Management Concern: Moderate    

Adequacy of Information: Moderate

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Soft seabed habitats support more than 5000 species but are not well understood.
  
• Bottom trawling has occurred throughout large areas of the lagoon for several decades and damage to some of the more sensitive lagoon communities may have occurred as a result. However, large areas of this habitat are now protected after rezoning in 2004.
  
• Most routine shipping activities have negligible consequences. Dredging and construction of port facilities can have significant, but localised impacts.
• Almost all Great Barrier Reef species will be affected by climate change.
  

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online:

• Seabed invertebrate biodiversity
• Protection of seabed species and habitats
• Recovery of seabed biota after trawling
• Summary of the vulnerability of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
• Climate change: trends on the Great Barrier Reef
• Vulnerability of benthic invertebrates of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
• Australian Institute of Marine Science - surveys of sessile benthic communities
  
• Effects of line fishing on the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Fishing catch from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 
• East coast fin fish fishery independent review
  
• Shipping voyages in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Dredging at the Port of Hay Point
  

Existing policies and management actions

• Marine Park legislation and regulations
  
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 – Ecological assessments
  
• Environmental impact assessment
  
• Regional Plans of Management, including Reef Protection Markers and moorings
  
• Permit conditions for specific activities
  
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
  
• Fisheries: legislative management arrangements
• Fisheries: other management tools
• Fisheries: information systems 
• Queensland Fisheries Strategy 2009-2014 
• Queensland Fisheries policies and legislation
  
• Queensland Fisheries monitoring 
• Queensland Management of Commercial Fisheries
  
• Queensland Management of Recreational Fisheries 
• Australian Government policy on climate change 
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies 
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012
• Memorandum of Understanding between GBRMPA and Queensland Ports [1.34MB]
  
• Cruise Shipping Policy for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park [113KB]
  
• Dredging and Spoil Disposal Policy [525KB]
  
• Environmental Impact Management Policy [900KB]

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy
• Planned review of the Dredging and Spoil Disposal policy

Defined research questions

• There are currently no defined research questions for this topic. Research questions will be developed, giving priority to interactions/issues that are of most concern to management.

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring