Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Low

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Numbers of Dugongs have declined drastically along the 'urban coast', but may now be stabilising. The remote coast population does not appear to have changed.
  
• Traditional use, mainly hunting, fishing and collecting, involves a range of marine species (some of conservation concern), but levels of take are unknown.  Poaching by non-Traditional Owners is a concern for Traditional Owners and management agencies.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• The national recreational and indigenous fishing survey
• Limited quantitative data for Indigenous harvest of marine species
• Population Viability Analysis (PVA) of Traditional dugong harvest in Torres Strait and Cape York
• PBR modelling for dugong harvest in the Torres Strait
  
• Perceived threat to the Reef from Indigenous use 
• Assessment of risks to dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Historical population estimates for dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef
• Life history, pattern of breeding and population dynamics of the dugong
• Healthy country: Healthy people - Indigenous natural and cultural resource management and health
• Cultural significance dugongs to Aboriginal communities along the Great Barrier Reef
• Cultural significance of customary dugong fishery in the Torres Strait
• Spirituality associated with dugong and marine turtle in the Great Barrier Reef
  

Existing policies and management actions

• Sustainable Traditional use of marine resources
  
• A Reef-wide framework for managing traditional use of marine resources in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park  [368KB]
• Cape York rangers  
• 'Traditional use', management and contemporary relationships
• Management of 'Traditional use'
• Management of 'Traditional use' 2
  

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy

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