00:00These waters on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula have supported three generations of squid fishermen in Nathan Eats' family.
00:09The last calamari I caught was on the 18th of April and haven't seen one since.
00:14He's one of hundreds of fishers whose livelihood has been destroyed by a toxic algal bloom that's caused mass marine life deaths.
00:21Affected businesses like his can now apply for $10,000 support grants as part of a $28 million recovery package.
00:29It's really appreciated but moving forward I think we're probably going to need a bit more of a sort of consistent bit of help from the government if they want to see a seafood industry in South Australia when this all ends.
00:40Time will tell if it's going to be enough. We don't know because we don't know how long this is going to last.
00:45Despite the government's support, calls continue for the bloom to be declared a national disaster.
00:50We would still be aiming to push for a natural or national disaster because it does unlock a different source of funding.
00:59New modelling reveals the bloom may last a lot longer than initially predicted.
01:03Oceanographer Johan Kempf has used his modelling of ocean currents and upwelling to simulate algal growth and behaviour.
01:10He says the model accurately mapped the path of the Karenia Mikimotoi outbreak from its detection to June.
01:16And in a worse case scenario, it predicts the algae could spread further into the Spencer Gulf by April next year.
01:23It can have a wide reaching dramatic impact on the entire upwelling related food chain which ranges from sardines to sea lions and even whales.
01:37He says more testing and monitoring is needed.
01:39If it hasn't disappeared in the next two months, I've got massive concerns for the whole fishery and the mental health of everyone involved.
01:47The state government has allocated $8.5 million for algae detection.
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