Zellor, 1998:

"Seagrass is important to coastal ecosystems because of their high rates of primary production and their ability to trap sediments and organic nutrients (Poiner and Peterken 1995). As fisheries habitats, seagrass beds are of special importance, supplying detritus to the food chains of coastal waters, acting as substrate for enhanced primary productivity by epiphyitic algae (Klumpp et al. 1989) and as critical nursery and feeding areas for penaeid prawns, recreational and commercial fishes (Dredge et al. 1977; Coles et al. 1993), crabs (Coles et al. 1992, p.19) and marine crayfish (Pitcher 1992, cited in Kailola et al. 1993, p.166) (table 7)."

AND

"Queensland's east coast commercial catch of tiger, endeavour and redspot king prawns for 1995 totalled almost 3500 tonnes and was valued at more than $50 million (Williams 1997). All of these species are dependent upon seagrass beds as nurseries that protect and feed juvenile prawns before recruitment to deep water fishing grounds."

Citation and/or URL

Zeller, B. 1998, Queensland's fisheries habitats: current condition and recent trends, Queensland. Department of Primary Industries, Information series. Department of Primary Industries (Queensland). Brisbane: QI 01601, Brisbane, Qld., 211.  

Spatial Coverage

Queensland marine habitats. 

Temporal Coverage

1998 

Update Frequency

 Not applicable 

Other Information

 None