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Seagrass still recovering from Qld floods

18 January 2012, Ninemsn

Seagrass habitats off Brisbane are still at risk because of last year's floods, research shows.

Griffith University's Australian Rivers Institute found that seagrass meadows near Stradbroke Island were in poorer condition than expected at this time of year as a result of the flood, which saw million of tonnes of sediment washed into bays off Brisbane.

Research leader Professor Rod Connolly said the meadows were now vulnerable to any major flooding this summer and wildlife may not be able to cope with further destruction.

"Seagrass habitat is critical food for dugongs, turtles and fish," Professor Connolly said in a statement.

"With the unfortunate spike in dugong and turtle deaths reported during 2011, we are continuing to closely monitor this situation."

In the year to September 20, 150 dugongs had become stranded, with only three released, she said.

That's compared to 68 in the same period in 2010, 37 in 2009 and 30 in 2008.

Meanwhile, 999 turtles had died, compared with 555 in 2010, 625 in 2009 and 552 in 2008.

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Lower turtle nesting numbers no surprise

18 January 2012, ABC Online

Queensland's Department of Environment says a drop in the number of green turtles nesting this season is not concerning.

The turtles, which are listed as vulnerable, typically nest this time of the year north of Bundaberg, including on Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave islands.

The department's chief scientist, Dr Col Limpus, says last season was exceptional, with a high number of green turtles breeding.

He says a loss of seagrass and breeding patterns have contributed to the fluctuation.

"We weren't surprised to find that numbers were down, it's not the lowest that we've seen by any means," he said.

"It's too early in the season to give precise numbers but it's a low nesting season but we've seen a lot lower over the last couple of decades."

The department will release nesting numbers in the next few weeks.

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Read the Turtle issue of the Seagrass-Watch magazine - Issue 44

Cutter Suction Dredging in Gladstone Harbour Suspended

11 January 2012, Dredging Today

Turbidity levels in the Western Basin of Gladstone harbour have been increasing in recent days.

Water quality monitoring systems have recorded levels at QE4 (at the northern end of the bund wall) above the limits set out in the project approvals.

This has meant a temporary suspension of cutter suction dredging has been put in place by the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).

GPC will comply fully with the decision to reduce dredging in the Western Basin this week and continue to assist water conditions return to normal as soon as possible.

GPC’s implementation of the Turbidity Management Plan during the Spring tides late last year has been largely successful in mitigating turbidity increases seen during the large tidal ranges.

As part of our adaptive approach we have voluntarily suspended cutter suction dredging on previous occasions.

Backhoe and grab dredges will continue to operate.

Turbidity levels are an important measurement of water quality to ensure the health of the seagrasses throughout the harbour. Seagrass beds are continuing to recover from the extreme weather events of 2010-2011.

Cutter suction dredging is expected to resume when turbidity levels at all water quality monitoring sites have fallen under and remained below the limit for a period of more than 24 hours.

Turbidity levels at QE4 have exceeded the approval limit of 34NTUs for a period of longer than 48 hours. QE4 turbidity levels have ranged from 0 to over 100NTUs during normal summer weather.

Inner harbour turbidity is typically between 10-35NTUs, however, during heavy rains turbidity can typically reach 100NTUs, and last summer’s floods caused turbidity over 250NTUs.

The limit of each water quality monitoring site was established by the DERM based on background turbidity levels recorded prior to dredging.

GPC is committed to carrying out the Western Basin Dredging and Disposal Project with care and respect for our environment.

“We are committed to ensuring the protection of the local environment, and the Western Basin Dredging project is being managed under world’s best practice for dredging, informed by the Dredging Technical Reference Panel,” CEO Leo Zussino said.

“GPC is working with the authorities to enable dredging to continue in order to ensure Gladstone’s economic growth and future prosperity.”

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Red Sea: Seagrasses filter carbon and prevent coastal erosion

09 January 2012, Al-Masry Al-Youm

Seagrasses are underwater meadows of green, lush leaves that carpet a good portion of the world’s ocean and sea beds. They are flowering plants that grow in sandy grounds, firmly rooted by rhizomes and roots. They only grow in the submerged photic zone — shallow or coastal waters that can be reached by sun rays — because they rely on photosynthesis to grow, just like any other terrestrial plant. These meadows cover over 177,000 square kilometers worldwide, and play essential ecological and environmental roles.

The seagrasses of the Red Sea have been barely studied, but the publication this month of “Field Guide to Seagrasses of the Red Sea”, by marine biologist Amgad al-Shaffai, provides records of seagrasses in this zone.

The publication of the first field guide on this submarine pasture is a first step to assess the Red Sea’s seagrasses, and raise awareness about their importance and the necessity of preventing them from decreasing.

Shaffai, marine biologist and environmental researcher at the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), has been researching and documenting the 12 seagrass species of the Red Sea since 2006. “I have been working extensively in the protected area of Wadi al-Gamal, where I recorded 11 of the 12 species found in the entire Red Sea,” he explains.

He recorded 1,500 hectares of seagrasses in this natural park, and explains that dugongs and marine turtles depend exclusively on these submarines grasses for food. Hundreds of flora and fauna species also depend on this herbivory for survival, including algae, mollusks, worms, nematodes and juvenile fish. The latter do not feed on the leaves but use this compact vegetation to hide from predators until they can freely roam the sea.

According to Shaffai, there are 40 times more flora and fauna species in zones covered by seagrasses than in areas of bare sand. He explains that “seagrasses link the mangroves and the coral reefs ecosystems together, and if one of these three intertwined ecosystem is threatened, it impacts the others.”

