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Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO – Protection
zones are good
Moreton Bay scientists praise Protection Zone
benefits
Marine agency praised for Reef protection and
education
Fish flourish in Green Zones
LONG-TERM MONITORING REVEALS MORE FISH IN THE
SEA – Green zones
Australian Marine Science Association - supports
protection zones
260 European Marine Scientists Support Protection
Zones
Queensland Tourism
Industry Council CEO – Protection zones are good
Daniel Gschwind, CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council
points out that the toughening of protection zones in the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in recent years has had no
negative impact on boating or fishing, and both fishing and
recreational use of the park have increased. "I don't
believe the government has any intention of locking off the
bay – that is scaremongering on an alarming scale,"
he says. "Moreton Bay has to be managed sensibly for
the future, and part of that management has to look at zoning
and non-fishing zones as one of many management tools. It's
an incredible asset for all of us. We're all on the same side."
Reference – The Courier Mail - Q
Weekend 22 September 2007
Moreton Bay scientists praise Protection
Zone benefits
Research recently undertaken by the University of Queensland
at two of the fishing-free ‘protection zones’
in place in Moreton Bay Marine Park indicate that they actually
work! Researchers have shown that protection zones:
- Increase the size and abundance of fished species
- Enhance production of offspring
- Provide refuge for vulnerable species
Source - Pillans S, Pillans RD, Johnstone RW, Kraft PG,
Haywood MDE, Possingham HP (2005) Effects of marine reserve
protection on the mud crab (Scylla serrata) in a sex-biased
fishery in subtropical Australia, Marine Ecology Progress
Series, Col, 293: 201-213
Read
More ...
Marine agency praised for Reef
protection and education
4 June 2007
Protecting and educating students about the Great Barrier
Reef has proved a recipe for success for a Queensland marine
management agency that scooped a prestigious award at the
weekend.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) won
the Excellence in Marine and Coastal Management Award at the
United Nations Association of Australia World Environment
Day Awards 2007. GBRMPA Chairman Virginia Chadwick said the
national award recognised the agency’s high standard
in environment impact management, planning and education.
“Winning this award is fantastic in acknowledging how
marine and coastal management is helping ensure the future
of the Great Barrier Reef,” she said.
“For more than thirty years, the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority has been the custodian of this national
treasure on behalf of all Australians.
“Our Planning and Environmental Impact Management team
play a key role in managing Reef activity, assessing environmental
impacts, issuing permits and developing Plans of Management
that provide protection for high-use areas.
“Our highly-successful Reef Guardian Schools programme
is also helping build a new generation of environmental stewards
passionately committed to protecting the Reef.”
More than 100 schools and 52 000 students participate in
the highly successful programme that aims to achieve a sustainable
future of the environment and Great Barrier Reef.
Students are involved in a range of environmental projects
including revegetating wetlands, recycling and conducting
beach clean-ups.
Ms Chadwick said the award recognised the value of this programme
and the agency’s partnership with industry and local
government.
“Community involvement is central to spreading the
environmental message and building support for marine and
coastal management,” Ms Chadwick said.
“Our close partnership with industry and local government
is also proving invaluable in helping ensure the Marine Park
is used and managed sustainably.”
On World Environment Day (5 June) the United Nations Association
of Australia focuses attention on the environment and positive
programmes that work towards protecting or restoring natural
heritage.
The awards recognise the environmental effort of businesses,
local governments, schools, community groups, individuals
and the media and focus on the time-honoured theme: ‘think
global, act local.’
Reference - Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority - Marine
agency praised for Reef protection and education
Fish flourish in Green Zones
New research has shown fish abundance has increased in Green
Zones introduced under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Zoning Plan 2003.
Preliminary results indicate the Green Zones established
in mid-2004 in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are having
a positive effect even faster than scientists expected.
The monitoring was initiated by the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority (GBRMPA) as part of the monitoring of the Zoning
Plan and was carried out by the Australian Institute of Marine
Science (AIMS) and James Cook University (JCU).
