MEMA 38 Summary Minutes

Published 21 October 2021

MEMA 38 - summary minutes

December 2020

Authority members or their nominees in attendance were:

Chair, Marine Estate Management Authority (Chair, Dr Russell Reichelt)
Chair, Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel
A/Deputy Secretary, Biodiversity, Conservation and Science, Department Planning, Industry and Environment
Deputy Director General Fisheries, Department of Primary Industries
Executive Director, Centres for Road and Maritime Safety
A/Director Policy, Environmental Policy, Department Planning, Industry and Environment – Planning and Assessment

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

$28.3 million funding for the NSW marine estate

In November, the NSW Government announced an additional investment of $28.3 million in 2020/21 to support the continued delivery of the Marine Estate Management Strategy (Strategy). This brings the total investment to date of $74 million by the NSW Government from 2018-2021.

Marine Estate Management Strategy

The Authority noted progress on implementation of the Marine Estate Management Strategy (Strategy) and endorsed the quarterly report for the period ending 30 September 2020. Progress and risks were noted on the various projects being delivered across the marine estate. Significant achievements for the last quarter are outlined in the Strategy Snapshot – year 3, quarter 1 report.

Excellent progress was achieved in year 3, quarter 1 despite several challenges in implementation, including COVID 19 restrictions,

Key achievements in year 3, quarter 1 include:

(Initiative 1A) - Review of the NSW Water Quality Objectives - preparations are underway to engage with stakeholders on the update of the NSW Water Quality Objectives. This includes an approach to engaging with Aboriginal people on Country to enable inclusion of cultural values in the objectives.
(Initiative 1B) - Clean Coastal Catchments research – a macadamia industry nutrient management trial has been completed with key findings being compiled. Collaboration has occurred with North Coast Local Land Services (LLS), Greater Sydney LLS and South East LLS for the delivery of the berry, greenhouse vegetable, beef and dairy incentive grant programs. Macadamia and blueberry demonstration sites - nitrate and turbidity probes and flow meters installed and collecting data.
(Initiative 2) Private foreshore structure strategies - draft maps have been created for priority estuaries along south coast of NSW, and consultation with commercial fishers to recognise important commercial fish grounds completed for the Richmond River estuary and included in constraints analysis.
(Initiatives 5 & 6) Strategies for mitigating species interactions - in collaboration with Ocean Watch Australia and commercial fishers, the project team have developed ten vessel specific Seabird Management Plans (SMP) that identify the main threats posed to seabirds.

The NSW Marine Waters Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy is being revised to attract and guide aquaculture investment to NSW including South Coast Mariculture leases in Jervis Bay (media story reported through ABC Landline).

(Initiative 7) - Successful projects under Round 3 of the Boating Now Program have been announced. Sixty-nine projects have received funding to improve maritime infrastructure and facilities across NSW. This investment supports the needs of recreational and commercial boaters and enables broader economic and social benefits for communities.

Details on the full set of projects underway are outlined in the Strategy Implementation Plan.

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

Maritime infrastructure funding

A $205 million investment in maritime infrastructure and safety upgrade projects will create nearly 1300 jobs across the state.

In October 2020 the Minister for Transport Andrew Constance announced stimulus funding to improve boating access and amenities. This stimulus package will go to priority areas, including:

regional maritime infrastructure
regional dredging
ferry wharf upgrades
maritime property improvements.

The $205 million stimulus will come from the Waterways Fund, which is made up of fees collected from boating licences and registrations, wetland leases and mooring licences.

Marine Integrated Monitoring Program

Work on the Marine Integrated Monitoring Program (MIMP) continues.

The first formal program evaluation outlined in the MIMP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Framework) is now underway in consultation with consultants. The Framework is available on the marine estate website.

Consultants have also been engaged to assist with research design and implementation of social surveys to inform community wellbeing monitoring associated with the NSW marine estate. Engagement with coastal residents, visitors, Aboriginal communities and marine estate agency staff is a major component of these surveys.

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

Marine Estate Management Act Review

The five-year statutory review of the Marine Estate Management Act (2014) concluded in December 2020. The review is to determine whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives.

A variety of comments, relating broadly to the objects and the terms of the Act, were raised in submissions. Stakeholder feedback ranged from being generally satisfied with the existing objects and terms of the Act, to recommending specific changes to the Act. Some comments were out of scope.

The review found that the comments raised could be and, in some cases, are being achieved through policy, regulation or procedure. In other cases, the current settings remain valid to achieve the purpose of the Act. The final report recommends that the Act is working as intended and the objects and terms of the Act do not require changes.

Marine park management planning

A new approach to management planning for NSW marine parks continues, with pilot projects underway in Batemans and Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Parks. Planning is in accordance with the requirements of the Marine Estate Management Act 2014. For the first time planning 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.

Further community engagement is underway with agencies, the Knowledge Panel and the marine park advisory committees to inform the process.

Harvest strategies for NSW fisheries

Fishing sectors in NSW will benefit from greater certainty and transparency in fisheries management decision making under the NSW Government’s new draft policy and guidelines for the development of harvest strategies. The Government invited comments on the draft policy and guidelines from Dec 2020 to January 2021, which are key deliverables under the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy.

More information on Harvest Strategies is available on DPI’s website.

Aboriginal maritime safety plan

Transport for NSW is launching a plan to reduce the likelihood and consequences of boating incidents involving Aboriginal people on NSW waterways. The plan is a key deliverable under the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy

More information is available at Aboriginal Maritime Safety

MEMA annual reporting

The Authority released its two annual reports in December:

The Authority delivered strong results during 2019 and 2020 despite the unprecedented events across NSW of severe drought, devastating fish kills, catastrophic fires, floods and the global COVID-19 pandemic which presented multiple and significant impacts on project delivery and challenges for marine estate agencies. Staff resources were reassigned to assist with the bushfire response and COVID-19 which severely impacted on-ground works, including field-based research, stakeholder engagement and community and Aboriginal survey workshops. Despite these challenges, staff have adapted projects and the way we engage with our stakeholders, to enable the continuation of work and minimise the impacts of these events.

Significant progress was made towards the NSW Government’s key commitments and reforms for the marine estate. The Authority has reported on Stage 1 delivery (2018-2020), with $45.7 million funding received to implement 41 actions across multiple agencies and partners across the State.

The reports can be found on the marine estate website.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Authority is scheduled for March 2021.