Guthalungra Aquaculture

Project overview*

EIS status: EIS complete.

Pacific Reef Fisheries (Bowen) Pty Ltd propose to develop a prawn aquaculture facility on an 800 hectare site adjacent to the Elliot River, near Guthalungra, approximately 40 kilometres north of Bowen in North Queensland.

The proposal includes up to 260 hectrares of grow-out ponds, seafood processing facilities and support infrastructure. Production is estimated to be 1650 tonnes of penaeid prawns per year with a turnover of $29 million by 2008.

Environmental Impact Statement process

On 12 June 2001 the Coordinator-General declared the Guthalungra Aquaculture Project to be a 'significant project' requiring an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be prepared, in line with the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (Qld).

The Federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage decided the action is a 'controlled action' under the provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). The protected matters (i.e. those of national environmental significance) for this project have been identified as:

  • World Heritage properties
  • listed threatened species and communities
  • listed migratory species
  • the marine environment.

The Minister has decided the EIS will be used to assess the impacts of the proposed action.

The Environmental Impact Statement was publicly notified and submissions were invited between 22 October and 4 December 2003. Pacific Reef Fisheries Pty Ltd has prepared a supplementary EIS to address issues raised in submissions received from advisory agencies and other stakeholders.

The Coordinator-General’s Report assessing the EIS was completed and approved on 11 January 2008. The Coordinator-General recommended that the project could proceed subject to several conditions.

The Coordinator-General’s Report has been forwarded to the Federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage and the Arts for a decision pursuant to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

Resources

The EIS and supplementary EIS is on the Pacific Reef Fisheries (Bowen) Pty Ltd website.

Coordinator-General’s Report (PDF, 1.34 MB)

* Project information supplied by proponent and subject to change.