March 20, 2025 • 16 mins
Diver Rod Sleathe has reported a rise in the presence of rogue mussels in parts of Jervis Bay, and is concerned about any expansion of a fledgling mussel farm in the bay's pristine waters.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I heartshall Haven.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I invite your listeners to go and google world's most
sustainable foods.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
And depending on the algorithm of any particular day, muscles
are typically in the top ten most sustainable foods in
the world.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
Hello, I'm Pete Andrea. Jervis Bay, with its white sandy beaches,
sparkling blue waters and abundance of wildlife, it's world famous
for being a jewel in the crown of Australia's natural environments.
The one hundred and two square kilometer Jervis Bay Marine
Park is home to seals, penguins, seabirds, dolphins and many
(00:34):
other animals. Migrating whales drop by during their annual journey
along the East Coast. All of this lures tens of
thousands of tourists annually, pumping millions of dollars into the
regional economy. There are concerns though, the pristine marine environment
could be changing, and the cause is the location of
a mussel farm within the bay. It's something that's been
(00:57):
noticed by the bay's diving community, reporting what they describe
as an invasion of bi valve mullusks now being seen
in areas beyond the farms. Jervis Bay diver Rod Sleath
has forty years experience descending the marine park debts, and
he's raising alarm bells about the proliferation of the muscle
population and how it might tip the balance for other
(01:19):
aquatic life, including the bay's famous seahorse population.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
What we've started to notice is quite large populations of
mussels on reefs on the northern side of Javis Bay
that are regularly dived, where no one from our club,
the Javas Bay Divers Club, which has forty years of
diving history, have observed muscles before, so we think these
(01:45):
are new populations of muscles that have never existed before.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
What sort of courage are you're seeing.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It varies from area to area at this stage. So
at the docks, which is probably one of the most
scuba dived sites in Javis Bay, there's a bombing there
called Deco Rock, which is regularly dived, and the top
of that rock is just one hundred percent covered in muscles.
It's absolutely thick with them. And then when we look
(02:11):
at some of the reefs around that area, so further
to the west, closer to Target Bay, a Polo reef,
we're seeing not quite as dense as that, but still
very very dense coverage of muscles covering reefs where we've
never observed muscles before. So it seems logical that if
these infestations are the result of spat leakage from the
(02:35):
muscle farm, that where we're seeing those infestations on the
northern side is where you would expect to see them first.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
And when did people start speaking.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
About it in terms of the Dives club. So it's
quite interesting because I say, we haven't really been involved
in the application process of the muscle farm at the
time that submissions were open to the public. We've only
become involved because we've suddenly started seeing lots of money around.
So the club internally well, people started raising at club
(03:05):
meetings probably about three months ago that they were seeing
these muscles and hadn't seen them before, and it generated
a lot of surprise for you know, because we've got
a lot of people in the club who perhaps don't
dive as often now, but they were very very regular
divers over the last forty years. And initially, you know,
we had to show photos to show that there were
muscles there, because no, there's not muscles there. There's never
(03:27):
been muscles there. So we think the population explosion there
has happened over the last five to six months.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Did muscles occur naturally in Jervis Bay.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You can't say that we don't have muscles or have
never had muscles, So I think it's fair to say
there's always been some muscles in Javis Bay, but the
ecosystem has been in balance. So where there might be
some muscles, there's also predation from things that eat muscles,
like octopus and so forth. But what we seem to
be seeing now is because you've got a bigger larval
(03:57):
load of muscles spat we presume as a result of
the muscle farm, predation can't keep up with the expanding
muscle population. And that's interesting because of the twenty twenty
two study carried out by a student at the University
of Wollongong but is the co supervisors to that study
were both Javis Baeddpi scientists and that study. For what
(04:19):
we're seeing now is what would happen. The predation wouldn't
be able to keep up with the expanding muscle population
and therefore gradually muscles will colonize more and more and
more of the bay.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Do you see that the expansion or the explosion of
the muscle population through the bay. Is that going to
be detrimental to the bay's eco balance?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
We think so, because you've got a large population of
a particular species occurring in areas where we haven't seen
large populations of that species before, and it seems logical
that we have a natural competition for resources. So muscles
are filter feeders, and they will be eating at least
the portion of the planktonic food supply in the areas
(05:04):
that they colonize, which by definition suggests that they'll be
less available to other filter feeders like sponges and acidians,
And we have beautiful sponge gardens in the bay and
also potentially less food available for juvenile fish. So I
think one of the things that concerns us in this
is that there doesn't seem to have been a precautionary
principle taken in the decisions that were made to introduce
(05:26):
muscle aquaculture into Javas Bay. And interestingly, there doesn't even
appear to have been any base studies done on what
the population of muscles is or was in Java's Bay
before any farming began, so we haven't got any population
reference that we can refer to because no population studies
were carried out.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
It's interesting that we've got a marine park where an
aquaculture business has been allowed to set up. I thought
marine parks were supposed to be left untouched.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Basically, absolutely, And the twenty fourteen Marine Estate Management Act,
which is the enabling legislation for marine parks, actually says
that the primary objective of a marine park is to
maintain the integrity of the ecosystem. So it seems highly contradictory.
