Reducing longspined sea urchin impacts

Following the success of last year’s Tasmanian Government-hosted inaugural National Longspined Sea Urchin Workshop, a second workshop is being convened by the National Taskforce in Melbourne on 30 and 31 October.

Minister for Business, Industry and Resources, Eric Abetz, said last year’s workshop, and subsequent work by the National Taskforce, identified the need for about $55 million in funding towards controlling this invasive species.

"The longspined sea urchin is an invasive species which aggressively overgrazes seaweed and other marine organisms and is considered the southern equivalent of the crown of thorns starfish," Minister Abetz said. 

"Since its arrival in Tasmanian waters in the late 1970s, the State’s East Coast has lost more than 15 per cent of its rocky reef habitats and more than 95 per cent of its once verdant kelp, leading to economic impacts on fisheries and tourism businesses.

"This Government has been proactive and already allocated over $7.1 million since 2018 to enhance abalone stocks and address the impacts of the longspined urchin on the East Coast and its important habitats.

"Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future, we are continuing our efforts with an additional $1 million to continue this work through to 2026. 

"Tasmanian-based Federal Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, knows first-hand how important our fisheries are to the Tasmanian economy and way of life, and I call on her to prioritise the allocation of funding to support the cross-jurisdictional urchin control measures and actions identified by the Taskforce. 

"Tasmanian fisheries can’t afford to keep getting crickets from Minister Collins on issues that affect the sustainability of our important fisheries resources." 

The Tasmanian Government has been working in partnership with the Tasmanian Abalone Council, the Tasmanian Commercial Divers Association, CSIRO, and IMAS to support an active control program that removes about 500 tons of urchins from the east coast annually.

For more information about the Longspined sea urchin, visit the Fishing Tasmania website.