COASTAL ACTION

Coastal Issues : An Introduction

The following comments serve to introduce Coastal Action which has been adopted by the Australian Geography Teachers Association (AGTA) as the theme for National Geography Action Week for 1998. AGTA has published and distributed to Australian Secondary Schools a booklet, Coastal Action, to help their students to investigate coastal issues.

Schools or teachers who have not received a copy of the booklet may contact their local AGTA affiliate concerning membership and access to this resource.

Both the booklet and this site encourage the investigation of Australian coastal issues by emphasizing the values recommended by the 'Statement on Studies of Society and Environment for Australian Schools'.

Students may find some useful sources of information in the coastal links provided and are encouraged to search for more using suitable search and directory sites.

Coastal Issues

The coast was chosen as the focus for these studies during the International Year of the Ocean because the edge of the oceans is where most people meet the great water masses the cover 70% of our planet. Coasts not only have major economic, social and recreational value for human beings, but also hold an especial fascination for people from toddlers to grandparents.

Issues are the focus of most decisions and acts of human beings. This because there are usually alternatives to any chosen action. We may choose to play cricket at the beach rather than surf for instance. Or we may choose to play cricket where others are building sand castles. This latter choice may lead to some conflict of activities in a particular place.

This is the essence of most geographical issues: conflicting ideas about the use of a particular place. A decision to build a marina in the middle of a popular surf beach, or to locate tuna farms adjacent to a pristine tourist coast are just two examples of coastal issues.

Issues arise whenever there are conflicting opinions about anything. There may be a tension between different proposed responses such as permanently evacuating a city destroyed by a volcano as opposed to rebuilding on the same site. This conflict is the basis of all issues and requires us to carefully examine the opinions and motives of every person involved in the issue.

A little supplementary information for some of these issues mentioned in the booklet can be found by clicking the following links.

• Peel-Harvey Inlet (Western Australia)

• Port Hinchinbrook Resort (Queensland)

• Port Phillip Bay (Victoria)

Geography Action Week

National Geography Action Week (GAW) was established in Australia a decade ago to help students and their communities to understand the crucial role and contribution of geography in the resolution of issues. GAW is supported by the professional associations of geography in Australia. These pages support the particular efforts of geography teachers in schools through their professional association, the Australian Geography Teachers Association and its State-based affiliates.

Geography Action Week - 1998 (GAW 98) is being observed at different times in different States. This may seem odd for a national week of celebrating Geography, but takes into account a range of different needs in various States. Check your local GTA for more information.

International Year of the Ocean - 1998

The International Year of the Ocean (IYO) (1998) aims to promote world awareness of the unique role of the oceans in planetary survival and the critical importance of good ocean management. The Geography Action Week theme of Coastal Action encourages careful use of the edge of our oceans. As the fastest growing parts of the Australia are located on the coast within a few hours drive of a capital city (The 1996 Australian Census) we all share some responsibility for caring for our coast.

The IYO aims in Australia are to:

• highlight that Australia has responsibility for a huge area of the world's oceans - Australia truly is the 'Ocean Continent';
• achieve widespread recognition that the ocean is not infinite, as a food source or as a garbage dump; and
• create awareness and obtain commitments from the public, government and other decision makers to take action, provide resources and give priority to managing and protecting our oceans.

The International Year of the Ocean provides a good chance during 1998 for individuals, groups and governments to get involved in marine and coastal issues. Many groups and governments are making a special effort by undertaking programs to help protect our oceans and coasts. Australians have the opportunity to do a great deal during the IYO in 1998. A failure to act positively could harm precious ocean and coastal resources.

Investigate, decide and act

The AGTA booklet and this site encourage the investigation of Australian coastal issues using the values recommended by the 'Statement on Studies of Society and Environment for Australian Schools'. Namely that students use the process of investigation and the values of social justice, ecological sustainability and democratic decision-making.

Sources of information include libraries, the media, the Word Wide Web, and the many people who are involved in the chosen issue and who can be interviewed or surveyed. Students should seek a wide range of information from as many sources as possible. Care should be taken to consult the views of all the players in involved each coastal issue to ensure the best balance when making decisions and before taking any action.

Coastal Action

Most people do things at the coast. We need to be thoughtful and careful about our actions so they do not hurt the environment or other people. At times when we see damage being (or about to be) done by some group we are moved to act to prevent that harm or to do some good.