(06:19):
And it's a funny situation too, because our marine parks
are managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development,
and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are
also the proponent for the muscle farm expansion, so it
does feel like there's a conflict of interest within that department.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I believe that there could be some DNA type testing
happening to see whether these new muscle areas may be
related in some way to the muscles that are being farmed.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
That's correct, and we are trying to gain a better
understanding of exactly what that means. But our understanding at
this stage is that the genetic test can test that
they are the same or different species, But we don't
believe it can prove one way or the other whether
the muscle populations that are occurring outside of the farm
(07:15):
that that' spat originated from the farm or not. So
I don't think it gives that level of detail. That's
our understanding at the moment, but we're trying to build
on that understanding.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And the muscle lease owner, have you spoken with them
or they would be aware of your concerns? Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, I think they're certainly aware of our concerns. So
it's a funny situation. I think we normally would have
spoken to the muscle farm first and put in a
complaint with the muscle farm first, but in actually we
haven't gone in that order because the application for the
modernification of the farm is so far progressed that we
didn't know when that was going to be completed. But
(07:55):
we did know that we were sitting on observational evidence
that the approvers wouldn't be aware of. So hence we
wanted to make senior people in the relevant departments aware
of what we were seeing as quickly as possible.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So should we be hitting the pause button on the
expansion until we work out what's happening with the bay
and its ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
We absolutely think that that should be the case, and
I think it's fair to say even the muscle farm
have said that there needs to be more scientific studies
carried out on this, because there is really a large
absence of research on the long term history of muscles
in Javis Bay. So I think both us and the
operator agree that more research is needed, and the suggestion
(08:42):
of that is that there should be a pause until
we can assess what the potential effects.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Are that's experienced Jervis Bay. Diver Rod Sleeth asking the
very reasonable question should a commercial muscle farm even be
located in a marine park like Jervis Bay? More soon,
I heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Peter Andre are back with you, and we've heard from
the diving community on its concerns about a potential muscle
overrun of Jervis Bay. So let's hear from the muscle farmers.
Sam Gordon is the executive director of Jervis Bay Muscles
and he says the bay provides an ideal growing environment
and science doesn't back claims that the muscle farm business
(09:30):
is the sole cause of the muscle infestation. He argues
the muscle farm has a minimal environmental footprint and occupies
just a zero point four percent of Jervis Bay, ensuring
the ecosystem remains undisturbed, and it's the only aquatic operation
permitted in Jervis Bay.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
We've been working with the local scientists from the Department
of Agriculture, talking to them about it, but also from
our own observation and talking to oyster growers and other
estuaries right through to Victoria. It's not just in Jervis Bay.
