The Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy (OISAS) was gazetted in December, 2006. This document can be viewed on the NSW Department of Primary Industries website. It recommended that a number of leases in North Arm Cove be designated “priority leases”. This designation provides a streamlined approvals process for oyster farm proposals that lie within these areas. It also provides a framework to protect the environment of these areas.
There are several priority leases in North Arm Cove, including the two leases off Cove Boulevarde and East Slopes Way. The priority designation of these leases means that these areas will continue to be set aside for present and future oyster farming regardless of whether they are used for oyster production or not.
The OISAS is to be reviewed every five years. The review is currently in progress and the document will be available for public comment in May 2012.
From the point of view of the North Arm Cove community, there are several matters which should be considered during this review.
- The production target of 120,000 bags per annum of edible oysters for NSW predicted in the OISAS by 2013 is unrealistic.
- There has been a16.5% drop in the 5 year average production from 71,424 to 59,612 bags per annum since the OISAS was written. This drop raises the question of whether the assumptions used in the OISAS to determine the area of oyster leases required to fulfil the predicted production target are required. If production is going to stabilise at less than half the predicted 120,000 bags per annum, perhaps all the priority leases will not be required and some areas should be returned to public use.
- When the OISAS was written, it appeared that priority lease areas were mostly chosen to coincide with existing lease areas. If the leases were not being used at the time the OISAS was written, and they are still not being used, there is a good case to say that they are not required.
- Some priority oyster leases in Port Stephens have been left unused for decades. North Arm Cove has a significant area of these unused leases. We have kept a photographic record of the state of these leases. There has been no improvement since the introduction of the OISAS.
- Some of the priority leases in North Arm Cove are only partially used. For example, the northern half of the lease off Cove Boulevarde, OL86/140, has not been used since the late eighties. The southern half has occasionally had a few long lines on a small part of the lease. Similarly, only a small section of the southern half of OL86/138 (off East Slopes Way and Cove Boulevarde) has been used in the last twenty years.
- There is an over representation of priority oyster leases in Port Stephens. The total priority lease area in Port Stephens is 25% of the total NSW priority lease area, whereas the average production in Port Stephens over the last 5 years has only been 15% of the NSW total.
Anyone wishing to comment on the OISAS Review should write to Ian Lyall, Manager of Aquaculture, Port Stephens Research Centre, Locked Bag 1, Nelson Bay, 2315.
