The South Australian Government has announced an immediate 12-month recreational fishing ban for waters next to the regional South Australian city of Port Pirie and its controversial lead smelter.
The ban follows a University of South Australia study which found heavy metals in sediment at many times above the national health benchmark.
SA Health said any seafood caught in an area north of the city — which includes Port Pirie Creek, First Creek, and Second Creek — should not be consumed.
Fishing for bivalve molluscs including scallops, oysters, mussels, and razorfish was also banned in a separate area which includes Port Germein.
Acting executive director of fisheries and aquaculture at the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Gavin Begg, said the ban would allow the impacts of contaminated sediment on human health to be investigated further.
"Putting this fishing closure in place will allow enough time for further investigation into risks in the area to be conducted and whether these closures may need to extend into future years," he said.
"This closure has been established as a precautionary measure to ensure people remain safe."
UniSA researcher Hazel Vandeleur, who led the study into metals in sediment, has welcomed the ban.
"I was just a little bit surprised because I didn't know anything about it until I got a call last night," Dr Vandeleur said.
"I'm not surprised that they're examining it further and taking precautions because the results that we found with the sediment and the water quality were quite high."
Dr Vandeleur said their research showed significant high-level pollution at sites around the city.
"We found over 40 per cent of the sites we tested had metals, particularly lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and some copper, which were over the Australian sediment quality guidelines," she said.
"They weren't just over the low values, they were over the high values.
"We had a feeling it would be that polluted, but we didn't realise just how polluted it was."
Fishers not concerned
Port Pirie-based commercial fisher David Wilkes said the closure was not an issue for the local industry.
"We know that there's been heavy metal sediment in the Pirie river, and fairly high concentrations, for many years," Mr Wilkes said.
"It doesn't really affect us as commercial fisherman because we don't fish near any of those areas.
"Having said that, I guess its just a precautionary thing that they have to do.
"I've got concerns for recreational fishers, kids who want to fish off the wharf and catch their fish or crabs. It's a bit of downer there."
