Victor Harbor Fish Cage
Another brilliant idea....not...,boys down there should have stopped this one from happening.
Wow. I am baffled how this has flown under the radar. Surely surfing groups should have been consulted about this? The location is under 2.5km to one of the more populated surfing stretches of Victor Harbor (The Dump to Knights).
The company behind it is Oceanic Victor Pty Ltd, and a quick Google reveals that Tony Santic is a Director of the company, a southern bluefin tuna farmer from Pt Lincoln. From Wikipedia:
"In 1997, Šantić decided to pursue his interest in horse racing, which ultimately led to three Melbourne Cup victories courtesy of a horse he named Makybe Diva. Šantić featured in the BRW Rich List in 2003, with an estimated personal wealth of $200 million."
That flew under the radar...going by the numbers given, and assuming fish stocked at proposd max capacity that'll mean 420kg of bait food thrown in the pen daily. That's a fucken burley pot any fisho would be proud of.
I've been hearing the mouth has a fair number of seals parked up these days...that'll put the almost coast smack in the middle of the shark bait sandwich.
Fliplid wrote:
According to Dr Peter Lauer from Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA), “studies show sharks may be curious, but if there is no benefit from staying in the proximity of the cages they.....
Check Q.5 re: shark attraction.
https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/255640/Frequently_Asked_questions_-_Oceanic_Victor_Pty_Ltd_Application_Granite_Island_-_July_2015.pdf
Have a gander at this doc below, page 8 Sharks...read the whole section, in particular the section in Bold on page 10.
Reading between the lines, Oceaniv Victor have no concrete research backing anything stated when it comes to shark interaction and cages...No garuantee given, no fucks either as long as the $$$ keep rolling in
Non surfing community are frothing with the old $$$ and job's equation.Safe Liberal seat of Mayo say's it all stuff all whale's over the last couple of year's will make this even more desirable.
One official view put forward, that “there is a huge amount of money involved
in Aquaculture and with the increase in numbers since protection, some leeway should be
given” has been treated locally with the contempt it deserves. haha im afraid that being a surfer dosent count when moneys involved,greedy shits.
I have been screaming my head off about cage feeding sharks and the North Page Island between Victor and K.I.
I put I story in the local press a month ago called "Complete Madness" over the moving near Victor and the danger of to swimmers , boaties and the surfer.
Tryed to put a story into the local press a week ago and the editor did not print that story , but she said she did?? But then used another text conversion I had with her, she tricked me and whacked it into last copy called "Important Meeting".The floating fish pen and the danger of bring in the bigger sharks.
The second story I wish the press printed but didn't was about letter to the editor from"Sue and Pip of Victor worry about sharks and there small yachts in the bay"
## alarm bells## What about the swimmers and surfer at all of the bay's and beaches in the local area?????
Tried to get the press to do a story about the shark issue from the eyes of the people that use the water but most of the spill from our press is sadly all pro fish floating pen and no or very little care about safety of the beach user.
Power of $$$$ and greed of a fue will and has been putting us all in more danger than we need to be into.
Had my spill on the fourm on this issue under "cage diving , complete madness". Wax on.
Some people replied and I upset some of them and pleased others on my views. Have a peek at them.
Anyhow . Great topic. Most important subject that needs talking about.
I have ask Swellnet if they could look into this issue and have a say on it a few weeks ago.
I think it needed!
Hucky.
With the prevailing wind being S.E. I think ? and near 1/2 ton of feed needed daily will this create a fish odour over the Victor township at feeding time or a leftover food chum slick on the shoreline ?
udo wrote:
With the prevailing wind being S.E. I think ? and near 1/2 ton of feed needed daily will this create a fish odour over the Victor township at feeding time or a leftover food chum slick on the shoreline ?
SE in summer, so potential for odor/slick from Pines through to the Bluff.
SW in winter, potential for slick from Olivers to Horseshoe bay...that puts a few waves in direct line of fire.
All up, there's not much of a split between Pines and Olivers so it's gonna be an interesting test to say the least.
Ive got some other info that i came across last night which points to $$$$ as being the driving force...I'll put a link to that later.
The Victor Harbour council is a law unto itself, no other councils wanted to merge with it years ago but Yank was made to and I'm pretty sure they weren't keen. I wonder if this proposal fell within the Alexandrina councils coastal stretch whether the whole thing would've been handled differently, ie better. Bottom line this shit shouldn't be done anywhere near coastal communities, surfers, swimmers, divers, boaties the lot.
