The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) recognises the important role that research plays in contributing to our understanding of the Great Barrier Reef. Scientific research provides the GBRMPA with a scientific basis for management decisions, which assists the GBRMPA in protecting the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Marine Park).

Research activities that require a permit in the Marine Park may also require a similar permit under Queensland Marine Parks Legislation. The GBRMPA and the relevant Queensland agency, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), cooperate to assess and issue joint permits, where necessary. Note that Queensland legislation may require a permit where the GBRMPA does not.

Requirements of researchers under the Zoning Plan

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 came into effect on the 1 July 2004. Managing Scientific Research in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park policy underpins research in the Zoning Plan. There may not be a need for individual researchers to obtain Great Barrier Reef Marine Park permissions if they are undertaking limited impact research and their parent organisations are accredited educational or research institutions.

Any organisation wishing to become accredited would have to meet specific performance and reporting criteria designed to demonstrate adoption of appropriate environmental practices and standards set by the GBRMPA.

View when do you need a permit flowchart

Research that requires a permit

Any research proposals that satisfy any of the following require a permit:

• Occur in the Preservation (Pink) Zone or the Commonwealth Island Zone or is otherwise indicated in Table 1 and/or
• Uses or involves equipment that are not listed as ‘minor research aids’ (Table 2) and/or
• Sample numbers for particular species that are greater than those listed in the limited research sampling tables, or which exceed any limits imposed under the Queensland Fisheries legislation (for example plants) and/or
• Which involve any organism listed in Table 3 and/or
• The manner of take is not by hand or hand held implement and does not involve the use of a minor research aid and/or
• Is to be conducted by an educational or research institution that is not accredited by the GBRMPA.

In order to apply for a permit please read the Research permit information and fill out a permit application form.

Table 1 Research permit requirements for each zone

Zone
	General Use	Habitat Protection	Conservation Park	Scientific Research	Commonwealth Island	Buffer	Marine National Park	Preservation
Limited impact research (non-extractive) +	No permit required	No permit required	No permit required	No permit required*	Permit required	No permit required	No permit required	Permit required
Limited impact research (extractive) +	No permit required	No permit required	No permit required	No permit required*	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required
All other research	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required	Permit required

*If an approved Environmental Management Plan is in place, ‘as of right’ research must be conducted in accordance with that Environmental Management Plan.

+ only if conducted by an accredited educational of research institution, otherwise a permit is required.

Commonwealth Islands include:

Kent Island in the Barnard Island Group	Hannah Island
Coppersmith Island (Rock)	Pipon Islands
Albany Rock	Bailey Islet
Lady Elliot Island	Clerke Island
Pine Island	Coquet Island
Low Isles	Eshelby Island
North Reef Island	Hannibal Island
Russell Island	High Peak Island
Rocky Island	South Brook Island
Dent Island (note only sections of this island are owned by the Commonwealth – Lot 1,2,3 and 4)	South Brook Island (note only sections of this island are owned by the Commonwealth – Lot 3)
Penrith Island

What is limited impact research?

A permit is not required in some zones if it falls under limited impact research and the researcher is associated with an educational or research institution accredited by the GBRMPA. There are specific limits on the type of species and the number of those species that you can collect under limited impact extractive research (see Table 2).

There are six different extractive limited impact collection categories:

Table 2: Summary table of limited impact collection limits based on the species tables in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations

Category	Table number in Regulations	Annual limit per research project	Per location/site
1	19-1 (part 2)	20	5
2	19-1 (part 3)	50, and none longer than 1000mm	10
3	19-1 (part 4)	50	10
4	19-1 (part 5)	500	100
5 (plant species)	19-2	200	50
6	In the case of an animal species other than a species mentioned or referred to in the limited impact collection limit tables, no more than 200 specimens in total and no more than 50 specimens per location are to be taken or collected per research project per calendar year.

NOTE: For the purposes of limited impact research a location is defined as a discrete, identified reef, or a continuous non-reef area of up to 10 square kilometres. Site means an area of 3,000 square meters within a location.

