Fishing curbs urged to fight sea urchins

A TASMANIAN conservation group is calling for fishing restrictions along the East Coast to combat the devastating rise of long-spined sea urchins destroying the environment.

During the past 15 years, the urchin population has grown from an estimated 11 million to more than 18 million along the eastern Tasmanian coast, according to a report by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies that was released yesterday.

Led by principal investigator Scott Ling, researchers conducted scuba and towedunderwater-video surveys spanning 156 sites across 13 locations between Eddystone Point and Recherche Bay.

The IMAS survey confirmed the East Coast of Tasmania had lost 15 per cent of the reef habitats because of the long-spined sea urchin, up from 3.4 per cent when a similar study was done in 2002.

“Ongoing climate change has made the region more and more favourable for longspined sea urchins,” Dr Ling said.

“In the absence of high abundances of large predators such as rock lobsters, urchins have established in large numbers and are destructively overgrazing kelp beds.”

Dr Ling said the 18 million urchins now on the East Coast had largely transformed some reefs to barren grounds that are essentially “underwater deserts” devoid of other marine life.

Tasmanian Conservation Trust director Peter McGlone said the research also showed urchin numbers were predicted to double in the next three years.

“That’s a catastrophic acceleration,” Mr McGlone said.

“If we want lobsters to grow beyond the legal size the most obvious solution is to make sure people don’t fish in that area,” he said.

A State Government spokesman said it was working to tackle the sea urchin problem but did not say if fishing restrictions were part of the plan.

“It is encouraging to read that the report found that annual increase in tonnage of urchins is of a scale that can plausibly be managed, including by upscaling current harvesting and culling and by continuing to rebuild the population of the urchin’s natural predator, the rock lobster,” he said

The Government is hosting a forum to further discuss the issues next Friday.

That’s a catastrophic acceleration

— PETER McGLONE