We can find coastal issues of small or dramatic scale on most of the coastline of Australia. Some largely environmental issues on the Tasmanian coast include:

Polluting activities

'Many of the State's estuaries have urban and industrial development and associated coastal water pollution problems. The principal marine contaminants are localised in parts of the north coast such as the Burnie area and Tamar River, on the west coast in Macquarie Harbour and the Pieman River catchment, and the Derwent estuary in the south-east. These are the major centres of population and industry, or mineral extraction.' (The State of the Marine Environment Report for Australia, Technical Annex: 3)

Mining contributes processing chemicals, particulate waste and heavy metals. Waste dumps at some west coast mine sites such as Rosebery, Que River, and Mt. Lyell, produce acid mine drainage (AMD). At Mt. Lyell approximately 700 tonnes of copper leaves the site in AMD each year (Wood 1991). Many other sites are causing great concern as do the processing plants which dump(ed) toxic waste into the oceans. Other industries, such as paper mills, in other sites like the Tamar and Derwent Rivers, dumped effluent containing noxious products. Many of these have improved their processes and reduced the pollution, but there is still a long way to go.

Exotic intruders

Predatory starfish

The Northern Pacific Seastar, Asterias amurensis, was probably introduced by ships' ballast water and is now well established in south-east Tasmanian waters. They are a serious pest to commercial scallop growers, and is a threat to the trawl fishing industry. The female seastars breed prolifically, and can produce up to 25 million eggs annually. They can live at depths from 1 to 200m.

Gunn's screw shell (Maoricolpus gunnii)

Gunn's screw shell is believed to have been introduced into the state from New Zealand amongst live oysters imported by boat in the 1920s. It is now prolific along the east coast and all the way to New South Wales.

Spread of Pacific oysters

The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, was introduced to Tasmania in the 1950s as part of a research program. It is now farmed in the State as the product is in demand. However the oysters have now become established in the wild, and spread along some rocky shorelines in the south-east and Tamar regions. The rocky shorelines between high and low tide levels have been significantly altered by the oysters and their impact on intertidal communities has yet to be properly researched.

Some 91 leases for oyster farms had been granted by 1992. While the farms are considered to be less obtrusive than finfish farms there are major impacts for local human communities and their activities (Our Sea : Our Future).

These include the loss of navigable water, visual impact and noise from harvesting operations. Impacts on the coastal marine ecology are not yet clear clear as once again the research is lacking and not made public. It is thought that there may be a loss of food for other plankton feeders, and a decline in seagrasses in the immediate vicinity of intertidal racks due to algal growth, shading and turbidity caused by boat activity.

Investigate, decide and act

Before we get involved in any such action we must investigate all aspects of the issue. We need to know:

• what the issue is.
• who is involved.
• what is being done about it.
• what should be done.

What is the issue?

What to do about the Pacific oysters on the Tasmanian coast has become an issue because different groups occasionally have opposing views because one or other of the suggestions seem to affect their way of life. It is differences of opinion or conflicting activities which make anything an issue. You will find many other coastal issues at various locations. A few will be mentioned on other pages. From the Pacific oyster issue it can be seen that there are many aspects of an issue to be considered. These include:

• Physical (e.g.interference with natural coastal processes; tides, erosion etc)
• Environmental (e.g. impact on native communities of sea life, loss of sea grass)
• Economic (ways of making a living. e.g. oyster farming, fishing, tourism)
• Recreational (e.g. fishing, crabbing, boating)
• Residential (e.g. holiday homes)

Who is involved?

Because it is people who make decisions that lead to actions at the coast we need to understand who has an interest and what they think about the issue. Sometimes things which are good for one group may be bad for another or the environment. Those involved in the Pacific oyster issue include oyster farmers, fishers, residents, bird-watchers, tourists, scientists, young people wanting jobs, young people concerned for the environment (often the same people) and tourists. Each person or group has a particular interest to look after. For instance the fishers do not want to lose seagrass breeding grounds, but the oyster farmers find their business profitable and it provides much needed work in the region.

All stakeholders have a vested interest of some kind which we need to understand in making our judgements. We also need to examine the varying degrees of power that people have in responding. For instance the unemployed youth of Tasmanian coastal settlements have a different and very limited range of options compared to the wealthy of the district.

Balancing of the needs of each group and the environment is most important when deciding what to do. At times the coastal activities that clash are people's such as horse-riding and building sand castles, while in cases like Pacific oyster farms in Tasmania the environment is involved.

What is being done about it?

The issue of whether oyster farms should be allowed to expand in Tasmania is far from being resolved. Every suggested solution may raise further concerns for some groups. In all issues like this we need to find out what is being done, or about to be done, and see if this is satisfactory for all and the environment.

What should be done?

You may have your own ideas about what should be done in any coastal issue. You need to be able to explain this well using the the wide range of information and considering everyone's best interests. If you wish to become involved in any action yourself you must have thought about how this may affect others, the environment and yourself. You should be able to justify becoming involved.

The process of decision-making and subsequent action requires people to gather the information necessary to make good decisions and to act wisely. Finding out and making decisions are essential before doing anything. In the case of decisions in response to issues at the coast one must understand the nature of an issue.

Alternative enquiry route

More thorough investigations can be conducted using a more detailed list of questions such as those suggested for GAW 1997.

A quick, pop-up view of these can be seen by clicking: