The data represents the results of a national model of boat-based recreational fishing effort (number of trips) around Australia. The model reflects boat-based line fishing trips in marine waters and is reported on a 5x5 nautical mile grid to a distance of 100 km from the Australian coastline. The model includes two parts: (i) allocation of fishing trips from a reporting region to individual boat ramps and (ii) allocation of fishing trips from boat ramps to adjacent marine waters. Raw fishing effort data could not be made available. Aggregated effort data is supplied as summary plots in the final report: https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/document/social-and-economic-benchmarks-australian-marine-parks

This record relates to outputs from a series of socio-economic surveys conducted nationally to benchmark awareness and perceptions towards the Australian Marine Parks. This includes a general public survey, a boat ramp survey (focussed on boat-based recreational users), a targeted survey (focussed on members of fishing, boating and yacht clubs) and a charter operator survey (focussed on fishing and eco-charter operators). All surveys were conducted across 2019-2020. Raw data could not be made available. Aggregated survey data is supplied as summary plots in the final report: https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/document/social-and-economic-benchmarks-australian-marine-parks

Ecosystems provide numerous services and benefits to society. While historically overlooked, these services are increasingly recognized and are now being mapped and accounted for. There are several approaches to mapping and evaluating these ecosystem services. In this report, we use two increasingly common approaches, Ocean Accounting and Welfare Economics, to evaluate ecosystem services for the Great Southern Reef. The Great Southern Reef is a network of rocky reefs dominated by temperate algal forests known as kelp. It spans over 8,000 Km of coastline and supports two thirds of the Australian population. Despite its presumed importance, there has been little work quantifying the extent and value of the ecosystem services provided by the Great Southern Reef. Through a systematic review we assessed the current state of knowledge of the ecosystem services provided by the Great Southern Reef. Using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) framework, we created an overview of the ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, and cultural) provided by the Great Southern Reef in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. We then created metrics to quantify how these services benefit coastal societies in these five states. Highlight summaries include over 17 million Australians who live within 50 Km of the reef, 26 wild seaweed harvest companies, 115 tourism SCUBA operators, 1436 mapped dive sites, 18 million tourist visits each year, 16 temperate marine biology university programs, 43 books and films, key medical products, 23 tons of harvested seaweed, 1116 grams of carbon per m2 used for growth each year, 2,361 peer-reviewed scientific publications from 1976 to 2022, 186 marine protected areas, 2.16 million recreational fishers, and over 28 commercial fisheries with 20,000 tons of biomass taken each year. We then conducted economic evaluations using these biophysical values and the available information. Using a variety of approaches, we found that the total economic value of the Great Southern Reef was $11.56 billion each year. Individually the values were as follows, commercial fishing (producer surplus - $33.2 million), carbon sequestration (avoided damages - $37.8 million), nutrient cycling (avoided damages - $6,484 million), recreational fishing (consumer surplus - $1,668 million), diving and snorkelling (consumer surplus - $403 million), other recreational activities (consumer surplus $1,836 million), and the existence value (consumer surplus - $1,096 million).