Limited impact research can be of two types; non-extractive and extractive. In general, the major differences between extractive and non-extractive limited impact research are the following (assuming that the research is conducted in accordance with the accreditation and an Environmental Management Plan, where required):

Extractive	Non-extractive
The taking of an animal, plant or marine product by limited research sampling; or Installation and operation of minor research aids (see Table 2) (that do not pose a threat to safety or navigation and are installed and used in accordance with the limitations set out in the minor research aids list below)	No extraction of any animal, plant or marine products Includes visual surveys (except of cetaceans which requires a permit) Includes social research that does not involve the conduct of archaeological excavations

Limited impact research sampling:

• The taking is done by hand or by the use of a hand-held implement that is not motorised nor pneumatically nor hydraulically operated or
• By the use of a minor research aid (see Table 3)
• Explosives or chemicals are not to be used
• In the case of an animal species mentioned in the limited impact research collection tables in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations there are set amounts which can be collected per location and in total per research project per calendar year
• In the case of an animal species mentioned or referred to in Part 1 of Table 19-1, no specimens are to be taken or collected
• In the case of a plant species referred to in the limited impact research collection tables, no more than the number of specimens permitted by Queensland Fisheries legislation
• No more than 20 litres of wet sediment is taken or collected per research project per calendar year
• No more than 100 litres of seawater is taken or collected per research project per calendar year
• The relevant laws of the Commonwealth and Queensland must be complied with.

Table 3 A list of minor research aids which can be used under limited impact research and a limit on the installation of minor research aids

Minor research aids	Limits on the installation and/or use of minor research aids
Apparatus and equipment authorised under Queensland Fisheries legislation for recreational use	Limits set out under Queensland Fisheries legislation for recreational use
Fish tags	No limit
Stakes less than 12mm in diameter	No more than 10 stakes may be used per research project A stake must protrude less than 300mm from the substratum
Data loggers for attachment to marker buoys, bolts or dive weights	No limit
Non-fixed plankton nets	No limit
Water sampling devices that are not motorised nor pneumatically nor hydraulically operated	No limit
Sediment sampling devices that are not motorised nor pneumatically nor hydraulically operated	No limit
Sub-surface marker buoys less than 100mm in diameter	No more than 20 sub-surface marker buoys may be used per research project per location Sub-surface marker buoys must be attached by lines to either: Concrete nails driven into dead coral substrata; or Inverted-U-shaped metal rods less than 6mm in diameter driven into sand
Surface marker buoys less than 200mm in diameter	No more than 10 surface marker buoys may be used per research project per location If surface marker buoys are used a researcher associated with the research project must be present at all relevant times at the location. A surface marker buoy must be attached by lines to either: Concrete nails driven into dead coral substrata; or Inverted-U-shaped metal rods less than 6mm in diameter driven into sand.
Bolts or dive weights for attachment to data loggers	No limit
Non-fixed transect tapes and quadrats	No limit, but must be attended at all times.

Umbrella and institutional permits

The GBRMPA will further streamline the research permits process by considering the grant of institutional or umbrella permits.

The issue of such permits may improve flexibility for the conduct of ecologically sustainable research. This will reduce the number of individual research permits required and increase the flexibility for research activities to be conducted at short notice where the opportunity arises or allow for changes to the species collected due to local abundances at particular locations.

These permits will be designed to cover the range of activities undertaken by a research institution for example a university (institutional permits), or research programs led by a senior researcher (umbrella permits).

A few of these permits have already been issued and are being audited/reviewed by the GBRMPA. Where possible, the activities of students (particularly honours students) should be covered under a permit held by their supervisor or host institution, or their research must satisfy the ‘as of right’ research requirements under the Zoning Plan and associated regulations.

Applying for umbrella or institutional permits can be done on the research permit application form.