Just had a look at the surf this morning at the Pine's how far to the proposed fish aquarium?400m maybe a tad more.With the summer S.E wind blowing 80% of the time from September through to March it will be a real worry for all beach user's in Encounter Bay area.I know that Victor Aquatic's run lot's of school lesson's at the Groynes which is situated down from the Pine's and Victor yacht club which beach launch their boats and sail right in and around the proposed area.
Just to put it into perspective in the pic above, Granite Island is approx 26 hectares
Tony Santics burley pot is 12 Hectares.
Ash wrote:
The Victor Harbour council is a law unto itself, no other councils wanted to merge with it years ago but Yank was made to and I'm pretty sure they weren't keen. I wonder if this proposal fell within the Alexandrina councils coastal stretch whether the whole thing would've been handled differently, ie better. Bottom line this shit shouldn't be done anywhere near coastal communities, surfers, swimmers, divers, boaties the lot.
Yank is the rotten apple spreading its rot to everything it touches ...currently having dealings with them and the guy im working with has been dealing with councils all over oz for forty years...his take is Yank is the worst he's ever had the displeasure of dealing with. If ya not greasing the right palms, ya dead in the water pardon the pun.
Yeah Trip bad marriage between Yank and Victa, the annilahtion of Victa and the expansion of Alexandrina could've been better, but that was/is never going to happen. At any rate this oversized aquarium ( or Santics burley pot ), is it a netted holding pen that allows the food to fall through? And didn't we have one of these years ago that went broke? Can't imagine anyone wanting to boat out there on mid winters day, and then suit up to go for a dive, water clarity in winter is green and darker green.
the whole thing is utter madness and completely ridiculous. i am certain there will be a huge uproar in the local community if this proposal goes ahead. considering the public" comments" of the proposal have been closed after only three days of notification.. again.. ridiculous and downright nasty, what is the next course of action? …..just read this taken from the local victor newspaper- "The experience they are developing involves diving with tuna and other species using a facility to be relocated from Port Lincoln and they also have an interest in the current on-shore facilities such as the kiosk and penguin centre." *note- "other species"…
something to look forward to
https://www.infogo.com.au/1/amt/?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F…
In the Q+A section of Oceanic Victor Pty Ltd's proposal.
Q5: Will the application attract sharks to the area?
"Encounter Bay is an area where white sharks are known to migrate
under their normal patterns of movement and the proposed activity is
unlikely to significantly alter that behaviour. The presence of animals
in sea-cages, the activities related to feeding the animals and the
presence of dead or moribund animals in sea-cages may contribute
to the likelihood of sharks being attracted to the sea-cage
infrastructure. However if there is no excess feed and moribund and
dead stock are regularly removed through good site management
practices, then it is unlikely that sharks will remain in the area.
In addition, the proposed stocking densities of animals in this tourism
application are about 8% (maximum of 5 tonne of Southern Bluefin
Tuna (SBT) and 1 tonne combined of all other animals) of those for
finfish aquaculture production operations."
Take note of the carefully worded first sentence.
"... the proposed activity is unlikely to significantly alter that behaviour."
Zambezi, check my post up the page...the second link...you'll see how these guys are pissing in the wind.
You would expect comments from the company's proposal to be skewed in an effort to push their case. Unfortunately the government department involved in granting the licence is also being a bit loose with the facts. On 2 occasions representatives from PIRSA (the government agency) have stated in local media that studies have shown that fish cages have no effect on sharks presence. There is only one study that really addresses the issue of fish farms and that was done in Hawaii (although there is a study underway on the Eyre Peninsula at the moment) and it relates to only 2 species of shark which are not found on the south coast anyway. To quote a line from the Hawaii study
“…sharks tagged around the cages spent more time within detection range of the cage (Fig. 7).” which doesn't really support the statements coming from the department representatives. The government agencies contention is that the sharks move on, and also the level of feeding won't affect the behaviour of sharks in the area. I can't see how that assertion can made when no studies have proved this to be true.
I have written to my member of parliament down here, Chris Picton, and neighbouring member and tourism minister Leon Bignall. Everyone should do the same, the only thing that is going stop this crap is those members feeling like they may be in trouble at the next election. Kaurna and Mawson electorates have a huge number of surfers, speak up people!
