Marine Protected Areas
Cilffs of the Great Australian Bight, Barbara Whiddon
From long before the arrival of Europeans, the Mirning, Maralinga Tjaruta and Anangu have held indigenous cultural interests in the waters of the Great Australian Bight. For the Anangu based at the Yalata Community, their interests focus mainly on the inshore reef areas within state waters.
The Great Australian Bight coastline has long been an attractive visiting place for people to appreciate the beauty and wilderness of the natural environment there. For both the inhabitants of the lands adjacent to the Great Australian Bight waters, and visitors to the area, the intrinsic beauty of the rugged landscape and high-energy seascape are of great importance.
Commercial fishing in the Great Australian Bight waters has contributed to settlement and regional development for non-indigenous Australians in the region.
The first commercial fishing activity to be established in South Australia was the whaling and sealing industry in the 1800s. Early whalers helped chart parts of the West Coast.
Soon after Europeans arrived in South Australia, the Southern Rock Lobster Fishery was started. This fishery expanded rapidly in the 1940s with the development of an export market to the United States and the development of the School Shark Fishery.
Fishing has had a long history in the Commonwealth waters, and remains part of the economic and social culture of the coastal areas in western South Australia today.