Project 1.3.1 CSIRO Haywood et al. (2007) Improved knowledge of Torres Strait seabed biota and reef habitats
Project 1.3.1 extends the work conducted by the CRC Torres Strait ('Mapping and physical characterisation of key biotic and physical attributes of the Torres Strait ecosystem'). This report provides an analysis of datasets collected during CRC research and a current state of knowledge of the Torres Strait habitat. [pdf 12.8 Mb]
Project 1.3.1 JCU McNamara, K. et al. (2010) Constructing the Torres Strait: Report on Policy, Media and Public Opinion
The Torres Strait region holds special significance in the protection of Indigenous Australian culture and land rights, but is also gaining visibility as a site of climate change impacts and adaptation. While the 1992 Australian High Court decision to grant Native Title to traditional owners on Mer Island is probably best known internationally and nationally, the Torres Strait has more recently gained media and policy visibility in relation to unusually large tides and other inundations linked to climate change. This report examines how the Torres Strait region is constructed and represented, largely in relation to climate change, in a variety of forums: policy and discussions, popular media and public opinion. While not denying the impacts of climate change in the region, this report aims to interrogate how the Torres Strait is constructed in certain ways, such as being 'particularly' vulnerable to climate processes. This report identifies how the above three realms offer differing representations of the region. Both media and policy representations for instance implicate severe climate change in the identity of the region and as such construct Islanders as ‘particularly’ vulnerable subjects with low adaptive capacity. On the other hand, the results from the public opinion survey present alternative constructions of the region, based around culture, people and community. [pdf 464.9 kb]
Project 1.3.1 JCU McNamara, K. et al. (2010) Documenting and Sharing the Seasonal Calendar for Erub Island, Torres Strait
Reading landscapes, seasons and environments has long been a tradition for Torres Strait Islanders through their close relationships with their islands and seas. MTSRF funded researchers worked with community Elders on Erub Island in the eastern group of islands in the Torres Strait to document the Elders’ knowledge of seasonal patterns, including winds, wet and dry seasons, and also patterns in plant, animal and bird life. This report examines and synthesises this knowledge. The information varies from details on the migration and nesting patterns of key totem birds, to the movement of the Tagai star constellation, to the onset of wind patterns indicating certain planting or fishing cycles. The importance of documenting and transferring such knowledge is that it begins the task of generating interest among the younger generation to identify seasonal and environmental indicators in their landscape. This ability of Islanders to identify indicators and 'read' their land and sea country becomes important in maintaining culture, livelihoods and their surrounding environment. To this end, the seasonal calendar, which was assembled from the knowledge of four Erub Island Elders, was also developed into a large wooden mural at the local primary school. The school's students were involved in the creation and installation of the mural, and its contents will now form part of their teaching curriculum. It is hoped that by documenting, safeguarding and transferring this knowledge, it will remain alive and valuable. [pdf 797.1 kb]
Project 1.3.1 JCU McNamara, K. et al. (2010) Elders' and Aunties' Experiences of Climate on Erub Island, Torres Strait
There has been growing concern over the exposure of Torres Strait Islander communities to the impacts of climate change. Across the Torres Strait region, impacts have included inundation events, high tides, less predictable winds and ocean currents, an increase in disease vectors, the loss of cultural sites, and a reduction in freshwater supplies. Some of these direct and indirect impacts of climate change have been recorded in the scientific literature, but to date there is a paucity of documentation as to how the communities themselves have experienced these changes and impacts. These 'experiences' (of changes and/or impacts) might stem from Islanders' memories, or from the present. This report documents and records Erub Island Elders' and Aunties' experiences of a changing climate, such as their memories of extreme weather events and historical environmental changes, to present day changes to their land and sea country. [pdf 105.4 kb]
Project 1.3.1 JCU McNamara, K. et al. (2010) Resilience in Knowledge: Unpacking Adaptation Strategies on Erub Island, Torres Strait
