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Objective
Recommendation
Key issues
Actions taken
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Objective To improve the management of coastal and marine ecosystems. Recommendation It is recommended that the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and the Department of Environment and Land Management accelerate the collection of biophysical data on the coastal and marine environment, including:- the establishment of monitoring programmes, including permanent monitoring sites, along Tasmania's coast;
- reviews of the conservation status of coastal and marine species with a view to recommending appropriate resource management and conservation measures; and
- the establishment of a comprehensive Statewide database of coastal and marine species and ecosystems which would, in due course, be incorporated in Land Information System Tasmania (LIST).
Key issues This information is available from Volume 2 of the last SoE Report (SDAC 1997), which can be downloaded. The final objective, final recommendation, and a summary of key management actions are detailed below. Actions taken There has been some progress in addressing the objective of this recommendation on coastal and marine environment monitoring since the last SoE Report (1997), including the following. - Significant strategic and co-ordinated management is being achieved to protect the Derwent Estuary through the Derwent Estuary Program established in 1999. A Management Plan was endorsed in 2001. Environmental monitoring and reporting are two of the key aspects of the Plan.
- Statewide work measuring marine and coastal biodiversity through surveys of fishes, invertebrates and plants of reef habitats has been undertaken by Edgar et. al. (1997). The number of species was recorded from over 156 sites. Much of the analysis of marine habitat and biodiversity was undertaken with reference to marine bioregions.
- There is much improved understanding of estuarine systems upon which integrated management and conservation can be based. This follows work undertaken by Edgar (et al. 1999) on the type, condition and conservation significance of Tasmania's estuaries, which identified 10 estuaries of critical conservation significance within Tasmania.
- The Resource Planning and Development Commission has collated information on coastal and marine conservation priorities as part of the assessment to identify Marine Protected Areas at Port Davey/ Bathurst Channel in south-west Tasmania and at the Kent Group of Islands in Bass Strait.
- A study was conducted by the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) with funding under the Natural Heritage Trust to assess water quality in Tasmanian estuaries (Murphy et al. 2003). Major objectives of the study were to provide baseline water quality data and determine water quality indicator levels for 22 Tasmanian estuaries.
- In 2000, a detailed and comprehensive sea floor habitat-mapping program-Seamap Tasmania- commenced through the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. The Seamap Tasmania program produces maps showing the seabed in about nine categories of habitat type with supporting images and video. The first series of maps from this program reveal the extent of some habitats for the first time. For example, within the Bruny Bioregion almost every stretch of coast and bay contains different communities of plants and animals, which indicates very high ecosystem level diversity. The program has covered over 1,800 km including the entire Bruny IMCRA Bioregion, the Tasmanian portion of the Twofold IMCRA Bioregion and part of the Freycinet IMCRA Bioregion. Some limited mapping has also been conducted within the Davey IMCRA Bioregion.
- Annual fishery stock assessment reports for major wild fisheries (Tasmania has prepared reports for the national Department of Environment and Heritage for both the abalone and rock lobster fisheries).
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