December 2012

Marine Matters

"Marine Biodiversity in the frame"

The Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is working with a number of research projects that will influence development of the observing system into the future. In a project with the National  Environmental Research Program (NERP) Marine Biodiversity Hub, IMOS is providing data for use in development of a set of National Marine Ecological Indicators to monitor and evaluate the state of Australia’s marine environment.

Marine Matters Issue Thirteen, December 2012

More information on the Integrated Marine Observing System
 

10 October 2012

Territory Talk - Hub Researcher Peter Kyne

Prof Peter Kyne, Charles Darwin University Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, says he has been working to assess the conservation status of sharks across the world. He says 17 per cent of the around 500 species of sharks are threatened with extinction. He says this is not a good thing as the fish play an important role in the ecosystem. He says some shark fisheries are sustainable including ones in NT and southern Australia. He notes species such as grey nurse are slow breeders so overfishing threatens their preservation. He says the white shark is often implicated in human attacks but notes that Australia has an average shark attack fatality rate of just over one per year. He says his group is assessing freshwater sawfish and river shark populations in NT.

Territory FM (Darwin)
Interviewees:
Prof Peter Kyne, Charles Darwin University Research Institute
for the Environment and Livelihoods

 

12 September 2012

Visit our blog for surveying an Australian marine frontier

A unique voyage of discovery into open waters off northern Australia starts on 12 September 2012, when an Australian Government research vessel with 11 marine scientists aboard leaves Broome.

The 21-day survey of marine life is being undertaken under the auspices of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Marine Biodiversity Hub, in recognition of the global marine biodiversity significance of northern Australia and the increasing pressures facing this region.

Media release

Blog
 

27 August 2012

"Marine reserves not about closing fisheries, but about preserving ocean health"

Marine Hub Director Prof Nic Bax and Ian Cresswell

Recently, members of the fishing industry staged a protest about Australia’s new network of marine parks. But when Environment Minister Tony Burke announced the parks on July 11 2012, he noted the reserves had been designed not to manage fisheries, but to help ensure the health and productivity of Australia’s oceans. The impact on the commercial fishing sector would be restricted to just above 1% of annual catch.

Read the article in The Conversation