GBRMPA’s Regional Liaison Manager based in Townsville
David Briggs said the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Team surveyed
fish populations on the mid and outer shelf reefs in the Townsville
region.
“Preliminary results from the offshore reefs have shown
that an important fish species, coral trout, is now more abundant
in the ‘no-take’ Green Zones,” Mr Briggs
said.
AIMS Research Director Dr Peter Doherty said in the last
12 months AIMS surveyed fish populations on 26 reefs closed
to fishing by the rezoning and 25 matched reefs that remained
open to fishing. The surveys represent five geographic regions
adjacent to coastal communities between Cairns and Gladstone.
“Although five reefs in the Townsville region will
not be surveyed until September 2006, preliminary results
based on seven reefs that have been done in the region show
about twice as many coral trout on the unfished reefs.”
“Because we have seen a similar improvement in coral
trout stocks in all the regions surveyed, we believe that
this is a real result,” Dr Doherty said.
“It is exciting to see such clear results within two
years of the Green Zones being implemented.”
Tackle World Townsville owner Danny Brooks said over the
last two years the number and size of grunter has increased
considerably in the local area.
“The Sand Island at Bowling Green Bay was once a hot
spot for catching grunter and although this area is now a
‘no catch’ zone we have experienced some very
good grunter fishing over the past two years outside of this
zone.”
Reference - Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority - Fish
flourish in Green Zones
LONG-TERM MONITORING REVEALS
MORE FISH IN THE SEA – Green zones
Researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science
Long-term Monitoring Team (LTMT) have surveyed 100 reefs each
year for the last 15 years to track the impact of disturbances
such as cyclones, bleaching events, crown-of-thorns starfish,
and coral disease. The scientists monitor the decline and
recovery of coral reefs within an area larger than England.
Coral trout. Photo: A. Frisch
When the Great Barrier Reef Zoning Plan was introduced on
1 July 2004, it significantly increased the amount of habitat
protected from fishing and provided a unique opportunity to
determine how quickly reef fish stocks respond to reduced
fishing pressure. The ‘no-take’ green zones established
in the Zoning Plan are designed to create protected areas
where fish can grow and mature. As the oldest and largest
fish produce far more offspring than smaller individuals,
the adults living in green zones are expected to add to the
replenishment of populations on nearby reefs that remain open
to fishing.
The AIMS LTMT has formed a partnership with researchers from
James Cook University to assess changes in ecosystem biodiversity
arising from the new Zoning Plan. The JCU team is surveying
fish and corals on near-shore reefs while AIMS surveys the
mid- and outer- shelf reefs.
The AIMS Long-term Monitoring Team
spends an average of 100 days at sea,
visiting reefs from Cape York to the Capricorn Bunker to
monitor yearly changes on the Great Barrier Reef.
Photo: AIMS Long-term monitoring team.
In the last 12 months, AIMS surveyed fish populations on
26 reefs closed to fishing by the rezoning and 25 matched
reefs that remained open to fishing, representing five geographic
regions adjacent to coastal communities between Cairns and
Gladstone. Although 5 reefs in the Townsville region will
not be surveyed until September 2006, preliminary results
from the offshore reefs have shown that an important fish
species, coral trout, is now about 50% more abundant in the
new ‘no-take’ green zones.
JCU scientists surveyed fish and coral populations on fringing
reefs of the Whitsunday Islands. Before the rezoning in 2004
abundance of fish like coral trout and stripey sea perch were
approximately the same on reefs open to fishing with those
earmarked to be closed to fishing under the new zoning. Just
under 2 years after the rezoning, both of these popular fisheries
species were almost 60% more abundant on reefs closed than
open to fishing.
AIMS Research Director, Dr Peter Doherty, is excited to see
such clear results within two years of the changed management
arrangements.
"The extent of the difference is quite surprising at
this early stage but the consistency of the differences between
zones in all of the places that were examined last year leaves
me in no doubt that this is a real result".
JCU Professor Garry Russ was equally excited and surprised
by such a rapid response of fish populations to the new zoning.