I should add that a fella i was speaking to who's a keen diver saw the same 4.5m female GW twice in two weeks whilst diving off Seal Island before these recent runs of big swells and cold fronts of late.
This is likely to be the same GW that is seen this time of year on the Pt Elliot stretch...possibly the same winter "resident" shark that's been seen for quite a few years now.
https://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/story/3234393/islands-future-floated/?cs=1537
The Victor Harbor Times is running a poll on Oceanic Victor's application. It's very close.
Surfers down there should make more noise sounds like it could go either way,rattle a few cages have a public meeting and get the tv crew there.Look at the publicity Lennox boardriders got about the shark problem in nth nsw.
SA Environment Minister Ian Hunter said Granite Island was "certainly a little bit run down" and the Government had been working with the council and others on turning the decline around.
"This proposal has the potential to promote Granite Island and the Fleurieu region and develop an exciting visitor experience that works hand-in-hand with the region's marine parks," he said.
I don't have the answers to bring in more $$$$ but it aint this........
Ian.Hunter@parliament.sa.gov.au
ministerleonbignell@sa.gov.au.
^^^ let the voices be heard.. the Victor paper polls 50/50....
Oceanic Victor are the same group that proposed a tuna cage on Kangaroo Island.
The proposal was rejected by KI residents who banded together and threatened
court action. Perhaps Victor residents should follow their lead.
I read a comment from the authorities that this is "just a one year trial first" which is a weasel way of getting it started. If this is the case however they should be monitoring shark movements before and after the structure goes in to determine the affect of the site because despite what has been said only one study has been done and that points to changing sharks behaviours.
Another part of this proposal is the cafe/ restaurant on Granite Island. The government lease on the building was very high due to the land valuations they placed on the site so the owners pulled the pin as it was unviable to run. Oceanic Victor is after that lease as well so there should be scrutiny on that aspect of the project so that they are charged the same lease on the same valuations.
I'm a littled confused over the term "aqua culture" used for this proposal, as I thought aqua culture meant the farming of fish for human consumption. However this is just a holding pen/dive aquarium ( tourism ) that will bomb in winter when no one will want to get in the water. Plus those that do dive are likely to see some dark shadows cruising on the other side of the net ( value for money? ), which I thought was part of the problem with the Lincoln tuna pens ie attracting sharks.
As far as the winter westerlies go and the burley slick, this will combo with the the whales that park up at Bashams and Encounter Bay in winter to possibly make it pointer heaven.
totally ash, added to that the south /south easterlies in summer will likely push foul rotten smell of burley and rotting meat in towards middleton goolwa and port elliot to where people surf and swim..along with the sharks that will love it.Of course there will also be the great whites and other sharks that will be hanging around the tuna pen trying to get at them.. and there has been cases of sharks getting inside tuna pens. the whole venture could be also seen as an aquaculture proposal as it is a similar set up to a tuna pen for farming, and there is talk that some tuna farmers are wanting to expand their businesses in other parts of s.a .
Yep an "aquatic proposal" sounds spot on, not an over stated, and thus important sounding "aqua culture" moniker. Geez people love using bullshit to sell an idea.
Apparently, Leon Bignell, minister for tourism and minister for sport and recreation (as well as others ministries) doesn't need to know about our concerns on the burley cage, as it doesn't relate to his portfolios. When shark sightings, encounters, attacks increase down south, tourism will suffer. Is not surfing, diving, swimming, boating, fishing etc etc sports and recreations? Head in the sand mentality. We have to make some noise, this can be stopped, surely.
Salt, i didn't get much out of Leon either..
Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) did respond with
"As part of the legislated assessment process for this aquaculture application, the applicants must also seek development approval from the Development Assessment Commission (DAC). A two week public consultation period forms part of the DAC assessment process, which will be publicly advertised."
The DACs job is to "assess and determine development applications, pursuant to Schedule 10 of the Development Regulations 2008" they report to the minister for planning John Rau, his email is agd@agd.sa.gov.au
https://www.dac.sa.gov.au/home
thermalben wrote:
Two whole weeks for public consultation?
Was there three weeks of intial consultation with the council? From memory i thought the council offered only two, and I'm feeling lazy right now so I thought I'd ask instead of searching.
Oz wrote:
Initial consultation was 8 days...... the DAC's is yet to be heard
Interesting...far as I'm aware 21 days is the legal standard. I will check that...if I'm correct this opens a supreme court challenge to any approvals made during this first consultation period.
