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Image:��A dead seal washed up on Depp's Beach near Victor Harbor in South Australia, (THP Creative)

As the Federal Senate Inquiry into the Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) came to a close, some interesting findings emerged, particularly around the “communication gap” of knowledge into action after the first briefings on the bloom.

The Senate committee are expected to provide their report on October 28^th. We were fortunate enough that Environment Institute members were invited to be present at some of these hearings.

On Tuesday September 9^th Dr Dominic McAfee represented the University of ����ɫ�� at the Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club, and Professor Andrew Lowe, Director of the Environment Institute, appeared alongside Environment Institute members Professors Luke Mosley and Ivan Nagelkerkern on Friday September 12^th in Victor Harbour.
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Pathway to restoration

Dr McAfee, one of our Environment Institute’s Future Making Fellows, is a leader in the restoration of marine ecology space, focusing on long-term efforts that can improve monitoring of the HAB while understanding the extent of impact.

“We need to work to understand where there might be resilience and priority areas to focus evidence-based restoration on, so we can scale up to support marine ecosystems, so they can naturally increase the resilience of coastal habitats to future algal blooms.”

Not all algae respond in the same way, making this a “very complicated” and dynamic situation, as Dr McAfee describes it.

As we know the algae developed due to a marine heatwave (which has been affecting the State’s coastline since September 2024) and has created a dire impact across South Australia. Algal species respond differently to nutrient inputs, however as Dr McAfee puts I,t “the common denominator across South Australia seems to be the marine heatwave, not just nutrient inputs”.

The HAB has been a known situation “due to climate change and warming waters, we know it's due to nutrient run-off and we know it's due to the destruction of habitats”, three ongoing climate problems Professor Lowe discusses to reflect the “slow-moving crises” that has led to the occurrence of the HAB.

Professor Lowe also pointed out that ‘a land-to-sea continuum of restoration and nutrient management would help prevent future nutrient related problems’. It would also create a way to manage nutrient flows , since catchment management alone “doesn’t have the capacity to do so,” recommends Dr McAfee.

Professor Lowe highlighted the catchment-based nutrient pollution flowing from the Murray–Darling Basin, noting that with catchments feeding into the shallow gulfs, they “don’t receive much renewal over time.”

Together with the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, Green ����ɫ��, University of ����ɫ��, Water Sensitive SA, the Goyder Institute and the Government of South Australia, we’ve developed a 7-point guide to identify and protect gulfs, to establish a catchment-to-coast approach to algal bloom prevention.

• Discover and synthesise existing knowledge
• Activate existing policies
• Develop an integrated framework
• Design and trial targeted landscape restoration interventions
• Explore and establish market-based instruments
• Address critical knowledge gaps through targeted research
• Develop a long-term landscape restoration strategy

These strategies are required to mitigate future events, while understanding the causes of the HAB to create a long-term action plan.

Biodiversity is key��

The algal bloom and climate change issues are related to biodiversity crisis that is ongoing, as it plays an essential role to regulate climate, while mitigating the impacts of extreme events.

This unprecedented event is the largest harmful algal bloom that has occurred in the State of South Australia.

“It's not the largest harmful algal bloom that has occurred in Australia, and certainly not the largest in the world - there have been much larger ones - but the socioeconomic impact of this one looks to be significantly different to past events.” Explains Dr McAfee.

Many have suffered during this crisis, from businesses losing sales, to the impact on coastal communities.

Professor Lowe described his concerns: “Seeing the impact on economies and communities here has been substantial and, in some cases, overwhelming.”

Dr Mosley shared that “with climate change, we're seeing more of these marine heatwave events, so action to reverse climate change and mitigate its impacts are critically needed now.”

South Australia used to be home to 1,500 kilometres of shellfish reef, and tens of thousands of hectares of seagrass, that used to soak up the nutrients that came into the gulf systems and down the rivers. Professor Lowe also explains that on land, nutrients and sediments flow into the river following habitat removal and fertiliser use.

“Restoration on land, of waterways, of swamps and of wetlands will help soak up those nutrients and the sediments that are flowing into the sea.”

Moving forward

When asked how to be proactive and create resilience, Dr McAfee made a point that fundamental monitoring and research is required immediately, particularly while the bloom remains.

Monitoring is required to help track ecosystem impact and recovery, while identifying what species have survived during the bloom? In this way we can we understand the resilience of systems and support other ecosystems to recover?

Professor Lowe also discussed resilient systems and how adaption strategies, for both sea and land, will lead to a proactive approach to respond to future climate change disasters.

Cross-collaboration is needed, now more than ever. All levels of government (local, state and federal), the public, and industry, need to come together and respond as one.

Dr McAfee says “the public have a really important role to play in responding to this as well”

“The most comprehensive database we have are being generated by citizen scientists walking the beach, but that's adding to the ecological anxiety.”

Strategies and outcomes need to be in place to support the community in playing such an active role in identifying the bloom. Dr McAfee has been working closely with students, communities, and traditional owners on community-based restoration projects.

Dr McAfee wants to expand his community work across the state, “working with the communities who are crying out and looking for solutions to how they can engage”

This crisis and the responsibility in finding solutions to save our shores is beyond just a state setback. As Dr McAfee says “this isn't a South Australian problem. It's a national problem, so there should really be national coordination”.

“This should involve a formation of a national body that looks at these climate-driven, environmental events, or national disasters, as the impacts transcend state borders”.

Environment Institute HAB Capability Statement

We produced and published the��Environment Institute Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Capability statement��, in which key research priorities have been identified. This Statement lists our leading researchers, their expertise, partnerships and their key publications, outputs and contributions.

By creating this statement, we’re able to clearly communicate how we can contribute, and are contributing, to actionable impact related to the HAB. You can download and read the HAB capability statement. You can also support the Environment Institute’s research into the HAB.

You can download and read the Environment Institute’s full submission (number 40 of 44)��
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Dr Dom McAfee Oyster Reef Restoration

• Oyster Reef Restoration: Your Chance to Contribute
• Steps to Clean Up the Algal Bloom

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Read our other blogs on HAB

• The Harmful Algal Bloom – moving to finding a solution
• An 'Underwater Bushfire' Sparks Urgent Calls Urgent Calls for Action in South Australia
• How South Australia's Algal Bloom Is Threatening Marine Life and Public Health
• Harmful Algal Bloom and Human Wellbeing Impact
• How Hard is the Algal Bloom Hitting South Australia? Impacts on Marine Life & Humans