We evaluate the status of shellfish reef ecosystems in Australia including their historical distribution and loss, regulation and management and identify current research priorities, policies and conservation mechanisms that can enable their future protection and repair. Eight species of shellfish were identified as developing complex, three-dimensional reef systems over large scales in intertidal and subtidal areas across tropical, subtropical and temperate Australia. A dramatic decline in the extent and condition of Australia’s shellfish reef ecosystems occurred during the mid-1800s to early 1900s in concurrence with extensive harvesting for food and lime production, habitat modification, disease outbreaks and a decline in water quality. Despite early attempts during the late 1800s to curb over exploitation and repair degraded reefs through protection, primitive aquaculture and enhancement, living examples of shellfish reefs are now rare. Only one Ostrea angasi reef is known to exist that is comparable in size to reefs historically commercially fished, compared to at least 118 previously known locations. Out of the 60 historically fished locations identified for Saccostrea glomerata, only five are known to still contain commercially harvestable sized reefs. The introduced oyster Crasostrea gigas is increasing in reef extent, whilst data on the remaining five reef-building species is limited, preventing a detailed assessment of their current status. Our knowledge of the extent, physical characteristics, biodiversity and ecosystem services of natural shellfish reefs in Australia is extremely limited. Australia is well equipped to reverse the decline of shellfish reef ecosystems with a number of state and federal protection laws, international conventions and management mechanisms already in place, all of which can be used to help protect remaining reefs and aid in future recovery. Several restoration projects have recently begun as awareness of historical loss grows amongst the community and groups become motivated to implement repair. As momentum continues to grow, Australia could serve as a long-term model for other regions that may currently have limited understanding of their shellfish reefs ecosystems but wish to work towards their future conservation. Data to be made publicly available with publication of manuscript by end 2018.

The Marine Futures Project was designed to benchmark the current status of key Western Australian marine ecosystems, based on an improved understanding of the relationship between marine habitats, biodiversity and our use of these values. Approximately 1,500 km2 of seafloor were mapped using hydroacoustics (Reson 8101 Multibeam), and expected benthic habitats "ground-truthed" using towed video transects and baited remote underwater video systems. Both sources of information were then combined in a spatial predictive modelling framework to produce fine-scale habitat maps showing the extent of substrate types, biotic formations, etc. Surveys took place across 9 study areas, including Point Ann, a site which lies within the Fitzgerald Biosphere, a UNESCO designated International Biosphere Reserve and one of the largest and biologically significant National Parks in Australia (DEC) on West Australia’s south coast, approximately 180km east of Albany.

Policy and decision makers often seek guidance as to the benefits of conservation and repair of coastal seascapes, to justify and underpin any potential investments. Much is already known about the broad habitat and nursery values of seascapes among the science community, but there is also a need for estimation of clear and unambiguous market-based benefits that may arise from investment in repair. Recognising that this economic knowledge is imperfect for Australian seascapes, three case studies spanning tropical, subtropical and temperate environments explored the benefits in question. The case studies focus on saltmarsh habitats in particular, which have received very little investment in repair despite subtropical and temperate coastal saltmarsh listed as vulnerable ecological community under Australian Federal legislation. A subset of economically important species and conservative judgments were used to characterise the minimum potential economic benefit. For each of the case studies the conclusion was that while the biological information will remain imperfect, the business case for investment in the repair and conservation of coastal seascapes is compelling. We outline priorities for further research to make the business case more tangible to policy makers, stakeholders and the general public.

Six dredges were undertaken from the RV Investigator during voyage IN2016_E01 to obtain rock and sediment samples to constrain the crustal nature, age of formation and paleo-environment through time of the Cascade Seamount, located offshore Eastern Tasmania, Australia. This record lists the sample number, weights and rock types recovered. In total we collected 713 kg of rock samples, including basalts, conglomerates, sandstones, limestones and tuffs.

The Marine Futures Project was designed to benchmark the current status of key Western Australian marine ecosystems, based on an improved understanding of the relationship between marine habitats, biodiversity and our use of these values. Approximately 1,500 km2 of seafloor were mapped using hydroacoustics (Reson 8101 Multibeam), and expected benthic habitats "ground-truthed" using towed video transects and baited remote underwater video systems. Both sources of information were then combined in a spatial predictive modelling framework to produce fine-scale habitat maps showing the extent of substrate types, biotic formations, etc. Surveys took place across 9 study areas, including the Capes region of southwest Western Australia. The area is one of the most diverse temperate marine environments in Australia. Warm, tropical waters of the Leeuwin Current mingle with the cool waters of the Capes Current, resulting in high finfish diversity, including tropical and temperate species, as well as internationally significant seagrass diversity with meadows occurring at depths greater than 40 metres. The region's geomorphology is complex with an array of intertidal and subtidal reef environments. Many marine plants and animals are endemic to the southern coast of Australia due to its long geographical isolation, with seagrass, algae and estuarine habitats functioning as spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for a wide range of invertebrates and fish. Significant numbers of marine mammals also frequent the area, including the blue whale, the largest of all marine creatures.

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project B3 - "Enhancing access to relevant marine information –developing a service for searching, aggregating and filtering collections of linked open marine data". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- This project aims to improve the searchability and delivery of sources of linked open data, and to provide the ability to forward collections of discovered data to web services for subsequent processing through the development of a linked open data search tool. This work will improve access to existing data collections, and facilitate the development of new applications by acting as an aggregator of links to streams of marine data. The work will benefit managers (i.e. Department of the Environment staff) by providing fast and simple access to a wide range of marine information products, and offering a means of quickly synthesizing and aggregating multiple sources of information. Planned Outputs • Delivery of open source code to perform the search functions described above. • A simple initial web interface for performing the search and retrieval of results. • Expanded collections of data holdings available in linked open format, including the use of semantic mark-up to enable fully-automated data aggregation and web services. In particular, addition of linked-open data capability to a pilot collection of existing data sets (GA, CERF and NERP data sets).