Pleasure boating assessed in Sydney Harbour

Transport for NSW, the University of NSW (UNSW) and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) are collaborating to carry out the project which will examine how recreational boating facilities interact with marine ecoystems.

The collaborative team, led by UNSW Professor Emma Johnston, has secured funding through the Federal Government’s Australian Research Council Linkage Program.

Professor Johnston, Director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program at SIMS, says the harbour is home to more than 17,000 recreational vessels that deliver substantial social and economic benefit to the people of Sydney. She is also a supporter of a new Sydney Marine Park that includes parts of the Sydney Harbour.

"Sydney Harbour is a stunning paradox. It is incredibly biologically diverse, and yet a busy hub of commercial and recreational activity. The information gained during these studies will help map the seascape’s diversity and structure and will contribute to planning for future boat-storage solutions," Professor Johnston says.

THE MOORING 'FIELDS'
The team has begun a series of studies to understand the plants, animals and natural processes that occur across current boating storage facilities, including Sydney Harbour's extensive mooring 'fields' (as they call them) and marina facilities.

Dr Luke Hedge, lead research associate on the project from UNSW, will spend the next month on the harbour using cutting-edge imaging and sub-sea positioning equipment with his team of divers and researchers.

"Managing this confluence of intense human activity and incredible biodiversity requires credible scientific data and rigorous assessment," Dr Hedge says.

NEW RESEARCH APPROACH
Howard Glenn, General Manager of the Maritime Management Centre, the strategic boating-planning arm of Transport for NSW, says this approach has never been used before in the harbour.

"We are collecting information on a very fine scale that maps and reveals the structure and the impacts of our activities," Mr Glenn said.

"Until now, a comprehensive study of the way boating infrastructure affects marine habitats and aquatic animals has not been undertaken.

"Understanding the impact boat-storage infrastructure has on marine life is key to developing future policies and standards to achieve this," Mr Glenn says.

ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Boat numbers in Sydney Harbour are set to grow at just 2.9 per cent annually across all craft, with trailerboats the main mover.

Transport for NSW has developed a Sydney Harbour Boat Storage Strategy that sets out several options for increasing the capacity of both on-water and off-water boat storage to keep pace with demand.

"The results of the new study will provide an important evidence base to inform potential reform options to assist in increasing boat storage capacity while minimising environmental impact," Mr Glenn said.

NSW Maritime is also providing logistical support to the researchers and policy makers. Angus Mitchell, Director of NSW Maritime, says "we are pleased to be able to provide support for this worthwhile study.

"The greater our understanding of the effects recreational boating and storage options have on marine ecosystems, the better placed we will be to shape ecologically sustainable growth."

SUB-PLOT MARINE PARK?
That said, SIMS has made it clear it wants a Sydney Marine Park that includes parts of Sydney Harbour. It's hard not to be cynical and fear that this new (three-year-long) research of the seabed and seagrass, no matter what its initial intention may be, will be used to further the Marine Park cause rather than that of the recreational boater in Sydney.

A recent article by the ABC about Sydney Harbour's boat moorings centred on their deleterious effects and included pointed views from SIMS about endangered seagrass beds, which exists in very fragmented pockets in key boating and fishing areas in highly modified urban Sydney Harbour.

One might well worry about researchers drawing up the lines for a marine park that will include traditional anchorages, favourite family boltholes and fishing spots.

Certainly, Spring Cove, Manly Cove and North Harbour are the very reason many of us go boating here. These have been our raison d'etre for owning a boat in Sydney for decades dating back even before our dads.

And for all the boating activity, Sydney Harbour is healthy with more than 350 fish species and the little penguin colony happily cohabiting the area. So we are all getting along just fine.

Another fear is that more regulation will be a further dampener for the boating industry, which has certainly struggled in and around Sydney Harbour for the past five years, and is undergoing natural attrition and a demographic shift. Affordable boat-storage solutions such as moorings are an important part of the harbour mix and the Sydney boating amenity.

Photos and additional comments above by David Lockwood, Marine Editor, BoatPoint.com.au and boatsales.com.au