Torres Strait Islanders have long been managing their land and sea country. In this vein, they have also been adapting to changes in their local environments since time immoral. This report examines and synthesises knowledge from Elders and Aunties on Erub Island, as well as the voice and views of young Islanders, who shared past and present adaptation strategies for coping with environmental changes. It contains traditional knowledge, including actions and activities that have been employed to adapt to seasonal and climatic changes. This information can shed light on Erub Islanders' ways of adapting to changes in the future. [pdf 857.8 kb]
Project 1.3.2 AIMS Duckworth, A. (2007) Ecological Role and Potential Value of Sponges to Torres Strait - Annual Report 2007
MTSRF Project 1.3.2 Annual Report for 2006/2007 prepared by researchers of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Sponges are a dominant organism on coral reefs throughout Torres Strait and have been shown to play an important ecological role by acting as a nursery or recruitment habitat for other species of economic importance. In addition to their ecological importance, sponges that have good quality spongin fibres have commercial value and may be sold as bath sponges. This report examines the size of the Coscinoderma sp. population in Torres Strait; determines the possible risks of translocating individuals of Coscinoderma sp. within Torres Strait in the interests of setting up bath sponge farms where it is not naturally abundance; and highlights when, where and how often sponges such as Coscinoderma recruit onto coral reefs in Torres Strait. [pdf 2.2 Mb]
Project 1.3.2 AIMS Duckworth, A. (2008) Ecological Role and Potential Value of Sponges to Torres Strait - Annual Report 2008
Annual Report for Year 2 of MTSRF Project 1.3.2 (2007/2008) prepared by researchers of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. [pdf 821.3 kb]
Project 1.3.2 AIMS Whalan, S. (2009) Ecological role and potential value of sponges to Torres Strait - Annual Report 2009
Annual Report for Year 3 of MTSRF Project 1.3.2 (2008/2009) prepared by researches of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. [pdf 3.5 Mb]
Project 1.3.2 Duckworth, A. (2006) Distribution and abundance of the bath sponge Coscinoderma in Central and Eastern Torres Strait
A project report on the distribution and abundance of the bath sponge Coscinoderma in Central and Eastern Torres Strait. [pdf 800.7 kb]
Project 1.3.2 Poster: Sponge farm at Masig operated by Kailag Enterprises
A three-year study by the CRC Torres Strait involving the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Yorke Island Council has developed farming procedures to commercially grow the common bath sponge Coscinoderma mathewsi around Masig (Yorke) in the Torres Strait. [pdf 1.3 Mb]
Project 1.3.3 CSIRO Pascoe, S. (2007) Preliminary review of key resource economics in the Torres Strait
Report by Sean Pascoe, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. This report outlines some of the key resource economic issues that could be developed into research projects or programmes. The focus of this report is on marine resource related issues, and fisheries resources in particular, as these represent the most important industry in the Torres Strait region. Only brief consideration is given to other natural resource issues, namely land and water. [pdf 517.2 kb]
Project 1.3.3 JCU Marsh, H. (2008) Spatial closures as possible management tools for community-based management of dugongs and turtles in Torres Strait
Outcomes of Torres Strait Spatial Closures Workshop held 14-16 October 2008, Thursday Island. Report compiled by Professor Helene Marsh, School of Environmental and Earth Sciences, James Cook University. [pdf 933.2 kb]
Project 1.3.3 JCU Tawake, A. (2008) Livelihood benefits of adaptive co-management of hand collectable fisheries in the Torres Strait
Overview of PhD project which aims to test an adaptive co-management framework approach for trochus and beche-de-mer fisheries in two Torres Strait Island communities. [pdf 186.4 kb]
Project 1.3.3 STF Roe, D. (2010) Marine Turtle and Dugong Awareness Program for Western Province, Papua New Guinea
Outcomes of Development Workshop held 10 June 2010, Daru. [pdf 1.0 Mb]
Project 1.3.5 CSIRO Tawake, L. et al. (2010) Towards regional and community-scale reporting of marine ecosystem health in the Torres Strait
Currently there is no formal marine ecosystem health monitoring or reporting system in the Torres Strait. While some commercial fisheries are assessed and monitored in detail, much of this information is transmitted to regional management agencies. However, there is increasing awareness of the need to involve Torres Strait Islander communities in the dissemination and collection of ecosystem management and research information, and to establish an integrated system of marine ecosystem health reporting whcih is of relevance to agencies and communities. This report presents the findings of MTSRF Project 1.3.5 'Reporting Ecosystem Health in the Torres Strait', which was established in 2006 to (a) identify potential marine ecosystem health indicators for Torres Strait that are relevant to regional and community-level stakeholders, and to calculate available data for those indicators; and (b) to develop potential monitoring and reporting frameworks and media for marine ecosystem health. [pdf 3.9 Mb]
