Oceanic Victor aquarium tourist attraction for Victor Harbor beats court challenge
TOURISTS will be able to swim with tuna at Granite Island by Easter after a court challenge against a 45m-diameter ocean pen was thrown out.
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TOURISTS will be able to swim with tuna at Granite Island by Easter after a court challenge against a 45m-diameter ocean pen was thrown out.
The Environmental Resource and Development Court has rejected protesters’ complaints that sharks would be attracted to the area by the food source.
The developer, Oceanic Victor, has as directors Michael Dyer and Port Lincoln tuna baron Tony Santic.
Mr Dyer welcomed the decision and said no more challenges were expected.
“We just have to get summer out of the way here (Port Lincoln) and I’m hoping for an Easter start,’’ he said.
The netted enclosure will be around 200m to the northeast of Granite Island and will be 45m in diameter.
South Australia’s latest tourist attraction will include 50 species of fish and visitors will be able to:
SWIM with all the animals including Southern Bluefin Tuna.
HAND-FEED fish from a viewing platform.
VIEW them from an underwater observatory.
INTERACT with aquatic animals through a set of touch tanks.
The court rejected the challenge despite protests of up to 1000 people taking to the area, and 500 taking to the water at one protest to prove that the area was currently safe for swimming.
They fear that the enclosure will attract sharks and spoil the waters for other human uses.
State Government shark experts rejected such theories because the fish will not attack sharks to an area, only nearby animals already in the immediate vicinity.
Also, sharks have been shown to quickly move on if their source of food cannot be attacked, such as the tuna being protected inside the enclosure.
Friends of Encounter Coast spokeswoman Nisa Schebella said opponents were “deflated, shocked and disappointed”.
She said the go-head decision had already been made by the State Government before the court outcome and it had been difficult to get experts to comment because of funding deals with government departments.
“For example we could not find one shark scientist in South Australia prepared to comment because of funding arrangements,’’ she said.
Ms Schebella said the protesters did not have any ongoing plans to disrupt the development, but were interested in involving the Sea Shepherd organisation, which specialised in seaborne operations.
“We think it will not be economically viable and that will ultimately end the project as other tuna pens have ended,’’ she said.
Developers have been trying to get approval for the project since July last year, despite the same enclosure having been used at Port Lincoln since 2011.
The Primary Industries Department provided evidence that: “historical information suggests that commercial aquaculture is unlikely to significantly alter shark behaviour above what is naturally occurring”.
It said no “interactions” with sharks were reported at Port Lincoln.
The community is evenly divided on the issue with a local newspaper poll when the project was first proposed recording 232 people in favour and 297 against.
