Report slams management of marine national parks

Stephen Cauchi -

Victoria is failing to protect its marine national parks, spending money earmarked for their preservation elsewhere, a scathing report by the Auditor-General has found. 

Presented to Parliament this month, the report into Marine Protected Areas found Parks Victoria ''could not demonstrate that it is effectively managing MPAs or that it is being effective or efficient in protecting marine biodiversity within MPAs''.

It found that ''funding for managing MPAs has been used for other activities'' and that Parks Victoria could not assess if its programs had been effective because of poor follow-up and tracking of resources.

In response, angling groups have called for the abolition of Victoria's 30 marine parks. 

The state's first marine parks were created in 2002. Fishing, waste and ballast discharge, and removing marine life, shells or coral is banned inside them. 

VRFish, Victoria's peak recreational fishing body, said the report showed that marine parks - which cover about 11 per cent of the Victorian coast - were fundamentally flawed. 

VRFish executive officer Christopher Collins said a key finding of the report was that the marine environment could not be protected by quarantining select parts of the coastline.

He said that if anglers were allowed to fish in parks, they could act as ''eyes and ears'' for the environment and alert authorities to any problems.

''The ideals surrounding marine protected areas just do not work and should be abandoned in favour of a broader and much more effective system of management that extends from the catchment to the coast,'' he said.

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