The fishery’s concerns about compensation had long since been addressed but his conviction remained that this project would be “hugely destructive” and the public was in the dark. Mr Brindle is backed on this by the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council, but so far attempts to raise the subject of moving the project area slightly south have been stymied. It’s apparently a legacy issue: the project changed leadership in past years from local to state government and the boundaries were among the first decisions to be made. The later it is in the game, the harder it is to go back. The Marmion Marine Park stretches about 20 kilometres, from Trigg Island to just north of Burns Beach Road. The north-most 3.5 kilometres is inshore reef. “This 3.5 kilometres of reef is the jewel in the crown – there is no better reef of Roe’s abalone in WA,” Mr Brindle said.

The proposed marina outlined in red, with the reef (dark area) visible below it. Credit:Strategen It could yield 14-16 tonnes of abalone in a year – not to mention the 10-tonne recreational fishers’ take. By comparison, to get 12 tonnes from their Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste stretch, his fishery had to traverse 100 kilometres. Mr Brindle said most of the world’s stock of wild abalone was in decline. Populations on the south coast of this state were no exception – to the point that Fisheries had to close the Augusta area this year. “Here we have a unique population – in a marine park on the doorstep of a major city, accessible from the shore for both recreational and commercial fishers," he said. “That is unique in all the world, and this government is going to kill it. This marina is going to smash it.”

Mr Brindle said the Association put an extensive submission into the public environmental review and told the EPA the damage to the reef north of Mindarie, for Mindarie Marina construction, was much more extensive than they thought would ever happen. “That had been a strong abalone population but that whole 1.2 km of reef was finished as a commercial fishery,” he said. “We told them there was every likelihood of significant impact but it has been ignored. It’s all called anecdotal evidence – we are fishermen not scientists. “We were not heard.” Mr Brindle said he recognised the marina was a hugely popular project and was not arguing it should be dumped – just developed south of the existing harbour instead of north.

The Abalone Divers' Association has suggested the project be moved here, slightly south, where it would mean much less habitat destruction. “They are putting it in the wrong place. It starts at the current harbour and goes north through the reef. If they went south they wouldn’t be disrupting anything,” he said. He said the stretch north of the harbour was the centrepiece of the entire marine park and also homed numerous other species, including rock lobster, bream and octopus. But the stretch south of the harbour only had a couple of hundred metres of inshore reef, which had little habitat value due to sand movement, and beyond that was just sandy shore. The onshore land was apparently available Crown land and would actually take the marina closer to the access point of Ocean Reef Road, just as Hepburn Road ran into Hillarys Boat Harbour. “So they are destroying reef habitat versus not having to do any destruction at all. It is such a no-brainer to me,” Mr Brindle said.

Mr Brindle felt so strongly he wrote to EPA Chairman Tom Hatton and explained his point of view. “Dr Hatton wrote back and said the proposal had merit but that he had to assess the proposal as it was given. He suggested I contact Landcorp,” he said. An abalone diver on the reef. “But Landcorp said they couldn’t tell the government to start that same project somewhere else.” He said when studies were originally done for Joondalup’s early work on the project any doubts about the reef were played down.

Loading There was never any quotation of the amount of reef to be lost, only ever a percentage of the overall park. So the decision had been made and never questioned, not even when the state government took over the project. "This is going to be a loss of 17 per cent of the marine park’s inshore reef habitat. "Shouldn’t where the marina goes be decided by the government? It’s a marine park. It should be protected for future generations," Mr Brindle said. “I know the community wants a marina. But I don’t think they know the importance of that reef.

“I have had my head in that water for the past 28 years and I know it well.” An EPA spokeswoman said the authority had assessed the proposal at the location given by the proponents, first the City of Joondalup and then LandCorp. Its assessments process was now concluded and the proposal was currently in the appeals process. Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said the proposal had attracted four appeals, including one from the West Coast Abalone Divers Association. The Appeals Convenor would now investigate the appeals and provide a report to the minister. "As I have a future decision to make on this proposal which is under appeal, it is not appropriate that I comment further," he said.

Landcorp chief operations officer Dean Mudford said the location was "identified for the marina as it expands upon the existing Ocean Reef Boat Harbour, rather than creating a new coastal site." "We respect the concerns of some community members about the potential impact on abalone stocks," he said. "Through the Public Environmental Review process, the extent of the direct impact has been identified as 1.2km of nearshore reef. "We are working closely with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Recfishwest to manage any impacts on commercial and recreational fishers. "The development of Ocean Reef Marina as a tourism and recreation precinct will provide jobs, amenities and boating facilities to the people of Perth."

The City of Joondalup has also been contacted for comment.