This has precedent on the other side of the peninsula with dodgy approvals made during a short consultation period to sell lady bay caravan park off for housing development...supreme court shut the whole thing down...I will contact the woman behind that court challenge, this is her bread and butter.
I've done some work for her getting aerial footage of silt outflows from the Inman and Bungala rivers after heavy rain.
Just to keep myself legit...it was not lady bay caravan park, it was areas of the normanville caravan park including the basin.
Thanks fro that link SB. Interesting that in the PIRSA link there isn't really much of a mention of concern from ocean users i.e. surfers regarding sharks. Again they are peddling the line that sharks may be curious but will move on, despite the fact that surfers may be in the water nearby. Again they are using the Hawiian study, as this is the ONLY study yet done. Here is a direct quote from the 2004 study they say proves no shark problems
..." However, there are occasional reports of large, potentially dangerous species of shark being attracted to fish farms, raising concerns about possible threats to public safety (e.g. Galaz and De Maddalena 2004). Furthermore, many shark species undertake seasonal migrations which may be disrupted if sharks become entrained year round at ocean-farming sites (e.g. Wetherbee et al. 1994; Meyer et al. 2009a)."
Am I missing something in the translation?
Here is the previous submission that the Conservation Council of South Australia did for the 'Swim With The Tuna' proposal on Kangaroo Island three years ago. Very informative reading. The residents of KI fought it, and won!
https://www.conservationsa.org.au/files/submisssions/2012/ConservationSA…
Kangaroo Island/Victor Harbor Dolphin Watch Co-ordinator Tony Bartram discusses what effect could the Oceanic Victor Proposal have on Victor Harbor - in relation to sharks and the beach and swimming culture of Victor Harbor.
Had an interesting conversation with a guy today, knows Tony Stanic very well, used to be his soccer coach in Lincoln, fella was also tuna fisho for many years.
He put the subject of a tuna pen to me like this..."tuna pens are the pig styes of the ocean, why would you want a pig stye by granite island". We also talked about the "trial" as this tuna pen has been descibed...old mate reckons trial to see how tuna grow and the flesh's taste/composition outcomes are when tuna farming in the victor region.
Still yet to catch up with the woman i mentioned about public consultation times but the blokes i had the meeting today with (developer and architect) said as far as they're aware there are different consultation periods depending on nature of subject seeking approval but minimum was 10 days.
Micheal Dyer (Operations Manager of Tony's Tuna International and Director of Oceanic Victor) interview on 891 ABC Radio...interview starts @ 1:47:57. Interview is only up for another few days.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programitem/peN83wV09D?play=true
Something for the fisho's in the area too...the bloke I was speaking to yesterday mentioned it's highly likely after a season fish like tommys and bream in the immediate area will end up oily as sardines, taste like shit and be inedible.
I've seen a poll people can vote and a petition on the fb page . links
https://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/story/3245605/weekly-poll-oceanic-v…
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-to-aquaculture-on-the-fleurieu
Everyone should SIGN this petition,a stupid idea all about making money ......who cares about the safety of people in the water and the environment....well we do, so sign up people.
New venture for Victor Harbor on the proposal board that might be of interest to the surfers around there. Although it's not cage diving I guess that with the fish stock it will hold you could say it will be a kind of berley pot.
According to Dr Peter Lauer from Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA), “studies show sharks may be curious, but if there is no benefit from staying in the proximity of the cages they will move on.” My thought though is where do they move on too and what or who is in the path of where they are moving to? Particularly when there are surf breaks in direct line of sight along the coast only a very short distance, literally only one kilometre as the sharks swims so to speak. How long would it take a Great White to cover that distance? There has been one or a few cruising around this very bay in recent times, even mentioned on this site a couple of days ago.
The venture will be moved from the current location in Port Lincoln to Victor because it is closer to more tourists, or in other words closer to more $$$. Again a few individuals chasing some monetary benefit are disregarding the risks associated with their venture to other people in the same region.
A public information meeting was held on the 23rd and comments and feedback was closed on the 31st so the public had only a few days to voice any opinions or concerns which seems inadequate for what could be a public safety matter like this. SA surfers should consider some action over this one as it will affect most of the surfers in that region. Here's a link for the proposal showing just where it is.
https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/aquaculture/community_engagement/granite_island
and then go to "application summary document" to get a run down on the location etc