Executive Summary
Long-spined sea urchins (Centrostephanus rodgersii, abbreviated to 'Centro') are native to NSW, and are an important part of historical marine life in that state.
Changes to our marine environment, particularly warming oceans and shifting currents linked to climate change, are connected to explosions and radical range shifts in Centro's population distribution in recent decades.
The urchins' rapid spread on ocean currents (range shifting) to Victoria, Tasmania and recently New Zealand, where they are now deemed to be a significant threat to marine habitat, biodiversity and fisheries productivity, is a matter of national significance.
It is estimated there are now billions of these urchins in New South Wales (NSW) alone, and possibly hundreds of millions more spreading along the Great Southern Reef, the 8000 square kilometre inshore marine area between southern NSW through to Tasmania and Western Australia.
Scientists call Centro 'ecosystem engineers' as they can completely outcompete and dominate other species, and so radically change marine habitats where they settle and overgraze. Their voracious feeding behaviour can create large 'urchin barrens'—large swathes of rocky reef ecosystems that are barren of other previously endemic and flourishing biodiversity.
Witnesses described their impact as akin to creating 'under water moonscapes'. In video game terms, they are both the Pac-Man and Space Invaders of our oceans.
Where Centro is recognised as invasive, they have had a significant impact on marine ecology and both commercial and recreational fisheries. All invasive pests, including the overabundant native species, impose serious risks, costs, and challenges to our nation.
While most Australians are familiar with the spread of terrestrial or land-based pests, they are less familiar with the damage caused by marine invasive species such as Centro, the subject of this inquiry.
While it is recognised that marine invasive pests cause significant environmental and economic damage, there is low public awareness of this menace and they are rarely a priority of governments.
This inquiry seeks to change this situation.
Given climate change presents a host of new challenges to our oceans, including driving the spread of marine invasive species both introduced and native, examining the current Centro challenge in this inquiry has been an important window into the future.
There is no time like the present to prepare new, modern, and informed policy solutions to adapt to such challenges and build on this experience for the future.
This inquiry was motivated by the fact that there is, concerningly, currently no clear and holistic national policy pathway for managing overabundant native marine species like Centro. If left unchecked, these species can and do cause significant ecological, social and economic damage.
While the risks posed by the spread and population explosion of Centro to our precious marine environment and valuable fisheries have been understood for decades, from a policy perspective, attempts to research, monitor, and manage this invasive species across or within different state jurisdictions have been un‑coordinated, ad hoc, inconsistent and insufficient.
We hope that this will change with the release of this timely Senate committee report.
The key finding of this inquiry was that national coordination by the Commonwealth to manage the risks from the spread of Centro is sorely needed. Three states currently face challenges from Centro management, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. The challenge is different for each state, but if all parties work with the Commonwealth there are clear benefits to effectively managing Centro in a unified approach.
Recognition by the Federal Government of the need to tackle the negative impacts of overabundant native marine species already exists with the Crown-of-Thorns starfish program on the Great Barrier Reef. The government has committed hundreds of millions of dollars of funding for integrated pest management strategies on the Great Barrier Reef over many years to tackle this pest, aimed at protecting marine ecosystems and reef economic tourism values.
While this precedent exists, over recent decades only a fraction of such government funding has been allocated to research, monitor, and manage a similar and arguably bigger threat to our oceans: the destructive march of the long-spined sea urchin down the Great Southern Reef that runs along much of Australia's eastern seaboard.
The significant and uncontroversial evidence collected through this inquiry, and covered in the report, quantifies the damage done by Centro, especially in Victorian and Tasmanian waters, and highlights the urgent need to act on this menace.
What was most heartening about this inquiry was the compelling evidence that solving this problem presents significant environmental, social, and economic opportunities, a rare simultaneous win-win for our environment and our economy.
While Centro may be considered a destructive marine pest in parts of the country, it can be harvested, processed, consumed, and exported as a premium food.
A successful policy platform to tackle the risks posed by the proliferation of Centro is 'nature positive' in every sense of the word and almost certainly economically positive.
Establishing a viable national fishery for long-spined sea urchins will help solve an environmental problem, take pressure off other valuable fisheries such as abalone and rock lobster, build a restoration economy, promote blue carbon and nitrogen development opportunities, and should create significant new fisheries jobs and growth.
An ounce of prevention is worth a tonne of cure.
Evidence to support this environmental and economic opportunity is outlined throughout the report.
Tackling this critical problem in the right way would be a win-win solution that should have broad political appeal and support.
Significantly, and possibly unprecedented for a Senate inquiry, hundreds of stakeholders including three state governments, federal agencies, First Nations communities, commercial and recreational fishing stakeholders, scientists, academics, divers and tourism operators came together to formally workshop solutions to the Centro problem. The detailed outcomes of this workshop, including the establishment of a National Centro Task Force, were presented to the Senate committee to inform its inquiry.
Evidence provided to this inquiry from stakeholders from around the Great Southern Reef, argued repeatedly that this critical marine habitat should have its own national marine stewardship programs and structures, just like the more famous Great Barrier Reef in the north of Australia.
The committee is grateful for all the collaboration with the Workshop and Task Force and outcomes from this are featured in the report.
The unique, pressing, and complex nature of tackling marine invasive species like Centro requires just as unique and innovative an approach to coordinating policy development around the nation.
Unanimous evidence was provided to the committee that only the Commonwealth Government is in a position to lead, coordinate and execute such policy, which by its very nature will be long term, collaborative and rely on multi‑disciplinary research.
We were fortunate that this inquiry brought together the nation's best minds to tackle this great challenge of our time, offering immense opportunity to fisheries, First Nations and other communities, new export markets and ecological restoration.
Its findings cannot be ignored.
Committee recommendations:
The committee recommends that the government consider working closely with relevant state governments to capture and harness the benefits offered by an emerging fishery for long-spined sea urchins, including:
developing a new fishery for Centro, while supporting existing fisheries for rock lobster and abalone;
maximising employment opportunities in harvesting and processing for urchin products;
coordinating research and policy across jurisdictions to encourage an economically and ecologically self-sustaining Centro fishery;
fostering programs to protect and restore kelp and reef ecologies and the species that depend upon them, including innovative cross-sectoral work with industry, environmental organisations and communities;
involving local, regional and First Nations communities in these opportunities; and
assisting to grow overseas and domestic markets for urchin products.
The committee recommends that the government consider making an immediate national investment into Centro control, guided by the Centro Task Force Plan's action areas and goals.
The committee recommends that the government consider the continuation of the Centro Task Force to govern the national investment delivery, and drive coordination, implementation, and reporting.
The committee recommends that the government consider the establishment of a Centro Advisory Group led by the Commonwealth, to include representatives from Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, industry, researchers, commercial dive, processing and the recreational dive sector, to provide guidance, co-design, coordination and delivery of actions at a State and regional level.