The South Australian aquaculture industry contributed 50% of the State’s seafood economic output, worth $200 million in 2020/21. The Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) is the agency responsible for managing South Australia’s aquatic resources on behalf of the South Australian community. As part of this management, PIRSA is responsible for ensuring the ecological, social and economic sustainability as well as commercial viability of the State’s aquaculture industry.
South Australia’s aquaculture industry is diverse, with major sectors including Southern Bluefin Tuna, Yellowtail Kingfish, Oysters, Mussels, Abalone, freshwater finfish and crayfish, and most recently seaweed. Existing and new sectors are efficiently and effectively regulated under dedicated aquaculture legislation, the Aquaculture Act 2001 (the Act). Subordinate legislation includes the Aquaculture Regulations 2016, statutory zone and standard condition policies. PIRSA provides a single point of entry into the Government assessment process for aquaculture activities, with a one-stop-shop approach to development, regulation and licensing, thereby streamlining the assessment and approval processes for the industry. Assessment of aquaculture applications undergo a rigorous Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) risk assessment framework. This framework ensures aquaculture is conducted in an ecologically sustainable manner, in line with the objects of the Act. A new marine lease and licence application takes on average 6-12 months to assess.
A rapidly emerging sector for South Australia’s aquaculture industry is seaweed. Potential benefits of the sector include nutrient offset, Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA), carbon mitigation and a range of product opportunities in markets for human consumption, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, bioplastics, fertilisers and livestock feed ingredients. Since 2020, PIRSA has assessed and approved 53 aquaculture licences permitted to farm seaweed. As an emerging sector, its full potential is yet to be realised with only a few of those licences trialling seaweed. From a regulatory perspective, key risks with this new sector include disease, pests and genetic contamination of local seaweed populations, primarily through stock translocations. Given the limited knowledge, a precautionary approach was required. Consequently, translocation of stock in the marine environment is regionally restricted based on recently implemented Macroalgae Management Areas. This aims to protect aquatic ecosystems and genetic diversity across the State’s coastline which is home to 1800 species of seaweed – many of which are endemic – while facilitating the establishment of the sector.