This record provides an overview of the scope and research data outputs of the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Emerging Priorities project "Assessing the effectiveness of waste management in reducing the levels of plastics entering Australia’s marine environment". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- This project will contribute to better understanding where to target investment in abatement measures by providing information on the extent of the leakage of plastic materials into the marine environment, where the greatest leakages are and in what quantity, and what form they take (e.g. plastic bags, packaging, takeaway containers). It will also identify what type of facilities, policies and outreach strategies governments (state and local) have in place and undertake an assessment of their effectiveness. The objectives of this project are to: 1. Investigate the relationship between plastic debris in the marine environment and litter data from nearby sites; 2. Determine whether there are identifiable pathways through which plastic debris moves into the marine environment; 3. Investigate whether particular investments in facilities, policies or outreach are effective in reducing plastic debris on coasts and in oceans and where investment should be directed in the future; and 4. Initiate an internal department workshop to socialise the outcomes of the research across the relevant arms of the department, including staff involved in approvals, waste, protected species, and parks, and explore the utility of existing data to address the Department’s needs, including those arising from the TAP and the Senate Inquiry. Planned Outputs • A written report and plain English summary for use by state, territory and local governments, which: - Synthesises existing knowledge on the relationship between debris in the marine environment and litter data from nearby sites, the types of litter and the pathways through which litter moves into the marine environment. - Summarises existing coastal debris/litter survey methodologies with discussion of applications of each. • A list of the activities and programs associated with plastic waste reduction (including facilities, policies and outreach), • A publically accessible analysis and summary of different survey methods aiming to reduce debris inputs to the marine environment. - The cost of the activities and programs - Ranking of activities and programs regarding their effectiveness in reducing plastic waste in the marine environment. • Conclusions on where marine debris hot spots are in Australia’s marine environment and effective mitigation strategies. • Recommendations on where more information (scientific, policy, infrastructure, community engagement) is required to obtain a better understanding of the problem and possible solutions. This may include identifying knowledge gaps and needs for further analysis

Reef features were derived by aggregating and dissolving the boundaries of the 1 degree S57 file series for the Australian continental shelf (200 m). These are reefs defined by the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS) that could potentially be a navigational hazard .

Land features were derived by aggregating and dissolving the boundaries of the 1 degree S57 file (lndare_a layer) series for the Australian continent (+ Lord Howe Island). This represents land the area defined at Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) by the Australian Hydrographic Office. The Great Australian Bight was missing from this series, and was replaced by Geoscience Australia's 1:100k coastline. This data has been made available through the data collation process conducted by the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project D3 (Reefs on the Australian Continental Shelf).

The intertidal area was derived by aggregating and dissolving the boundaries of the 1 degree S57 file series for the Australian continental shelf and Lord Howe Island shelf (200 m) depicting depth area features.

Records of collisions between vessels and whales in Australian waters between 1872 and 2015 as described in the paper Peel, D., Smith, J. N., & Childerhouse, S. (2018). Vessel Strike of Whales in Australia: The Challenges of Analysis of Historical Incident Data. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, 69. This record has been created to facilitate access to the original data collection at https://doi.org/10.25919/5be5086a6fda1

This dataset relates to statistical models of killer whale (Orcinus orca) occurrence in the Bremer Sub-Basin developed from vessel-based and aerial survey data collected between 2015 and 2017. Further information can be found in: Salgado-Kent C, Parnum I, Wellard R, Erbe C, Fouda L. 2017. Habitat preferences and distribution of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Sub-Basin, Australia. Report to the National Environmental Science Programme Marine Biodiversity Hub (CMST 2017-15), 37 p.

This record relates to communications outputs of a research project which centered around working with Indigenous communities to raise the profile of the Largetooth Sawfish and support community driven conservation efforts. Some of the items are intended for public viewing (videos and educational signage); but the other outputs are intended for use by the Indigenous communities involved in the sampling (trip reports and Malak Malak annual floodplain sampling protocol and I-Tracker data collection application).

The Australian Shellfish Reef Restoration Network is a recently established Community of Practice which brings together organisations and individuals interested in shellfish reef education, conservation, restoration and management. The Network aims to improve awareness of shellfish reef habitat and educate the broader public on the value of shellfish habitat conservation and restoration. The Network also promotes communication, restoration training, policy and regulation, research and development and implementation amongst network members. This record describes images collected by the Australian Shellfish Reef Restoration Network and freely available on https://shellfishreefs.smugmug.com/

This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub project "Shark action plan". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Sharks, rays and chimaeras are increasingly recognised as conservation priorities in Australia and globally, with several species affected by overexploitation, bycatch, habitat pressures, and climate change. Considering common threats and data gaps across these taxa can support more consistent conservation assessment, policy and management. This project produced two major publications to strengthen the evidence base for shark, ray and chimaera conservation in Australia. The Shark Action Plan Policy Report 2018 reviewed extinction risk, distribution, data gaps, priority assessment needs, common threats, climate change research, and policy issues for internationally listed and Conservation Dependent species. The Action Plan for Australian Sharks and Rays 2021 assessed the national extinction risk of Australia’s 328 shark, ray and chimaera species using International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria. Assessments considered available information on taxonomy, distribution, population status, habitat, ecology, threats, use and trade, and conservation measures. The project provided a national benchmark for tracking future changes in species status, identified species requiring further research, and recommended conservation objectives for each species. Outputs support threatened species listing processes, fisheries and conservation management, and policy development at Commonwealth, state and territory levels.

The state boundary area of the Australia continental shelf (including Lord Howe Island). The coastline is at Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) and the shelf break is defined by the 200 m isobath taken from Geoscience Australia's GA 2009 bathymetric dataset.