As per conditions 1,3, 4 and 6 of EPBC Approval 2012/6590, a management plan mapping all risks to the Southern Right Whale, monitoring plan and mitigation measures have been developed. It was approved on 28 May 20 and is to be implemented during the construction and operational activities of the Project.
The approved Port Spencer Grain Export Facility Southern Right Whale Management Plan provides the proposed monitoring and management plan to protect southern right whales in Australian waters at the project location. The main objectives of the Southern Right Whale Management Plan are as follows:
• To identify all anthropogenic risks to southern right whales arising from Port Spencer construction and operations activities;
• To ensure the appropriate control measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury to southern right whales arising from Port Spencer construction and operations activities;
• To ensure that EPBC Approval 2012/6590 specified conditions for monitoring, management and mitigation procedures to minimise the impacts of underwater noise are in place; and
• To provide a monitoring plan for southern right whale habitat use and behaviour in the vicinity of the project, developed in consultation with the Spencer Gulf Ecosystem and Development Initiative, and outline Peninsula Ports’ contribution to research on the southern right whales’ utilisation of the Spencer Gulf.