The state-wide ban on demersal fishing is a necessary and important step in protecting species recovery into the future but will be seriously undermined by approvals for seismic blasting to explore for new gas reserves in key spawning areas.
The Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) said federal regulator, The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority’s (NOPSEMA), approval of Pilot Energy Limited’s plans to carry out a seismic survey off the Dongara coast “flies in the face” of the fishing ban.
Dongara fisherman, and Vice President of the Dongara Professional Fishers Association Michael Butcher confirmed there are demersal species all over Leander Reef”, where seismic blasting is proposed.
“We’ve got baldchin groper, dhufish and buff bream all over the reef, alongside commercial species like western rock lobsters and octopus,” Mr Butcher said.
“Right now, the crays are covered in eggs, so we can’t keep the females, but the blasting window is this time next year.
“While we’re following the rules to keep the stocks sustainable and healthy into the future, Pilot is allowed to come in and blast our reef and all the species that live there.”
CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts said the response from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to restrict fishing activities to address a sharp decline in spawning biomass levels was was not only appropriate, “but critically important”.
“The science shows that these spawning levels are simply unsustainable, but the additional threat to the population posed by seismic blasting that seems to have been overlooked and is likely to have a significant impact on fish stocks,” Mr Roberts said.
NOPSEMA approved the proposal by Pilot Energy to blast almost 1,000 square-kilometres within the Perth Basin, 6km west of Dongara and 54 km south of Geraldton, in search of new gas to send overseas.
“CCWA is particularly concerned about the impacts to demersal scalefish species, which have been woefully under-assessed in the NOPSEMA-led evaluation, and are rated by DPIRD as under ‘Severe Risk' in the west coast region.
“This is due to spawning biomass falling below the threshold limit for sustainable populations. According to DPIRD, critical spawning periods for nine of the 13 key demersal species overlap with proposed seismic blasting times in February and March 2027.
“Studies of fish species show both behavioural and physical impacts from seismic blasting, including damage to their hearing ability, and making them more susceptible to predation. In one study, it was reported that the sensory hair cells fish use to hear had been ‘ripped’ or had ‘exploded’ after exposure to an operating airgun.
“Demersal species live and feed on the seafloor putting them more at risk of the devastating impacts of the blasting as the noise from seismic arrays increases as you move down the water column.
“We’ve met with Minister Jackie Jarvis to express our concerns and conveyed the messages of the fishers we’ve spoken to, including demersal fishers in the mid-west.
“There are countless stories of catch loss following seismic surveys, and areas taking years to bounce back. If the state government is serious about protecting demersal species and the fishing industry, it needs to take action and ensure the seismic proposal is assessed at a state level under the EP Act with the demersal ban in mind.
“We have also written to the Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to refer the proposal to DCCEEW to ensure proper oversight at every level.
“Right now, we have people doing the right thing, even though it impacts their livelihoods and recreation, while a gas company gets to come along and do what it wants in our waters. It’s another example of the gas industry and its export interests being prioritised, while West Australians are doing their best to protect species into the future.”
WAFIC and the Western Rock Lobster Council have both expressed objection to this approval.
ENDS
Media contact: John Cooke – 0433 679 780 – [email protected]
About Seismic Blasting
Seismic blasting is a practice used heavily in offshore fossil fuel exploration, and Carbon Capture and Storage (also referred to as Carbon Dumping or CCS).
During exploration, seismic surveys are used to map the geology of the seabed - up to 20kms below the ocean floor - to locate potential fossil fuel deposits within sub-bottom sedimentary layers.
In CCS, seismic blasting is used to map potential reservoirs within the seafloor geology and then required to map the movement of stored CO2 at regular intervals for the life of a project.
Seismic surveys use loud air guns (4,000 in³ array) towed behind seismic vessels in a grid pattern through the ocean. Low frequency blasts of up to 250dB are fired every 4-10 seconds, 24 hours a day for months on end. Sound from seismic blasting can travel for hundreds of kilometres underwater and creates internal waves of pressure as it moves through the ocean.