There's been large muscle populations this year and most of
the estus and bays right down to Lakes Entrance. And
(10:10):
you know that's not that unusual, Peter, because muscles work
in a boom and lass cycle. That's sort of quite
a natural cycle for muscles.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
What they're saying is from looking at the distribution pattern
in the bay, that the bay has a clockwise flow
and it seems as though that the muscles are appearing
in the northeastern top end of that, and they're saying
that it could be a cause from the muscle spat
in the bay. Are you hearing that?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Look?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I agree with them that the bay does have a
clockwise water flow. But again, if you go back to
the science behind it, muscles, once they spawn, they take
about two weeks to settle. So what we've always been
told we're settling in Jervis Bay is that those populations
are coming originating from further down south, so probably originating
from muscles that are spawned on the reefs of Allah
(11:03):
Dulla or even further south, and that the muscles that
we've got spawning in the bay would be again the
muscles spat, they spawned and they float in the water
for a couple of weeks before settling. So our muscles
that are spawning in Jervis Bay are probably settling up
toward Sydney somewhere.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Okay, now you're also observing a decline in sea grass
in Jervis Bain. You're saying that muscles are fairly opportunistic.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Muscles are very opportunistic, so unfortunately, consequence of climate changes
that we're seeing large dye of kelp beds around Jervis
but but not just around Jevistat, I mean throughout the
world unfortunately. But muscles are opportunistics, so they can't settle
on kelp. But if the kelp dies off, and there's
hard bear substrate underneath the kelp. There'll be opportunistic and
(11:52):
settle on that on those rocks.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
It's an interesting conundrum that we face because obviously we
want muscles used in Jervis Bay because it's an industry,
it employs people, and it's a sustainable, ongoing industry. But
there are other people who have environmental concerns. So it's
important that we get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Do you think, oh, absolutely, I mean we again, we
would welcome the science on it. I mean, probably our
biggest request is let's not jump at shadows. Let's get
down to the hard science and getting back to the
environmental credentials of muscles. I'd invite your listeners to go
and google world's most sustainable foods, and depending on the
(12:34):
algorithm of any particular day, muscles are typically in the
top ten most sustainable foods in the world. So there's
work done by the Nature Conservacy, which is an NGO group,
where they've actually found that rope muscle culture, which is
what we've got in Jervis Bay, actually helps. It's a
biomass multiplier and it's a biodiversity multiplier. So that's what
(12:56):
that means is if you go out to our muscle
leases in Jervis Bay and we vite recreational dieterists go
out there, they'll see a lot more marine life swimming
around those Marie muscle farm then they will see adjacent
to the muscle farm. Not only that, muscles.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Actually remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the environment, so that's
a net benefit to the environment. So they're one of
those unique foods that not only do you know, not
only the delicious, nutritious to eat, but they're actually having
a net benefit to the marine environment where they're culture.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Now, there is an application I believe in train to
relocate a lease to Jervispace on expansion. There is that
still proceeding.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That's still proceeding, but it's probably important perce to give
a background to that and how that lease expansion came about.
So if we go back to twenty twenty three, it
was identified that South Coast Agriculture was actually given the
incorrect coordinates to locate our marine lease only by one
hundred or between one hundred and two hundred meters, so
(13:55):
not a big distance, but unfortunately, where our marine lease
as are currently located, they go into some of the
Navy zone, so we have to relocate at our cost
our marine leases by some between one hundred and two
hundred meters, and as compensation for having to do that,
the government's made another twenty hectares available to us.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Right, it's important that you have good relations with the
Jervis Bay divers and other recreational users.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
It's critical that we have a good relationship with the
other stakeholders. And you know, if you go onto our website,
you'll actually see that we've got instructions there of how
to tie up your recreational fishing boat. Because obviously, for
the reasons I've outlined, fishing around muscle leases is a
fantastic spot to fish. You're much more likely to catch
a fish. So we encourage recreational fishes and divers to
(14:47):
go out and enjoy our marine lease because we're very
aware that we're privileged to be able to operate our
muscle farm within Jervis Bay Marine Park, so we take
it very seriously, you know, our social license to operate,
and I mean I would say that there's a number
of diving groups within within Jervis Bay, and some of
(15:09):
the other diving groups you know take out tours and
actually do a lot of recreational diving around our site.
And the whale watching boats also take people out because
there's obviously more dolphins around the leases as well, and
so you know, they incorporate that into some of their tours.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
So you're encouraging biodiversity.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
We're encouraging biodiversity, and we're also encouraging culinary tourism. I think,
you know, we all go over to the Hunter Valley
and we know that it's famous for wine, and we'd
like to think that one day people come down to
Jervis Bay because it's famous for Jervis Bay muscles. We've
and we've recently started growing Jervis.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Bay rock oysters.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So again, you know, it's that culinary tourism that adds.
And you know when you walk down most of the
restaurants in Jervis Bay around the Jervis Bay area now
they've got Jervis Bay muscles on the menu, which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Yeah, they're pretty tasty too.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Authored They're delicious and really good for you to more
of a megas Greian protein.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
It's always going to be a fine line for any
sustainable seafood producer based in a pristine region like Jervis Bay.
Weighing up the environmental impact versus economic benefits of any
plans to expand muscle farming will need careful handling that
could take years of data. That's this episode of iheartshal Haven,
(16:23):
proudly supported by the New South Wales governments. I'm Pete Andrea.
