Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Low

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

•  The endemic Australian snubfin dolphin and the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin are at risk, especially from interactions with large mesh nets and increasing human use of their inshore habitat.
• There is limited information for any other dolphin species in the Great Barrier Reef.
• Much of the research activity on the Great Barrier Reef is confined to areas surrounding the six island research stations. With ongoing management, any impacts of research are likely to be small and localised in the immediate area of study.
• Most of the routine defence training activities carried out in the Great Barrier Reef have negligible impacts. Individual high impact activities are carefully managed and confined to specific localised areas, and limited to a few weeks per year.
• Most routine shipping activities have negligible consequences. Dredging and construction of port facilities can have significant but localised impacts.
• 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.
• Marine mammals are likely to be affected by climate change due to its impact on food resources.
• Increasing coastal development is resulting in the loss of both coastal habitats that support the Great Barrier Reef and connectivity between habitats.
• Some pollutants such as heavy metals can persist for decades in the marine environment. They are known to accumulate in species that have a high fat content (such as whales and dolphins), species which are higher in the food web, and in species which are long lived. 
• There is now a range of mandatory and voluntary management arrangements that minimise the impact of commercial tourism operations in the Great Barrier Reef, such that the impacts associated with tourism activities are seen as minor.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online Include:

• Spatial distribution of Australian snubfin and humpback dolphins
  
• Population sizes, site fidelity and residence patterns of Australian snubfin and humpback dolphins in the Cleveland Bay area, Townsville
  
• Australian humpback dolphin genetics
  
• Australian snubfin dolphin genetics 
• Taxoplasmosis in Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins
• Impact of commercial net fisheries on dugong, dolphin and turtle populations
• Defence - Outlook Report 2009 supporting information
• Outlook Report 2009 Information Sheet - Defence [184KB]
• Impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals
• Trends for recreational use of the Great Barrier Reef
• Managing recreational impacts
• Impacts of boat strike on cetaceans
• Perceived threat to the Reef from Indigenous use
• The national recreational and indigenous fishing survey
• Limited quantitative data for Indigenous harvest of marine species
• Vulnerability of marine mammals in the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
• Development intensification and water quality pressures on the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems
• Population and urban growth in the GBR catchment
• Population centres in Queensland and Great Barrier Reef catchment 
• Population projections 
  
• Clearing of wetlands
• Global contamination by persistent organochlorines and their ecotoxicological impact on marine mammals 
• Heavy metal accumulation in marine mammals
• New polybrominated dimethoxybiphenyls (PBDMBs) in marine mammals 
• Scientific consensus statement on water quality in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Synthesis of evidence to support the Scientific Consensus Statement on Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef 
• Reef exposure to river contaminants ecosystem risk index 
• Catchment influence on the Great Barrier Reef 
• Marine tourism impacts on the Great Barrier Reef 
• Impacts of tourism and recreational use on the Great Barrier Reef
• The impacts of cetacean watching

Existing policies and management actions

• Operational Policy on Whale and Dolphin Conservation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park [450KB]
  
• Protected Species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
  
• Policy on managing activities that include the direct take of a Protected Species from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Fisheries: legislative management arrangements
• Fisheries: other management tools
• Fisheries: information systems 
• Implementation of WTO conditions and recommendations from the latest EPBC assessment: progress by fishery
• East coast fin fish fishery independent review
• Queensland’s Nature Conservation (Whale and Dolphin) Conservation Plan 1997
  
• Action Plan for Australian Cetaceans
  
• Australian National Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching 2005 
• High standard tourism operations 
• Ecocertification of Marine Park operators
• Policies and guidelines for managing tourism and recreational use
• Responsible Reef Practices
  
• Queensland Fisheries monitoring
  
• Queensland Management of Commercial Fisheries
  
• Queensland Management of Recreational Fisheries 
• Managing research in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Where does research happen?
  
• Major research and information programs
• Management of 'Traditional use' 1
• Management of 'Traditional use' 2
• 'Traditional use', management and contemporary relationships
• Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement (TUMRA) boundary maps
• Cape York rangers  
• Australian Government policy on climate change 
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies 
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012
• State Coastal Management Plan 2002 
• GBRMPA involvement in coastal development planning and assessment
• Reef Guardian Councils
  
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
  
• State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971
  
• Department of Infrastructure and Planning
  
• Regional coastal management plans
• Improving water quality
• Coastal ecosystem protection
• Water Quality Guidelines for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Regional water quality improvement plans
• 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

• Review of Operational Policy on Whale and Dolphin Conservation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Biodiversity strategy
• Draft Queensland Coastal Management Plan 
• Planned review of the Dredging and Spoil Disposal policy
• Overarching Great Barrier Reef Tourism Strategy
• Great Barrier Reef Recreation 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