately 100 projects with our partners over the next 2 years.

In June 2022 the NSW Government announced more than $182 million (approximately $30 million per annum) to continue to reduce threats to the marine estate during the final 6 years of Strategy implementation, through to 2028. Improving water quality, reducing litter, enhancing habitat health, protecting threatened species and planning for climate change continue to be a key focus. Enabling sustainable fishing, aquaculture and boating activities, as well as improving opportunities for First Nations people to manage Sea Country are also priorities.

This record investment in the NSW marine estate builds on the foundational work initiated in the first 4 years of the Strategy, and provides certainty for the projects and people working to deliver benefits to the natural assets in the marine estate and the NSW community.

For more information about the range of projects and key achievements within the Marine Estate Management Strategy, visit the marine estate website.

Mainland marine park management planning

The NSW Government’s Management Plan for the NSW Mainland Marine Park Network 2021-2031 (draft plan) was released for public consultation on 1 November 2021 to 31 January 2022. The draft plan has been developed to guide the management of the state’s five existing mainland marine parks.

Comprehensive feedback was received, which was reviewed and analysed by an independent consultant and informed the final draft plan. A report summarising engagement with Aboriginal communities has also been completed by a separate independent Aboriginal consultant. The final draft plan and feedback from community engagement was provided to the NSW Government for consideration.

The final draft plan does not include any specific proposals around changes to marine park rules or zones. The detail of any proposed changes to rules or zones will be developed in stage 2 and will be subject to further community consultation.

A separate management plan for Lord Howe Island Marine Park is currently under development.

For more information visit www.marine.nsw.gov.au/yoursay

Marine Integrated Monitoring Program

Work continues on delivery of the Marine Integrated Monitoring Program (MIMP) with our partners, to monitor the condition and trend of environmental assets and community benefits, guide data collection to assess management effectiveness and contribute to filling key knowledge gaps.

The Authority noted additional resources have been allocated to the MIMP which will enable several key pieces of work to commence, including the review of new evidence to identify emerging threats.

Authority Schedule of Works

The Authority periodically updates its schedule of works. The schedule outlines the Authority’s current marine estate programs, timeframes and key outputs and former work completed. The updated schedule can be found on the marine estate website.

Maritime Safety Plan

The Authority noted that Transport for NSW released the Maritime Safety Plan 2026.

Early work has commenced on several actions contained in the plan, including two separate opportunities for public consultation on a remake of the Marine Safety Regulation 2016 and the development of polices to manage end of life vessels.

Consultation with key stakeholders, industry partners and our community concluded on 20 January 2023. For more information visit the Transport for NSW website.

End of year thanks

Following the regular meeting, staff implementing projects under the Marine Estate Management Strategy and MIMP across multiple agencies joined the meeting. The Authority thanked staff for their hard work in 2022 and viewed presentations from the 9 initiative leads on key achievements to date and future priorities.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Authority is scheduled for March 2023.