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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A3 - "A national assessment of population status of White Sharks". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- White sharks are listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act and the subject of a national recovery plan, yet there is still no effective way to assess their population status and thus no way of determining the efficacy of conservation actions. Recent debate due to various human-shark interactions has highlighted the need for further information. This Project provides a national assessment of white shark population size and status in order to establish the efficacy of existing recovery actions and provide a scientifically sound and rational basis from which to develop policies that balance conservation objectives and public safety. Planed Outputs • Tools to refine and integrate CK-MR, electronic tagging distribution and species demographic data for population assessments of a key threatened species at a national scale (combining knowledge developed under this project combined with similar techniques being applied under NESP to euryhaline sharks and planned for grey nurse sharks). • National estimates of (census) population size and trend for white sharks in Australian waters (western and eastern populations respectively) are established that fulfil the highest priority actions of the National Recovery Plan. • New genetic and statistical tools trialled for the estimation of historical population trend from contemporary tissue samples for key species for which other methods of population assessment are unreliable or unavailable. • Provide information that identifies movement corridors, hotspots and contributes to management strategies for top-order marine predators • Estimate juvenile white shark survival and abundance for input into integrated national population assessment models in order to refine population estimates. • National-level information on habitat use, behaviour and spatial dynamics of white sharks at various scales used to provide the scientific underpinning for government decisions and policies as well as provide for more informed public debate. • Identify national strategies to monitor white shark populations. • The project will provide peer-reviewed additions to the scientific literature that will add to the science-support for the development and implementation of policies to support the ecologically sustainable management of Australia’s marine environment.
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research data outputs of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project E4 - "Recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Recent assessment have suggested that Australian marine recreational fishers (MRF) are moving further offshore in pursuit of fishing opportunities, which places them in areas managed by the Australian Government. As recreational fishers are key stakeholders in marine management, of MRF effort, catch, motivations and values are required to effectively inform administration of Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) and fisheries. In 2018 the use of exiting MRF state-wide assessment was trialled in WA and NSW to quantify fishing within the Hunter and Ningaloo AMPs. In 2019 this work will be extended to analyse state charter-boat MRF datasets with a particular emphasis on our selected AMPs and the Perth Canyon AMP. Planned Outputs • State of knowledge and gap analysis of recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters (spatial data) • On ground motivation and targets by active fishers of AMP [report]
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project A4 - "The status of human-shark interactions and initiatives to mitigate risk in Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Considerable political, public and media attention has recently been focussed on human-shark interactions, specifically surrounding shark attack and ways to mitigate this risk. Finding the most appropriate policy balance between conservation of sharks, maximising public safety and understanding the broader social and economic ramifications/drivers for doing so is a continuing challenge for Government. This project will review the status of human-shark interactions in Australia, provide a synthesis of current initiatives to reduce risk, review recent international efforts to address these issues and identify knowledge gaps to provide an informed base for determining the most appropriate future research and policy support. The project will develop a background document that: • Provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge of shark-human interactions in Australia, focussing specifically on species such as white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks • Identifies what initiatives are currently underway nationally to address human-shark interactions including the status of current research as well as current management and policy initiatives. • Identifies technological developments within Australia and internationally in this space • Identifies lessons and experiences from these initiatives • Identifies issues and knowledge gaps • Provides guidance to the Department regarding further investment that is cognisant of State Government initiatives and requirements and ensure a coordinated national knowledge base for addressing these issues
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Synthesis Study - "Interpreting pressure profiles". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- This project has two objectives: (i) provide a spatial explicit analysis of the relative risks posed to marine conservation values, as defined by the natural values hierarchy of Parks Australia's Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) framework, by pressures that operate within Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone and state/territory waters (a "hotspot" analysis); and, (ii) provide a proof of concept of an adaptive, probabilistic assessment of the cumulative risks posed to these values, in a region determined to support the Parks Australia MERI project D7, in a manner that is consistent with the seascape-scale cumulative assessment described in the "Guidelines for analysis of cumulative impacts and risks to the Great Barrier Reef". Planned Outputs • National hotspot maps of risks posed to marine conservation values • Probabilistic assessment (written) of cumulative risks
