An emotive Bart Butson has told a Senate Inquiry into algal blooms in South Australia he hasn’t seen squid or calamari in almost three months, saying it felt “like the species never existed.”
Butson was one of more than 15 witnesses who gave personal and touching testimonies in front of day three of the Inquiry at the Ardrossan Community Club.
Butson called on the State Government to utilise the knowledge and skills of fisherman to collect data and better understand the bloom, while floating the need for additional supports for the fishing industry.
“Fishermen are 100% the best source of knowledge in this industry,” Butson said.
“We want to do something; I think the guys would be empowered to be out on the water doing something. Use our knowledge to find the best way forward. It gives us a purpose.
“The only use the boat has had in the past few weeks was taking a reporter out.”
Federal Nationals Senator for New South Wales, and Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Water, and Emergency Management, Ross Cadell, said the emotive words of locals brought home the scale and impact of the disaster.
“To see grown men on the edge of tears talking about the industry they have given so much to was heartbreaking,” Cadell said.
“These people are not asking for much, they are simply asking for enough support to survive.
Federal Liberal Senator for South Australia, Leah Blyth, said she found concerning the lack of genuine engagement from the Federal Government, having heard the Acting Mayor of Yorke Peninsula Council, Richard Carruthers, talk of his experience in Canberra.
“Eight or nine minutes with the Prime Minister and the community asked, “what was the point of that?” Carruthers said.
Senator Blyth added that “South Australians are rightly angry that this disaster has not been taken seriously by the State and Federal Labor governments.”
“South Australians are looking for a coordinated approach to managing this algal bloom. Instead, Labor has delivered a delayed and haphazard response, creating confusion and anxiety in the community.
“Today we heard evidence from one expert who became alarmed as early as November last year about signs of a potential bloom. She told us the public health advice was not based on expert evidence, and that information was released selectively so as not to ‘scare the horses’.
“Alarmingly, she also believed her expert views were not sought because she was considered ‘the wrong age and the wrong gender.'”
Senator Andrew McLachlan CSC noted that key expert witnesses acknowledged the impact of climate change together with other long term human impacts such as poor land management, pollution, dredging and habitat removal have all reduced the resilience of our marine environment.
“The degraded marine environment is struggling to respond to the algal bloom.
“The clear lesson to us all, is that we must take better care of the marine environment. We must place the needs of nature at the forefront of all our thinking. Otherwise, our fishers will have nothing to catch to feed us and support their families and communities.”
