THE Greens say they will press whoever wins government on Saturday to conduct a review into the effects of closing the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre.
Upper house member Mehreen Faruqi said the review should look at the process and effects on the community, regional jobs and marine research.
"We know our marine environment is under threat from overfishing, climate change and plastic waste, so we must ensure our scientists are well-resourced and able to do their job," she said, while supporting The Greens candidate for Cronulla, Nathan Hunt.
Dr Faruqi said the government ignored a parliamentary inquiry's recommendation in 2012 that the closure be reversed.
"Three years on, we need to look at what has been lost in terms of scientific expertise and marine science," she said.
"No matter who is elected, The Greens will push for a review of impacts in the next term of government."
Mr Hunt said the justification for closing the centre was to decentralise the department and create regional jobs in the sector.
"To date, the closure has created as few as 30 regional jobs, despite a loss of 138 highly trained employees at the Cronulla site," he said.
Mr Hunt said accurate research for wild fish stocks was crucial and needed higher levels of resourcing, which was not happening.
He also questioned why the government was paying rent for a centre at Mosman to undertake similar work when the government owned the Cronulla site.
