Giant cuttlefish arriving early prompting hope of a tourist boom

Some giant cuttlefish have started to arrive weeks earlier than usual for their spectacular annual gathering at Whyalla on South Australia's Spencer Gulf.

Key points:

Hundreds of thousands of cuttlefish come to Whyalla every year to breed Some have already turned up, weeks earlier than usual It is the second cuttlefish aggregation since a fishing ban was lifted

The yearly breeding event, known as an aggregation, is a huge draw card for tourists, who scuba dive and snorkel among the gentle cephalopods.

"It's really, really looking promising," commercial diver Tony Bramley said. 

"We're all excited about that, because ... with the huge number of animals that turned up last year we also had the best season for tourism that we ever had."

Usually, the giant Australian cuttlefish arrive in late April or early May.

The cuttlefish aggregation is a crucial tourism opportunity for the industrial city of Whyalla, which is economically reliant on the local steelworks.

There is a cloud over the future of the steelworks, which are the subject of legal action in the NSW Supreme Court to wind up the operation.

Giant Australian cuttlefish gather off the coast of Whyalla every year for a mass breeding event.(

Supplied: Carl Charter

)

The steelworks owner, GFG Alliance, is racing to refinance its global operation because of the collapse of a major financier.

Mr Bramley said the number of bookings and enquiries at his dive shop suggested this year's tourism season would surpass last year's record-breaker.

"It means so much to the town," he said.

"The town is going through a bad period at the moment with a very uncertain future, and here we've got something that could provide an offset if the steelworks are lost."

Impact of fishing yet to be seen

A ban on the commercial fishing of giant Australian cuttlefish in the Spencer Gulf was lifted last year.

It was imposed in 2013 because numbers had dwindled to 13,000, and they had recovered to almost 250,000 by the time the ban was lifted around last year's aggregation. 

"It's just such a bad look in that tiny little area where the animals aggregate and spawn," Mr Bramley said. 

Tony Bramley says he hasn't seen cuttlefish arrive this early before and he's hoping they bring the tourists with them.(

Landline: Tony Hill

)

"At one end, you've got excited divers and snorkellers and filmmakers from around the world seeing the most marine spectacle I think anywhere.

"At the other end of the peninsula a few kilometres away you've got boats black with ink and commercial fishermen."

Fishers are only allowed to catch cuttlefish outside an exclusion zone between the Point Lowly lighthouse and the Whyalla city area.

Mr Bramley said that still allowed cuttlefish in transit, or animals of any age who swam outside the zone, to be caught during the breeding event.

He said the effect of re-allowing commercial fishing may not be apparent until next year's aggregation.

Find more local news

Industry 'vitally important'

Craig Fletcher, who has been involved with the commercial fishing of cuttlefish since the early 1990s, said it was crucial that fishers be allowed to catch the animals.

"It's vitally important. It's a big part of the business," he said.

"The exclusion zone [is] a vast area where the colony is getting the protection that they need."

Mr Fletcher said the ban on commercial fishing meant other species were being fished at a greater rate.

He conceded there was too much pressure on the cuttlefish prior to the ban being introduced, and changing how the level of catch is determined could make fishing more sustainable.

"The harvest at the moment relies on what numbers we've seen in the previous year. 

"[What I would suggest] is that we look at the numbers from mid-May to the end of May, and at the beginning of June make a decision on what could be caught based on the science."

(Originally posted by Gooch)