Table 19-1 Animal species limited by number for limited research sampling

	Species	Common name
Part 1	Research on any of these species automatically requires a permit
1	Class Mammalia (all species)	Mammals
2	Class Aves (all species)	Birds
3	Class Reptilia (all species)	Reptiles
4	Class Amphibia (all species)	Amphibians
5	Family Syngnathidae (all species)	Seahorses, seadragons, pipefish
6	Family Solenostomidae (all species)	Ghost pipefish
7	Cheilinus undulatus	Humphead Maroi wrasse
8	Coris aygula	Clown coris
9	Bolbometopon muricatum	Humphead parrotfish
10	Chlorurus microrhinos	Steephead parrotfish
11	Cetoscarus bicolor	Bicolour parrotfish
12	Scarus rubroviolaceus	Ember parrotfish
13	Family Pristidae (all species)	Sawfish
14	Cromileptes altivelis	Barramundi cod
15	Epinephelus lanceolatus	Queensland grouper
16	Epinephelus tukula	Potato cod
17	Halophryne queenslandiae	Sculptured frogfish
18	Ogilbyina novaehollandiae	Multicolour dottyback
19	Family Istiophoridae (all species)	Marlin
20	Xiphias gladius	Swordfish
21	Carcharias taurus	Grey nurse shark
22	Rhincodon typus	Whale shark
23	Carcharias carcharias	Great white shark
24	Family Palinuridae (all species)	Rock lobster
25	Holothuria nobilis (reclassified as Holothuria whitmaei)	Black teatfish
26	Holothuria fuscogilva	White teatfish
27	Family Tridacnidae (all species)	Giant clams
28	Melo amphora	Baler shell
29	Charonia tritonis	Triton
30	Cassis cornuta	Helmet shell
31	Pinctada maxima, P. margaritifera	Pearl oyster
32	Family Muricidae (all species)	Muricids
33	Class Anthozoa (all species)	All corals (hard, soft and black), anemones, zooanthids, seafans, corallimorpharians
Part 2	20 specimens of each of the species listed in Part 2 can be taken in total, per research project per year, with no more than five of each species per location.
34	Order Octopoda (all species)	Octopus
35	Brachaelurus colcloughi	Colclough's shark
36	Pseudocarcharias kamoharai	Crocodile shark
37	Isurus oxyrinchus	Shortfin mako
38	Hypogaleus hyagaensis	Blacktip topeshark
39	Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos	Grey reef shark
40	Carcharias brevipinna	Spinner shark
41	Carcharias falciformis	Silky shark
42	Carcharias leucas	Bull shark
43	Galeocerdo cuvier	Tiger shark
44	Triaenodon obesus	Whitetip reef shark
45	Sphyrna lewini	Scalloped hammerhead
46	Sphyrna mokarran	Great hammerhead
47	Rhynchobatus djiddensis	Whitespot giant guitarfish
48	Taeniura lymna	Bluespotted ribbontail ray
49	Aetobatus narinari	Spotted eagle ray
50	Manta birostris	Manta ray
51	Dasyatis fluviorum	Estuary stingray
52	Urogymnus asperrimus	Porcupine ray
53	Carcharhinus plumbeus	Sandbar shark
54	Carcharhinus obscurus	Black whaler
55	Orectolobus ornatus	Banded wobbegong
56	Carcharhinus limbatus	Blacktip shark
57	Centrophorus granulosus	Gulper shark
58	Dalatias licha	Black shark
Part 3	50 specimens of each of the listed in Part 4 can be taken in total, per research project per year, with no more than 10 of each species per site.
59	Genus Epinephelus (all species except E. lanceolatus and E. tukula)	Cods and groupers, except Queensland grouper and potato cod
Part 4	50 specimens of each of the species listed in Part 4 can be taken in total, per research project per year, with no more than 10 of each species per site.
60	Genus Bodianus (all species)	Hogfish
61	Cheilinus fasciatus	Redbreasted Maori wrasse
62	Cheilinus trilobatus	Tripletail Maori wrasse
63	Choerodon anchorago	Anchor tuskfish
64	Choerodon cephalotes	Purple tuskfish
65	Choerodon cyanodus	Blue tuskfish
66	Choerodon schoenleinii	Blackspot tuskfish
67	Choerodon venustus	Venus tuskfish
68	Family Scaridae (all species except Bolbometopon muricatum, Chlorurus microrhinos, Cetoscarus bicolor and Scarus rubroviolaceus)	Parrotfish, all species except humphead parrotfish, steephead parrotfish, bicolour parrotfish and ember parrotfish
69	Family Serranidae (all species except Cromileptes altivelis and all those of the genus Epinephelus)	(Exceptions: Barramundi cod and groupers)
