Program Leader: Mr Vic McGrath, Torres Strait
Regional Authority
Program 3 will focus on identifying
key issues in Torres Strait that should lead to the development of
indicators to be incorporated into a Data Integration and Synthesis
process that will assist development of environmental reporting for
the Torres Strait region and incorporation into the e-Atlas.
Indicators will align with broad 'Land and
Sea Program' issues to assist management decision making through
the provision of precise information on environmental condition and
trends of the region. The issues and indicators described above
will be identified through a process of engaging with stakeholders
in Torres Strait, including Torres Strait Regional Authority
Executive Members, the Community Liaison Officer, and relevant
management agencies. The engagement will include explanation
of what has been learned from the work of CRC Torres Strait in relation to the
'health of the marine ecosystem', and facilitate dialogue about the
linkages between research and management approaches in the Torres
Strait region.
The intent is to then evaluate the identified
key issues (and in discussion and interaction with the stakeholders
of Torres Strait), with the following aims:
-
To identify existing management objectives associated with
them;
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To identify conceptual models of the processes surrounding those
key issues;
-
To identify potential indicators and thresholds of status and
trends in each issue;
-
To identify, prioritise and undertake the research needed to
develop those indicators with thresholds of concern, limits and
implied actions, and to develop systems to measure and report on
them, and link them into the overall report card; and
-
To contribute to the development of Data Integration and
Synthesis process for reporting the ecosystem health of Torres
Strait.
The primary objective of work undertaken in
the first two years of the Program was to identify appropriate
areas were future research is required in the Torres Strait
region. Climate change, ecological assessment of wild
commercial sponges, investigation of co-management for hand
collectable fisheries and the repatriation of knowledge will be key
areas for research in the third year of the Program.
Previous work under the CRC Torres Strait has
identified the potential of bath sponge aquaculture in Torres
Strait. Through this program an assessment of the
distribution and abundance of wild commercial sponge species in
Torres Strait, identification of elements of environmental risk
(evidence of disease, sedimentation), and establishment of an
ecologically sustainable strategy for seed stock harvest will be
established. The outcomes from this research will provide
fundamental information for the support of a sustainable bath
sponge aquaculture industry.
Climate change issues in the Torres Strait region has been
raised in response to the inundation events experienced on several
of the islands over recent years. Climate change impacts likely to
be experienced in the coming years include less predictable winds
and currents that will affect traditional and commercial fishing
practices, an increase in disease vectors (e.g. mosquitoes carrying
dengue), cultural impacts from flooded heritage sites (e.g. grave
yards) and reduced fresh water resources. The primary goal of
this project is to establish ways to increase community resilience
to environmental change in the Torres Strait Islands by integrating
scientific and socio-economic assessments to develop
recommendations for climate change resilience and adaptation and
planning in Torres Strait.
Management agencies are interested in trialing adaptive
co-management of fishery resources in the Torres Strait. The
project will prototype methods of assessing the social, economic,
cultural and ecological benefits resulting from co-management using
the hand collectables fisheries (beche de mer and trochus) as a
case study. It would also develop the role for communities to
contribute to reporting initiatives being developed through Program
3.
Community feedback has indicated that not all past and present
research activities in the Torres Strait region have been
appropriately disseminated to communities. As part of
MTSRF Theme
5, a proposal has been submitted to develop appropriate format
and delivery mechanisms of scientific research in the Torres Strait
Islands, the information gained through this process will help the
assessment of future research investment in the region.
