September 18, 2014 — Tuna magnate Hagen Stehr has disputed at claims that losses to the fishing industry through marine parks will be outweighed by ecotourism.
Mr Stehr said Port Lincoln and many other areas of Eyre Peninsula had become what they were today through fishing and aquaculture.
A report commissioned by the Conservation Council of South Australia, released last week found a potential increase in ecotourism in places like Port Lincoln was expected to outweigh the negative economic impact on the commercial fishing industry when sanctuary zones came into effect on October 1.
However Mr Stehr said the region's reputation as a fishing capital was what created a lot of its tourism revenue.
"Port Lincoln over the last 60 years has been a mecca for the fishing industry," Mr Stehr said.
"People don't come down here for ecotourism, they come for fishing."
Read the full story at the Port Lincoln Times