I heeartshal Haven
I heartshall Haven.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I invite your listeners to go and google world's most
sustainable foods.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
And depending on the algorithm of any particular day, muscles
are typically in the top ten most sustainable foods in
the world.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
Hello, I'm Pete Andrea. Jervis Bay, with its white sandy beaches,
sparkling blue waters and abundance of wildlife, it's world famous
for being a jewel in the crown of Australia's natural environments.
The one hundred and two square kilometer Jervis Bay Marine
Park is home to seals, penguins, seabirds, dolphins and many
(00:34):
other animals. Migrating whales drop by during their annual journey
along the East Coast. All of this lures tens of
thousands of tourists annually, pumping millions of dollars into the
regional economy. There are concerns though, the pristine marine environment
could be changing, and the cause is the location of
a mussel farm within the bay. It's something that's been
(00:57):
noticed by the bay's diving community, reporting what they describe
as an invasion of bi valve mullusks now being seen
in areas beyond the farms. Jervis Bay diver Rod Sleath
has forty years experience descending the marine park debts, and
he's raising alarm bells about the proliferation of the muscle
population and how it might tip the balance for other
(01:19):
aquatic life, including the bay's famous seahorse population.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
What we've started to notice is quite large populations of
mussels on reefs on the northern side of Javis Bay
that are regularly dived, where no one from our club,
the Javas Bay Divers Club, which has forty years of
diving history, have observed muscles before, so we think these
(01:45):
are new populations of muscles that have never existed before.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
What sort of courage are you're seeing.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It varies from area to area at this stage. So
at the docks, which is probably one of the most
scuba dived sites in Javis Bay, there's a bombing there
called Deco Rock, which is regularly dived, and the top
of that rock is just one hundred percent covered in muscles.
It's absolutely thick with them. And then when we look
(02:11):
at some of the reefs around that area, so further
to the west, closer to Target Bay, a Polo reef,
we're seeing not quite as dense as that, but still
very very dense coverage of muscles covering reefs where we've
never observed muscles before. So it seems logical that if
these infestations are the result of spat leakage from the
(02:35):
muscle farm, that where we're seeing those infestations on the
northern side is where you would expect to see them first.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
And when did people start speaking.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
About it in terms of the Dives club. So it's
quite interesting because I say, we haven't really been involved
in the application process of the muscle farm at the
time that submissions were open to the public. We've only
become involved because we've suddenly started seeing lots of money around.
So the club internally well, people started raising at club
(03:05):
meetings probably about three months ago that they were seeing
these muscles and hadn't seen them before, and it generated
a lot of surprise for you know, because we've got
a lot of people in the club who perhaps don't
dive as often now, but they were very very regular
divers over the last forty years. And initially, you know,
we had to show photos to show that there were
muscles there, because no, there's not muscles there. There's never
(03:27):
been muscles there. So we think the population explosion there
has happened over the last five to six months.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Did muscles occur naturally in Jervis Bay.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
You can't say that we don't have muscles or have
never had muscles, So I think it's fair to say
there's always been some muscles in Javis Bay, but the
ecosystem has been in balance. So where there might be
some muscles, there's also predation from things that eat muscles,
like octopus and so forth. But what we seem to
be seeing now is because you've got a bigger larval
(03:57):
load of muscles spat we presume as a result of
the muscle farm, predation can't keep up with the expanding
muscle population. And that's interesting because of the twenty twenty
two study carried out by a student at the University
of Wollongong but is the co supervisors to that study
were both Javis Baeddpi scientists and that study. For what
(04:19):
we're seeing now is what would happen. The predation wouldn't
be able to keep up with the expanding muscle population
and therefore gradually muscles will colonize more and more and
more of the bay.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Do you see that the expansion or the explosion of
the muscle population through the bay. Is that going to
be detrimental to the bay's eco balance?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
We think so, because you've got a large population of
a particular species occurring in areas where we haven't seen
large populations of that species before, and it seems logical
that we have a natural competition for resources. So muscles
are filter feeders, and they will be eating at least
the portion of the planktonic food supply in the areas
(05:04):
that they colonize, which by definition suggests that they'll be
less available to other filter feeders like sponges and acidians,
And we have beautiful sponge gardens in the bay and
also potentially less food available for juvenile fish. So I
think one of the things that concerns us in this
is that there doesn't seem to have been a precautionary
principle taken in the decisions that were made to introduce
(05:26):
muscle aquaculture into Javas Bay. And interestingly, there doesn't even
appear to have been any base studies done on what
the population of muscles is or was in Java's Bay
before any farming began, so we haven't got any population
reference that we can refer to because no population studies
were carried out.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
It's interesting that we've got a marine park where an
aquaculture business has been allowed to set up. I thought
marine parks were supposed to be left untouched.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Basically, absolutely, And the twenty fourteen Marine Estate Management Act,
which is the enabling legislation for marine parks, actually says
that the primary objective of a marine park is to
maintain the integrity of the ecosystem. So it seems highly contradictory.
