Research into the impacts of fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Region, Australia
1997
Robertson, J.
A formal programme of research to address concerns raised by user groups, managers and scientists over the impacts of fishing on the Great Barrier Reef is being coordinated by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The general objectives of the programme are to evaluate the direct and indirect effects on reef and associated benthic communities, of recreational and commercial line fishing, and, commercial prawn trawling in interreef areas and in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon inshore of the mid-shelf reef complex. The "Effects of Fishing" programme research commenced in 1992 with two main components: * a research project to assess the environmental effects of prawn trawling in the Far Northern Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The project focuses on the impact of trawling on benthic systems, recovery of benthic communities after trawling, the fate of discards from the fishery, and the effect of discards on the diet and population dynamics of seabirds, * a large-scale experimental design to assess the effects of line and interreef trawling on reef and interreef communities within special "Fisheries Experimental Areas". Preliminary research has been undertaken over the last two years by private consultants and scientists from a number of research institutions. The research objectives for this component has recently changed with the establishment of a Cooperative Research Centre for Ecologically Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef. Proposed research projects and amendments to the original experimental design are discussed. The combination of the research components will provide a far greater understanding of the interactions between fishing activities and the ecological processes in the Great Barrier Reef Region. This understanding is central to the long-term management of the Great Barier Reef Marine Park.
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