The proposed outer boundaries for the 19 marine parks were released last week and cover 46 per cent of State waters, reports Stacey Davidson for the Port Lincoln Times.
"The seafood industry is blown away by the magnitude of the park land considering the world's best practice fisheries we have in place in South Australia," Christian Pyke, as SA Sardine Industry Association president and a SA Seafood Industry Marine Parks Taskforce member, told the news organisation.
While current aquaculture leases aren't likely to be affected by marine parks, the future of expanding aquaculture is uncertain, as are jobs in wildcatch fisheries if fishing areas are zoned "no-take".
According to the Port Lincoln Times, with the unemployment rate rising because of the global financial crisis, and almost 44,000 full-time jobs lost last month, Mr Pyke said the State Government was "out of tune" with the crisis and importance of rural and primary industry jobs.
Huge Marine Park Draws Scepticism
US - The seafood industry and its communities are reeling at the size of the 10 marine parks covering Eyre Peninsula and the West Coast, concerned they will jeopard jobs and the industry's future.
