Join us for a special Politics in the Pub on Thursday 13 April, at 5.30pm, to discuss integrated Ocean management and how it can help Tasmania’s declining marine life in warming seas.

Last week we learned more than 500 common species of fish, seaweed, coral and invertebrate marine life have declined around Australia in the past decade. The declines are most marked in the rocky kelp-dominated reefs in Australia’s cooler southern waters, including around Tasmania.

Meanwhile, Canada has just celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Oceans Act, lauded as the world’s first holistic and ecosystem-based law when it came into force in 1997. How successful has Canada's approach been? What can we learn from their experience?

Our own wellbeing relies on healthy oceans. With Tasmania's main marine law being reviewed for the first time in 28 years, and new fishing and salmon farming regulations being developed right now, this is our chance to fundamentally improve the way we care for our unique coastal waters.

Join our panel of experts to hear what Tasmania’s marine laws and management should look like.

Dr Rob Stephenson, eminent Canadian ecologist and ocean management expert, and Prof Graham Edgar, Tasmania’s own world-renowned marine policy and conservation scientist, who led the research published in the journal Nature last week, will join us for Politics in the Pub.

Free to attend but registration essential.

Panelists

Dr Rob Stephenson has been a long-time Research Scientist with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Brunswick, and is an active participant in the Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures Project. His research interests include development of integrated coastal management, implementation of the ecosystem approach (particularly in fisheries and aquaculture), and development of policies, strategies, and governance for full-spectrum sustainability of marine activities. He has been a seasonal visiting scientist at CSIRO and Centre for Marine Socioecology in Hobart since 2017.

Prof Graham Edgar is a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania, and a global leader in Marine Protected Area (MPA) research. He has led recent efforts by an international team of experts to establish objective criteria for ‘key biodiversity areas’ in marine environments with a view to provide evidence-based recommendations to policy makers in government and industry regarding MPAs. At the University of Tasmania, Professor Edgar leads a research team that comprises the largest marine ecological group in southern Australia, with a focus on inshore habitats. 

Eloise Carr is the Director of the Australia Institute Tasmania, and will MC the event.