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project B2 - "Analysis and elicitation to support State of the Environment reporting for the full spectrum of data availability". No data outputs are expected for this project. -------------------- The availability and quality of observation data that may be used to support State of the Environment reporting lies on a spectrum from: (i) high quality (e.g. Reef Life Survey, Long term reef monitoring programme, Temperate Reef Monitoring programme, state-based MPA monitoring programmes); (ii) moderate quality (e.g. continuous plankton recorder, occasional by catch surveys); (iii) low quality (anecdotal information) to (iv) expert beliefs but no empirical observations. We currently lack a principled process for utilising and merging data of varying quality and from different sources to form a national perspective to support State of the Environment reporting. The key unifying principle to support such a process is the extent to which the available data is representative of the environmental asset in question. As the extent to which the empirical observations accurately represent the state of the asset in both space and time diminishes, so the reliance on expert opinion increases, to the limit where the only available information is expert opinion. This project will provide an over-arching framework to consider these issues, develop practical protocols for blending different data streams with or without experts’ judgement as appropriate, and thereby provide a foundation for improving State of Environment reporting for all types of data sources, from high to low quality. It will do this by developing and applying protocols to support development of the marine chapter of SoE 2106. This currently being developed within a separate CSIRO funded project. The project will use the experience of developing this chapter to make recommendations about appropriate methodologies for future environmental reporting. Importantly the statistical approach and analysis principles will be consistent regardless of the amount or quality of the information available. As a result the framework and analysis methods will remain relevant, even as the quality and quantity of environmental data at the department’s disposal changes. This will provide the consistency of analysis and reporting that is essential to SoE. Expected Outcomes • The provision of two or three examples that demonstrate a unified approach to the use of expert opinion in SoE reporting. These examples will be identified in close collaboration with the Department and will be developed in time to support the marine chapter of 2016 State of the Environment report, contingent on the availability of resources in the second year of the project and timely interaction with the department. • Assessments of the status and trends of environmental assets in the State of the Environment report will be based on a principled and statistically defensible process that can merges and utilises data from all sources including expert opinion.
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project E3 - "Microplastics in the Australian marine environment". No data outputs are expected for this project. -------------------- A literature review will firstly identify key marine microplastics research and policy development internationally, with a focus on research that is contextual to microplastics in the Australian marine environment From this literature review, an options paper will be developed to explore the most feasible and impactful policy approaches for the Australian context to reduce both intentionally added and not intentionally added microplastics in the marine environment (it would be beneficial to understand the policy options that can address both categories of microplastics because the options are different). These two reports would form the basis of a one day workshop that will draw together policy-makers, researchers and relevant industry peak bodies to discuss and recommend policy and other options to limit the release / impact of microplastics in the environment. A workshop report will be drafted to summarise findings, recommendations, and next steps (including identifying gaps in both science and policy will inform any future work required). The report will provide evidence to underpin the development of national policy aimed at reducing microplastic pollution, including by identifying priority actions to deliver Australia’s 2018 National Waste Policy .
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This record provides an overview of the scope and research output of NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project C1 - "Improving our understanding of pressures on the marine environment". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- The marine environment in Australia is influenced by a wide range of different pressures that impact on different parts of the marine ecosystem in different ways. This project aims to assist DoE, and other research users, to improve understanding of the potential impacts of anthropogenic disturbance to marine conservation values by providing up-to-date data and analyses on the spatial distribution of pressures and trends. The research is designed to inform decision making under the EPBC Act (acceptability of proposed activities, evaluation of effectiveness of mitigation measures) on NMES (including Key Ecological Features), implementation of multiple strategies in four Marine Bioregional Plans (i.e. strategies B, C, D and F), management of Commonwealth Marine Reserves (e.g. strategies 1 and 2 in the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network Management Plan 2013-23) and State of the Environment reporting. The project will involve a re-examination of the pressure analyses undertaken through the marine bioregional planning program and the 2011 SOE Report (marine chapter) and determine where pressure mapping can be improved to enhance those analyses (for instance for those pressures for