Is WAKSA involved in the Draft Vision for the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park
And if so, what have you done
This is such a good and safe kite boarding area, so I hope you’re looking after kite boarders interests there. I've just cut and pasted below from the draft proposal.
Cheers
Andrew
Boat and water sport use
The main concerns regarding boating and water sports are disturbance of flora and fauna and conflict between users. Australian sea lions and little penguins are species of concern within the marine park and physical disturbance through noise, vessel activity and boat strikes, are thought to be a current pressure to the local populations. Disturbance to nesting or roosting seabirds, shorebirds and migratory waders is also a concern. To provide additional protection to these species, it is proposed to restrict:
water skiing/parasailing and high-speed freestyle motorised water sports in the Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose (Wildlife Conservation) Zone. This will include removal of the Shoalwater Bay water ski area;
water skiing/parasailing and high-speed freestyle motorised water sports in sanctuary zones;
vessel speed to 8 knots within the Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose (Wildlife Conservation) Zone and sanctuary zones when within a minimum of 200 metres of island or mainland shores; and
Kite surfers and windsurfers will be encouraged to comply with the above speed restrictions where feasible. Additional spatial controls for commercial and/or recreational kite surfing and windsurfing may be required during the life of the plan.
A review of the boundaries of the Safety Bay water ski area is also proposed. High-speed freestyle motorised water sports is defined as using a personal watercraft in a manner that is characterised by high-speed and erratic or irregular driving such as driving in a circle or other pattern and/or weaving or diverting.
