This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A12 - "Scoping a seascape approach to managing and recovering Northern Australian threatened and migratory marine species". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata.

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Northern Australia is the current focus of substantial economic development, which has the potential to impact biodiversity and cultural values. The Northern Seascape scoping project will assess the status of knowledge of EPBC-listed Threatened and Migratory Marine species, and pressures, Indigenous priorities, habitats, fisheries bycatch, and EPBC referrals in relation to them across the North Marine Bioregion (coast to EEZ edge). The focus will be at the multiple taxa level, including elasmobranchs, shorebirds, turtles and cetaceans. The project will scope research needs and directions for a broad Northern Seascape project (2018–2020), by identifying future research hotspots.

Planned Outputs

• Maps of Threatened and Migratory Marine species occurrence and habitats, and a gap analysis of research and data needs

• Maps of state and trends in pressures and Threatened and Migratory Marine species, and the intersection between them

• A report on Indigenous marine research and management priorities for Threatened and Migratory Marine species

• Maps and time-series graphs that depict the extent and timing of past changes in coastal habitats that are important for TMM species

• Identification of Threatened and Migratory Marine species bycatch and bycatch mitigation research priorities

• Identification of EPBC referral spatial and species trends

• Data, data visualisation and summaries available online through an appropriate web-based portal and/or existing internal DoEE information products

• Project report synthesizing northern Australian Threatened and Migratory Marine species, pressures, Indigenous priorities, coastal habitat change, fisheries bycatch mitigation research priorities, and EPBC referral trends, and the identification of future research hotspots