which data deficiency was identified). It will also examine the strengths and weaknesses of the different pressure assessment methodologies used by both the MBP process and the SOE 2011 process and propose a methodology that can support both initiatives into the future. The project will provide pressures profiles for CMRs and will assist Parks Australia in understanding how pressures interact with the values they identify in CMRs. The project will also consider relative impact, and how spatial mapping can assist in understanding both relative and cumulative impact. As an adjunct to the cumulative impact investigation, the project will also investigate how changes in socio-economic valuing of conservation values may influence the degree of investment in understanding and management of cumulative impact. This particular work will further the risk-based approach to cumulative impact that was investigated under the NERP Hub. Planned Outputs • Produce description of summary of changes and trends in pressures on the commonwealth marine environment in the offshore marine environment from 1991 to 2010. • Production of inshore and offshore pressure summaries to inform SOE reporting (2011-2015) • Produce description of trends in pressures acting on the commonwealth marine environment (onshore & offshore) between 1991 & 2015, with refined summaries for all KEFs and CMRs. • Distribute pressure data and pressure data summaries through NPEI compliant data infrastructure. • Produce analysis and description of the likely future states (for example, climate (interannual and decadal), shipping, modification of fisheries activity, coastal eutrophication) • Re-evaluation of the pressure assessments published in the 2012 Marine Bioregional Plans , ensuring consistency of output, updating the profiles for all KEFs • Report on the changing socio-economic valuing of conservation values to the concept of acceptable impact, or acceptable risk of impact • Report on a risk based framework to manage the uncertainty information bases for different decision making requirements with example case
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2023 project 3.7 – Identifying and overcoming barriers to coastal and marine habitat restoration and Nature based Solutions in Australia. No data outputs are planned for this project. -------------------- There is an increasing need for and investment in coastal and marine restoration around Australia to help manage habitat and biodiversity loss, water quality, coastal inundation and erosion, and blue carbon assets. These projects are undertaken by a range of Commonwealth, state and local government agencies, NGOs, and community groups, and range across different habitat types and scale. However, a number of barriers currently preclude widespread uptake and implementation of habitat restoration and nature-based solutions (NbS) in Australia, which centre on: 1) policy and legislative barriers; 2) engineering adoption of NbS; and 3) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusion and co-design. Overcoming barriers to marine and coastal restoration, and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) adoption is critical to safeguarding Australia’s marine estate. We focus this research on three thematic areas that represent roadblocks and opportunities for more inclusion in implementing and scaling-up restoration and NbS: 1. Engaging policy & permitting regulators to identify and breakdown barriers for marine and coastal habitat restoration; 2. Understanding and up-take of NbS by the engineering sector; and 3. Inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in restoration and NbS The research will be conducted through in person and/or virtual workshops, with the outcome being advancement of effective approaches to overcome these challenges. Planned Outputs • Final technical report with analysed data and a short summary of recommendations for policy makers of key findings [written]
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Populations of the endangered Australian sea lion have declined by >60% over the last 40 years. There is a marked uneven distribution in abundance and trends across the species range, suggesting that localised risk profiles from threats vary at small spatial scales. Fine scale differences in habitat use are thought to underpin these differences, yet knowledge about the species dependency on key habitats and their vulnerability to human impacts is limited. This project will deploy underwater cameras onto sea lions to identify and map their critical habitats, assess their ecological value and identify risks to populations. Results will improve our understanding of threats to sea lion populations and support future conservation actions to recover the species. Outputs • Tracking data from sea lion-deployed tags: location, depth, time, temperature, light, acceleration [dataset] • Timestamped video footage from sea lion-deployed cameras [dataset] • Final project report [written]
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub scoping study - "Identify knowledge gaps and solutions for extent mapping of Australian marine and coastal wetlands". No data outputs were created by this project. -------------------- Marine and coastal wetlands provide extensive ecosystem services to Australia, and a comprehensive inventory is required for effective conservation and protection. This project will identify key knowledge and inventory gaps and determine solutions to progress a consolidated inventory within the context of a wider review of national mapping capacity for wetlands. Gaps and solutions will be identified through targeted surveys and workshops with end-users and researchers following a review of relevant data and literature. A summary of the status of mapping habitat attributes and services such as blue carbon, coastal protection and shorebird habitat will be produced. The outcome will be identified prioritisation for future investment to fill knowledge gaps. Outputs • Report reviewing and synthesising knowledge gaps in inventory mapping of marine and coastal wetlands, identifying effective solutions, and guiding subsequent research projects for enhancing wetland mapping [written] ---No data outputs were created by this project.---