70	Gnathodentex aureolineatus	Gold-lined sea bream
71	Genus Gymnocranius (all species)	Sea bream
72	Lethrinus atkinsoni	Yellow-tailed emperor
73	Lethrinus erythracanthus	Yellow-spotted emperor
74	Lethrinus genivittatus	Lancer
75	Lethrinus harak	Thumbprint emperor
76	Lethrinus lentjan	Pink-eared emperor
77	Lethrinus miniatus	Sweetlip emperor (Red-throat emperor)
78	Lethrinus nebulosus	Spangled emperor
79	Lethrinus obsoletus	Orange-striped emperor
80	Lethrinus olivaceus	Long-nose emperor
81	Lethrinus ornatus	Yellow-striped emperor
82	Lethrinus rubrioperculatus	Red-eared emperor
83	Lethrinus xanthochilus	Yellowlip emperor
84	Lethrinus variegates	Variegated emperor
85	Monotaxis grandoculis	Bigeye bream
86	Aphareus furca	Small-toothed jobfish
87	Etelis carbunculus	Ruby snapper
88	Etelis coruscans	Flame snapper
89	Lutjanus adetii	Hussar (Pink hussar)
90	Lutjanus bitueniatus	Indonesian snapper
91	Lutjanus bohar	Red bass
92	Lutjanus boutton	Paleface snapper
93	Lutjanus carponotatus	Spanish flag (Stripey)
94	Lutjanus erythropterus	Crimson seaperch (Small-mouth nannygai)
95	Lutjanus malabaricus	Saddletail seaperch (Large-mouth nannygai)
96	Lutjanus fulviflamma	Black-spot snapper
97	Lutjanus fulvus	Yellow-margined seaperch
98	Lutjanus gibbus	Paddletail
99	Lutjanus kasmira	Bluestripe seaperch
100	Lutjanus lemniscatus	Dark-tailed seaperch
101	Lutjanus lutjanus	Bigeye seaperch
102	Lutjanus monostigma	Onespot seaperch
103	Lutjanus quinquelineatus	Five-lined seaperch
104	Lutjanus rivulatus	Maori seaperch
105	Lutjanus russelli	Moses perch
106	Lutjanus sebae	Red emperor
107	Lutjanus vitta	Brownstripe seaperch (Brown hussar)
108	Macolor macularis	Midnight seaperch
109	Macolor niger	Black and white seaperch
110	Symphorus nematophorus	Chinamanfish
111	Symphorichthys spilurus	Sailfin snapper
112	Lutjanus johnii	Fingermark
113	Pristipomoides filamentosus, P. sieboldi	Rosy jobfish
114	Pristipomoides multidens, P. typus	Gold band snapper
115	Aprion virescens	Green jobfish
116	Glaucosoma scaplare	Pearl perch
117	Atractoscion aequidens	Teraglin jew
118	Protonibea diacanthus	Black jewfish
119	Agrioposphyraena barracuda	Barracuda
120	Scomberomorus munroi	Spotted mackerel
121	Platycephalus fuscus	Dusky (mud) flathead
122	Family Antenariidae (all species except Halophryne queenslandiae)	Anglerfishes and frogfishes, except sculptured frogfish
123	Family Aulostomidae (all species)	Trumpetfish
124	Family Balistidae (all species)	Triggerfish
125	Family Muraenidae (all species)	Moray eels
126	Family Ophichthidae (all species)	Snake eels
127	Family Congridae (all species)	Conger eels
128	Family Fistulariidae (all species)	Flutemouths
129	Family Ostraciidae (all species)	Boxfish
130	Phylum Echinodermata (all species except Holothuria nobilis and H. fuscogilva)	Echinoderms, all species except black teatfish and white teatfish
131	Ranina ranina	Spanner crab
132	Phylum Mollusca (all species except: all those of the order Octopoda and the family Tridacnidae; Melo amphora, Charonia tritonis, Cassis cornuta, Pinctada maxima and P. margaritifera; and all those of the family Muricidae)	All species of molluscs except octopus, giant clams, baler shell, triton, helmet shell, pearl oysters and muricids
Part 5	500 specimens of each species listed in part 5 can be taken in total, per research project per year, with no more than 100 of each species per location.
133	Family Atherinidae (all species)	Hardyheads
134	Family Blenniidae (all species)	Blennies
135	Family Clupeidae (all species)	Herring
136	Family Engraulidae (all species)	Anchovies
137	Family Gobiidae (all species)	Gobies
138	Family Pomacentridae (all species)	Damselfish
139	Family Siganidae (all species)	Rabbitfish
140	Family Synodontidae (all species)	Lizardfish
141	Family Tripterygiidae (all species)	Triplefins

Table 19-2 Plant species limited by number for limited research sampling

Item	Species	Common Name
1	Family Rhizophoraceae (all species)	Mangroves
2	Division Magnoliophyta (all species)	Seagrass
3	Kingdom Protista (all species)	Algae