Program 8 - Sustainable Use and Management of Marine Resources of the Great Barrier Reef
Program Leader: Dr Colin Simpfendorfer, James Cook
University
Program 8 will provide strategic research
directions for the sustainable use and management of the
biodiversity and natural resources of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)
with respect to ecological, social and economic sustainability. The
Program is highly integrative, both within and across Programs, and
has an overarching theme related to the effects of the GBR Zoning
Plan, with an emphasis on biodiversity resource use in inshore
habitats.
The Program addresses specific critical issues of end-user
relevance that align directly with the MTSRF Priority Research
Areas and key questions and products. The Program captures the
major gaps in knowledge for sustainable use and management of
marine resources in the GBR, and provides a basis for additional
targeted projects to be undertaken, which will have direct
relevance to end-users. The research will occur throughout the GBR
and involve large-scale, integrated projects of a
multi-disciplinary and collaborative nature involving the key
end-users. Expected outcomes from Program 8 include:
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A state-of-the-art biophysical larval dispersal model and direct
measures of connectivity and dispersal for coral trout that will
ground-truth the model and provide information on whether green
zones augment larval supply to exploited fish populations. The
principal outcome of this project is an understanding of the
spatial scale of connectivity via dispersal of fish larvae, and the
provision of more realistic measures of dispersal and connectivity
than are available at present. Knowledge of this is essential for
intermediate goals such as modelling fishing impacts on
biodiversity and testing the effectiveness of the Zoning Plan.
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An ecological assessment of the influence of the GBR Zoning Plan
on inshore and inter-reefal (i.e. shoals) habitats and biodiversity
of the GBR. The inshore areas of the GBR are strongly influenced by
recreational and community use. Social and economic dimensions of
the impacts and use on the inshore biodiversity will be linked
through Project 4.8.4.
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An analysis of the biological parameters and current and
historical patterns of use of key inter-reef fish species.
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An evaluation of the impact from industry and community uses on
inshore biodiversity. Very little is known about the impacts on
biodiversity from industry and community activities in this area.
Historically, research has focused on the main targeted species of
the line and net fisheries without considering broader biodiversity
impacts.
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An investigation of the effects (costs/benefits) of the GBR
Zoning Plan on use (tourism, recreation and fishing) of the Great
Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The economic analysis component
of this project will be deferred until adequate capability has been
developed in North Queensland through a cooperative arrangement
between James Cook University and the CSIRO.
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Determination of the social and economic values of key marine
species, particularly large fish around tourist facilities. Program
8 will undertake an economic analysis of the value of no-take zones
to tourism in the GBR. This component will be deferred until
adequate capability has been developed in North Queensland through
the JCU/CSIRO arrangement. In addition, the project will identify
annual visitor usage patterns of the GBR to enable the
identification of key trends and drivers of visitor patterns and
economic impacts of visitation. Impacts of tourist and visitation
to critical reef sites and sustainable levels of visitation to
these sites will be assessed. This project will provide a link with
the Inshore Biodiversity Project on irukandji movement and habits
and the risk of human encounters to irukandji and other marine
stingers that may influence tourist visitation.
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