Residents with an interest in the Great Barrier Reef are invited to nominate for the Cairns Local Marine Advisory Committee (LMAC).

The Cairns LMAC is one of 12 regional committees established from Bundaberg to Cape York that provide advice to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).

GBRMPA Chairman Russell Reichelt said the committees played a vital role in reef management.

"The Reef faces plenty of challenges into the future, and they are challenges that we can't deal with alone," he said.

"We need help from our communities, and the LMACs provide that connection.

"The LMACs provide advice to us when we develop management proposals, and give us an opportunity to hear about local issues first hand from committee members.

"We want to hear a diversity of views, and for that reason we encourage a wide range of members with strong community networks."

Recreational, charter and commercial fishing representatives are sought, as well as farmers, tourism operators, Traditional Owners, conservationists and other stakeholders with an interest in the Reef.

The current Cairns LMAC Chair Paul Gregory said meetings were a great opportunity to meet and share information with both management agencies and different stakeholder groups.

"We share a surprising amount of common ground which probably comes back to the fact that everyone around the table wants to see the Reef in good shape."

Over the last three years, the LMAC had focussed on water quality in the Trinity Inlet, organising community clean-up campaigns and encouraging various organisations to clean up their practices.

The committee also promoted way recreational fishers could avoid seagrass beds to help protect starving turtles and dugongs.

"I strongly encourage community members interested in the reef and coastal catchments to consider joining the LMAC," Mr Gregory said.

The LMAC committees have a three year term during which they meet five times a year.

Further details and nomination forms are available on the GBRMPA website www.gbrmpa.gov.au, by emailing lmac@gbrmpa.gov.au or by phoning the Cairns regional office on (07) 4057 0710. Nominations close on Monday 21 May.