Heading out on the water this summer? A clean boat helps keep our waterways safe and now there’s a new guide available that shows you what you need to know.
NRM (Natural Resource Management) South, through the Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership (TSSP) and in partnership with the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council, has created a new Boating Code of Practice that gives practical guidance on clean boating in Tasmanian waters for all waterway users.
The Boating Code of Practice focuses on best practice for general marine safety, biosecurity risk reduction, dealing with marine debris and pollution, and caring for coastal and marine ecosystems, birds and mammals, and bycatch. It also provides advice for how to report interactions if they occur.
Jennifer Hemer, who manages NRM South’s Water and Marine Program, explains that as conditions continue to change across Tasmania’s waterways, it is more important than ever to provide waterway users with the most up to date information. ‘With changing sea temperatures, we need to be more vigilant with our monitoring. We’re seeing new biosecurity risks and we want to help the boating community understand their responsibilities and how they can best look after our marine environment’, said Jennifer. ‘Professional sea fishers and the seafood industry more broadly depend on healthy coastal and marine waters for their livelihoods, and through this TSSP initiative we’re trying to help waterway users be responsible stewards.’
The Boating Code of Practice is available to download from the NRM South website.
The TSSP is hosted by NRM South and works in partnership with the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council.
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