(06:19):
And it's a funny situation too, because our marine parks
are managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development,
and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are
also the proponent for the muscle farm expansion, so it
does feel like there's a conflict of interest within that department.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I believe that there could be some DNA type testing
happening to see whether these new muscle areas may be
related in some way to the muscles that are being farmed.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
That's correct, and we are trying to gain a better
understanding of exactly what that means. But our understanding at
this stage is that the genetic test can test that
they are the same or different species, But we don't
believe it can prove one way or the other whether
the muscle populations that are occurring outside of the farm
(07:15):
that that' spat originated from the farm or not. So
I don't think it gives that level of detail. That's
our understanding at the moment, but we're trying to build
on that understanding.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And the muscle lease owner, have you spoken with them
or they would be aware of your concerns? Oh?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, I think they're certainly aware of our concerns. So
it's a funny situation. I think we normally would have
spoken to the muscle farm first and put in a
complaint with the muscle farm first, but in actually we
haven't gone in that order because the application for the
modernification of the farm is so far progressed that we
didn't know when that was going to be completed. But
(07:55):
we did know that we were sitting on observational evidence
that the approvers wouldn't be aware of. So hence we
wanted to make senior people in the relevant departments aware
of what we were seeing as quickly as possible.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So should we be hitting the pause button on the
expansion until we work out what's happening with the bay
and its ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
We absolutely think that that should be the case, and
I think it's fair to say even the muscle farm
have said that there needs to be more scientific studies
carried out on this, because there is really a large
absence of research on the long term history of muscles
in Javis Bay. So I think both us and the
operator agree that more research is needed, and the suggestion
(08:42):
of that is that there should be a pause until
we can assess what the potential effects.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Are that's experienced Jervis Bay. Diver Rod Sleeth asking the
very reasonable question should a commercial muscle farm even be
located in a marine park like Jervis Bay? More soon,
I heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Peter Andre are back with you, and we've heard from
the diving community on its concerns about a potential muscle
overrun of Jervis Bay. So let's hear from the muscle farmers.
Sam Gordon is the executive director of Jervis Bay Muscles
and he says the bay provides an ideal growing environment
and science doesn't back claims that the muscle farm business
(09:30):
is the sole cause of the muscle infestation. He argues
the muscle farm has a minimal environmental footprint and occupies
just a zero point four percent of Jervis Bay, ensuring
the ecosystem remains undisturbed, and it's the only aquatic operation
permitted in Jervis Bay.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
We've been working with the local scientists from the Department
of Agriculture, talking to them about it, but also from
our own observation and talking to oyster growers and other
estuaries right through to Victoria. It's not just in Jervis Bay.