"The fact that we had data from sites in the Whitsundays
before the zoning was implemented, and observed the differences
in fish abundance between zones closed and open to fishing
develop through time, is critical. The complementary results
from both JCU and AIMS suggest a consistent result both offshore
and inshore"
The AIMS LTMT test drives the new manta board
design in its latest surveys.
Photo: AIMS Long-term monitoring team.
This finding adds to other demonstrations in Australia and
elsewhere that marine protected areas can deliver direct benefits
to a regional fish stock, assisting managers to keep fishing
pressure at levels that are ecologically sustainable. In developing
countries, where the human pressures are much greater, marine
protected areas appear to be the most cost-effective form
of management to arrest a global trend towards over-harvesting
of food fish stocks.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Chairman the Hon
Virginia Chadwick said the results are very encouraging.
"These increases will benefit fish stocks, through both
increased spill-over of adult and juvenile fish from green
zones to zones open to fishing and through improved health
of the reef ecosystem.
"This is positive news for both the tourism and fishing
industries. The monitoring programme has shown the importance
of green zones and why they are vital to the future of the
reef."
Mrs Chadwick said the ongoing monitoring is a great example
of collaboration between managers and researchers.
This collaborative project was supported by GBRMPA, Australian
Research Council, JCU, and MTSRF (Marine and Tropical Sciences
Research Facility), which replaces the very successful Co-operative
Research Centres for coral reefs and tropical rainforests
that operated in North Queensland from 1993 to 2006.
Source - http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/about/communications/waypoint/002/headlines-03.html
Australian Marine Science Association
- supports protection zones
(Representing over 900 marine science experts nationally)
Fisheries stock assessments and models are extremely complex
and frequently lack necessary information to reliably predict
sustainable catches. No-take reserves [or protection zones]
thus provide a “second line of defence should current
management fail. Protected populations of exploited species
may assist stock recovery outside a reserve in two ways:
- through movement of mature individuals outside reserve
boundaries; and
- by dispersal of planktonic life stages beyond reserve
boundaries by water currents which move through a reserve.
No-take reserves remove all fishing pressure from exploited
stocks in a limited area. For some species in bays and inlets
the size of the recreational catch is comparable to the commercial
catch.
Research into no-take marine reserves has shown dramatic
increases in size (and as a consequence, also in fecundity)
and abundance of commercially exploited marine species within
them. The effectiveness of reserves for specific fisheries
requires location specific information.
Reference – AMSA position statement
on marine protected areas – AMSA
Bulletin 159, July 2002
260 European Marine Scientists
Support Protection Zones
We believe that Fully Protected Marine Reserves [or protection
zones] are essential for conservation, are necessary for the
implementation of effective management of the sea, and have
important benefits to scientific understanding of this environment.
Where marine reserves have been designated, they have been
shown to result in long-standing and often rapid increases
in the abundance, diversity and productivity of marine life,
especially of species that were previously exploited. Marine
reserves may benefit fisheries by the “spillover”
of animals from inside the reserves and from the export of
eggs and larvae to adjacent marine areas. Marine reserves
also enable the development of more natural, extended population
age structures that promote resilience to overfishing and
are important to maintaining the integrity of marine ecosystems
in the face of climate change.
In order to assure sufficient protection across the whole
range of marine ecosystems it is necessary to establish a
representative, replicated, networked and sustainable system
of Fully Protected Marine Reserves. To be effective networks
must, therefore, span large geographic distances and be of
sufficient scale to protect against catastrophes and ensure
the long-term health and stability of marine ecosystems.
Marine Reserves are essential to scientific understanding
of marine ecosystems, and hence, to their management. They
provide control areas for all direct human disturbances and
more natural baselines for measurement of impacts. This enables
scientists to obtain data that that are less confounded by
human activities (e.g. separating natural variation from fishing
effects) and acquire a greater understanding of the intrinsic
processes of subject ecosystems.
Reference - European Scientists’
Consensus Statement on Marine Reserves - www.york.ac.uk/depts/eeem/gsp/mem/marine_reserves_consensus.pdf
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