Port River dolphins: Dolphin expert ‘very optimistic’ about speed limit change after meeting with Transport Minister
AFTER nearly five months of stonewalling, Transport Minister Stephan Knoll finally met with Port River dolphin expert Dr Mike Bossley today to talk about protecting the local pod. Find out how it went.
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DOLPHIN expert Mike Bossley is “very optimistic” the State Government will finally take action to protect the Port River dolphins.
Speaking after a much-awaited meeting with Transport Minister Stephan Knoll at Parliament House earlier today, Dr Bossley said he was “impressed with the Minister’s attitude to the issue” and welcomed a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders being organised by Mr Knoll.
Dr Bossley is helping to spearhead Messenger Community News’s Protect Our Dolphins campaign, which calls on the government to introduce a 10-knot maximum speed limit in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary in a bid to stop dolphins being killed by speeding boats.
The meeting comes five months after the campaign launched and in the wake of a 20,000-signature petition calling on the government to lower the sanctuary speed limit, which veers wildly from 4 knots to unlimited.
In less than 12 months, six dolphins have died in the sanctuary after suspected boat strikes.
Until now, the Minister had refused to meet with Dr Bossley to talk about the campaign.
“I’m very optimistic that it (a 10-knot speed limit) will be introduced in a substantial part of where we are asking,” Dr Bossley said after this morning’s meeting.
“The Minister was really interested to hear my perspective on things and, as I went through the various issues, he listened and asked intelligent questions.”
He said the Minister had promised to organise a meeting of relevant stakeholders including private ports operator Flinders Ports, the SA Jet Ski Club, the Adelaide Speed Boat Club, recreational and commercial fishing sectors and representatives from the Environment and Water Department and Transport Department.
“He has also asked me to provide information on the home ranges of ADS dolphins to help him better understand the issues.
“I also raised the related issues of boat speeds and kayakers in the ADS (as an ex rower on the Port River, he recognised this as a potential issue), and erosion of the mudbanks/mangroves in the Pelican Point area.
“He has promised to organise a meeting of relevant stakeholders to progress resolution of the issues, probably within the next couple of weeks.
“I am very optimistic that we will achieve an improvement to the status quo arising from the stakeholder meeting.”
“All of the boaties I talk to are sympathetic,” Dr Bossley said.
“No one wants to hit dolphins so I think if we can all get around a table together we can find a solution.”
Mr Knoll described his meeting with Dr Bossley as “productive”.
“The State Government will now hold a meeting with key stakeholders to discuss the proposal and the best way forward,” he said in a statement.
“As has been reported, the Flinders Ports and the recreational and commercial fishing sectors have flagged concerns with elements of this proposal.
“That’s why it’s important to get all the stakeholders around the same table to get the best outcome.”