There's been large muscle populations this year and most of
the estus and bays right down to Lakes Entrance. And
(10:10):
you know that's not that unusual, Peter, because muscles work
in a boom and lass cycle. That's sort of quite
a natural cycle for muscles.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
What they're saying is from looking at the distribution pattern
in the bay, that the bay has a clockwise flow
and it seems as though that the muscles are appearing
in the northeastern top end of that, and they're saying
that it could be a cause from the muscle spat
in the bay. Are you hearing that?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Look?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I agree with them that the bay does have a
clockwise water flow. But again, if you go back to
the science behind it, muscles, once they spawn, they take
about two weeks to settle. So what we've always been
told we're settling in Jervis Bay is that those populations
are coming originating from further down south, so probably originating
from muscles that are spawned on the reefs of Allah
(11:03):
Dulla or even further south, and that the muscles that
we've got spawning in the bay would be again the
muscles spat, they spawned and they float in the water
for a couple of weeks before settling. So our muscles
that are spawning in Jervis Bay are probably settling up
toward Sydney somewhere.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Okay, now you're also observing a decline in sea grass
in Jervis Bain. You're saying that muscles are fairly opportunistic.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Muscles are very opportunistic, so unfortunately, consequence of climate changes
that we're seeing large dye of kelp beds around Jervis
but but not just around Jevistat, I mean throughout the
world unfortunately. But muscles are opportunistics, so they can't settle
on kelp. But if the kelp dies off, and there's
hard bear substrate underneath the kelp. There'll be opportunistic and
(11:52):
settle on that on those rocks.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
It's an interesting conundrum that we face because obviously we
want muscles used in Jervis Bay because it's an industry,
it employs people, and it's a sustainable, ongoing industry. But
there are other people who have environmental concerns. So it's
important that we get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Do you think, oh, absolutely, I mean we again, we
would welcome the science on it. I mean, probably our
biggest request is let's not jump at shadows. Let's get
down to the hard science and getting back to the
environmental credentials of muscles. I'd invite your listeners to go
and google world's most sustainable foods, and depending on the
(12:34):
algorithm of any particular day, muscles are typically in the
top ten most sustainable foods in the world. So there's
work done by the Nature Conservacy, which is an NGO group,
where they've actually found that rope muscle culture, which is
what we've got in Jervis Bay, actually helps. It's a
biomass multiplier and it's a biodiversity multiplier. So that's what
(12:56):
that means is if you go out to our muscle
leases in Jervis Bay and we vite recreational dieterists go
out there, they'll see a lot more marine life swimming
around those Marie muscle farm then they will see adjacent
to the muscle farm. Not only that, muscles.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Actually remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the environment, so that's
a net benefit to the environment. So they're one of
those unique foods that not only do you know, not
only the delicious, nutritious to eat, but they're actually having
a net benefit to the marine environment where they're culture.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Now, there is an application I believe in train to
relocate a lease to Jervispace on expansion. There is that
still proceeding.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That's still proceeding, but it's probably important perce to give
a background to that and how that lease expansion came about.
So if we go back to twenty twenty three, it
was identified that South Coast Agriculture was actually given the
incorrect coordinates to locate our marine lease only by one
hundred or between one hundred and two hundred meters, so
(13:55):
not a big distance, but unfortunately, where our marine lease
as are currently located, they go into some of the
Navy zone, so we have to relocate at our cost
our marine leases by some between one hundred and two
hundred meters, and as compensation for having to do that,
the government's made another twenty hectares available to us.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Right, it's important that you have good relations with the
Jervis Bay divers and other recreational users.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
It's critical that we have a good relationship with the
other stakeholders. And you know, if you go onto our website,
you'll actually see that we've got instructions there of how
to tie up your recreational fishing boat. Because obviously, for
the reasons I've outlined, fishing around muscle leases is a
fantastic spot to fish. You're much more likely to catch
a fish. So we encourage recreational fishes and divers to
(14:47):
go out and enjoy our marine lease because we're very
aware that we're privileged to be able to operate our
muscle farm within Jervis Bay Marine Park, so we take
it very seriously, you know, our social license to operate,
and I mean I would say that there's a number
of diving groups within within Jervis Bay, and some of
(15:09):
the other diving groups you know take out tours and
actually do a lot of recreational diving around our site.
And the whale watching boats also take people out because
there's obviously more dolphins around the leases as well, and
so you know, they incorporate that into some of their tours.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
So you're encouraging biodiversity.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
We're encouraging biodiversity, and we're also encouraging culinary tourism. I think,
you know, we all go over to the Hunter Valley
and we know that it's famous for wine, and we'd
like to think that one day people come down to
Jervis Bay because it's famous for Jervis Bay muscles. We've
and we've recently started growing Jervis.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Bay rock oysters.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So again, you know, it's that culinary tourism that adds.
And you know when you walk down most of the
restaurants in Jervis Bay around the Jervis Bay area now
they've got Jervis Bay muscles on the menu, which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Yeah, they're pretty tasty too.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Authored They're delicious and really good for you to more
of a megas Greian protein.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
It's always going to be a fine line for any
sustainable seafood producer based in a pristine region like Jervis Bay.
Weighing up the environmental impact versus economic benefits of any
plans to expand muscle farming will need careful handling that
could take years of data. That's this episode of iheartshal Haven,
(16:23):
proudly supported by the New South Wales governments. I'm Pete Andrea.
I heeartshal Haven
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