Residents are hoping to make a picturesque beach on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula a National Surf Reserve, as a decision on a proposed rocket-launching complex looms.
Fishery Bay is the centrepiece of the inaugural Stoke Festival — a 10-day surf and arts festival which wraps up on Sunday.
Organisers of the festival hope having the beach's significance recognised by the National Surf Reserve organisation — a community group dedicated to recognising iconic surfing sites — will aid their protest against the nearby Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.
Those opposed to the rocket-launching development are concerned about its fire risk and impact on the environment.
Chairperson of the National Surfing Reserves Board Brad Whittaker said recognition of Fishery Bay would aid its long-term preservation, and bring a greater tourism spotlight to the area.
"Surfing reserves are iconic places of intrinsic environmental, heritage, sporting and cultural value to a nation," he said.
Surfing is popular along the Eyre Peninsula. (Supplied: Geoff White)
"Fishery Bay is a beautiful local environment, with a passionate community, and we're really looking forward to them being part of the surfing reserve movement."
Adjacent to this Fishery Bay is Whalers Way, a section of land that space exploration company, Southern Launch, is intending to use for launching rockets and conducting hypersonic flight testing.
Conservationists are particularly concerned about the impact the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex will have on the southern emu wren.
The endangered bird's population stands at fewer than 750.
Rocket test launches have been run at Whalers Way in recent years. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)
Southern Launch said previously there would be minimal disturbance to birdlife beyond a "startled response", where birds left the area during launch noises but returned soon afterwards.
Although being named as a National Surf Reserve would give Fishery Bay further credit as a site requiring environmental protection, it provides no legal protection from development or projects.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is expected to announce whether the rocket-launching complex will go ahead by September 20.
The project is being assessed for potential significant impacts on threatened and migratory species and the Australian marine area.
Local surfing tradition
To become a National Surfing Reserve, an area must meet three essential criteria:
- Quality of waves
- A place considered sacred by the local and national surfing community
- Long-term usage of the beach and wave environment by local and national surfing community
The beach has a significant history for local surfers.
For at least the last three generations, women at Fishery Bay have worked together to make sure they can keep surfing once they become mothers.
"All the mums sit on the beach with the kids, and the other mammas get out there and get their three waves, and then we rotate again and so on," explained Ngahuia Trewartha, chairperson of the Fishery Bay Surf Reserve Community.
"That group is really powerful for us — not just the surfing but especially that we get to yarn like that on the beach.
"Not every mum can afford, or wants, to sit in cafes and go to bars."
A surfing history lesson
The Stoke Festival, which began earlier this month and wraps up tomorrow, celebrates the area's history through events focusing on film, local art, markets and the environment.
A part of the festival, a microplastics survey of Fishery Bay was held on Thursday, in conjunction with nation-wide citizen science initiative Australian Microplastics Assessment Project (AUSMAP).
Kerryn McEwan from Lower Eyre Coastcare Association leds the microplastics survey this week. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone)
The survey — the first of four to take place over the next 12 months — found minimal microplastic pollution.
A few of the region's independent surfboard shapers also gathered for a discussion on the art and science of making boards.
Geoff White with two of his most recent boards and a vintage station wagon. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone)
One of the speakers, Geoff White of Albatross Surfboards is a pioneer in the region, and the next board he shapes will be his 1,251st.
He still uses the same resin and many of the same techniques he used when he started making boards in the 1970s.
Geoff with the first board he ever made, in 1972. (Supplied: Geoff White)
"I remember the leg rope came in around 1972 and at Fishery Bay, with the rocks around and that sort of thing, we started using them straight away," he said.
"That year some guys from Adelaide came over and they were getting stuck into us about using the ropes.
"They spent a few days getting their boards off the rocks and repairing all sorts of dings. Next year when they came back, they all had leg ropes."
'Let's protect and preserve this'
Mrs Trewartha hopes the festival, which demonstrates how important Fishery Bay is to the surfing community, will help area become recognised as a surf reserve.
"We want to keep it how it is so future generations can enjoy the waves, the wildlife and the clean air — the way past salty dogs could," she said.
"This is what it is now, let's get around this, protect and preserve this, and that's what this festival is built from."