“Ecosystem engineers” is another term that refers to seagrasses, because they partly create their own habitat: the leaves slow down water currents and increase sedimentation while their roots and rhizomes stabilize the seabed. "Seagrasses have a very important role to play to prevent coastal erosion," Shaffai explains, "because their compactness and their roots embedded in the sandy bottom decreases dramatically the strength of waves and currents that would otherwise nibble the littoral.”

“One square meter of seagrass meadow can produce up to 10 liters of oxygen per day, that's why seagrasses are so vital to the Red Sea,” says Shaffai, adding that these meadows also serve as efficient carbon filters. He says that no less than 12 percent of global carbon is stored in ocean sediment, where the seagrasses grow. “One hectare of seagrass can filter 830kg of carbon per year, which is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by a 3000km car drive,” he exclaims.

There is a general lack of awareness about the important functions of seagrass on the marine ecosystem, and this has led to many occurrences of large patches of this sea meadow being uprooted to “clean up” the sandy area. A global decline of 30,000 square kilometers of sea pastures has been recorded worldwide.

The biggest threats to seagrass beds are manmade, but strong currents can also damage hectares of seagrasses. When agricultural lands are located near the coast, the fertilizer-filled wastewater that pours into the sea creates a phenomenon called “eutrophication.” Fertilizer, once in saline water, creates a vegetation bloom of brown algae which competes with seagrasses and eventually kills them. The amount of algae depletes the oxygen available in the water and reduces the amount of fish species.

Dredging to deepen harbors and waterways is also a major threat to seagrasses’ survival.

But the predominant aspect is climate change, because higher water temperatures cause coral reefs to bleach, impacting the two other connected ecosystems: the seagrasses and the mangroves.

Shaffai explains that seagrasses are unfortunately not included in any Red Sea conservation plan, but that he intends to continue his studies on these flowering underwater lawns and produce a database. “There are still many barren lands on the Red Sea coast in Upper Egypt which will soon be developed for touristic purposes: I need to have the database on seagrasses ready before it happens so we can mitigate the development’s impact on these meadows,” he says.

The “Field Guide to Seagrasses of the Red Sea”, financed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Total, is available in PDF format and will soon be published in high quality waterproof paper in order to be carried around while scuba diving.

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Large-scale SAV restoration discouraged until water quality improves

07 January 2012, By Karl Blankenship , The Chesapeake Bay Journal

A scientific review has offered advice about trying to plant large-scale underwater grass beds in the Chesapeake: Don't bother. At least not until the Bay's often-murky water gets clearer.

The recent report by the Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee recommended that efforts to replant large underwater grass beds be discontinued until environmental conditions improve, although it said small-scale projects in carefully targeted areas should continue.

The state-federal Bay Program in 2003 had set a five-year goal of planting 1,000 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, in the Chesapeake in the hope of jump-starting the growth of underwater meadows in areas that had often been barren for decades.

But the goal, estimated to cost more than $30 million, was never fully funded. The $5 million which was spent, mostly by federal agencies, resulted in the planting of fewer than 150 acres by 2008, most of which died.

The report nonetheless said that scientists demonstrated they had the technical expertise to harvest large amounts of seeds and plant large, multi-acre projects. Those techniques work: Virginia Institute of Marine Science researchers planted 37.8 million eelgrass seeds on 309 acres in four different bays in the Virginia seaside starting in 1999. These beds are now 4,200 acres.

But in the Chesapeake, almost all of the restoration projects died, apparently because of poor water clarity and high summer water temperatures. Eelgrass, the focus of much of the work, needs clear and cool water to survive.

"Without water quality improvements, SAV restoration in the Bay proper is not yet a viable, large-scale alternative," the report said.

The report did encourage smaller projects in areas where improvements in water quality suggest plants will survive, and to better understand conditions that affect the survival of plantings.

It also called for taking the impact of climate change into account with underwater grass restoration. Warm temperatures can be lethal for eelgrass, the dominant underwater grass in high-salinity areas, especially when coupled with poor water clarity. Eelgrass was the species that got the most focus in restoration efforts because of its importance in the lower Bay.

"Their conclusions are valid," said Lee Karrh, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and chair of the Bay Program's SAV Workgroup, which had requested the review. But since 2008, there has been little funding for underwater grass plantings, and he and others worry that lack of support will keep them from better understanding why so many projects failed.

"We can't learn how to do restoration at all unless we put things in the water," he said.

SAV provides important habitat for fish, shellfish and waterfowl. The Bay Program has goal of restoring 185,000 acres of underwater grass to more than twice what exists today.

Based on the success of some small and large-scale projects, including two that successfully jump-started significant eelgrass beds in the James River in the late 1990s, it was hoped that a concerted larger-scale planting program could help reach the Bay goal.

Part of the program's problem was bad timing: It began in 2003, a year of high flows, and therefore bad water quality. It was capped by Hurricane Isabel in the fall, which destroyed some beds planted that year. In 2005, a heatwave baked most eelgrass beds in the lower Bay, both established and planted ones, causing a major die-off.

"We proved methodologically we could do it," said Bob Orth, a seagrass researcher at the VIMS. "If the water quality conditions were appropriate, we could have easily restored quite a bit of eelgrass. It's just that the years that we did this were years of exceptional stress."

But the plantings also showed that establishing new beds was more difficult than thought. Planted beds failed to survive in areas where water clarity appeared to be adequate and scientists say it became evident that other factors, such as wave action, may play important roles in limiting plant survival.

Also, water quality considered good enough for adult plants, which was used to help select restoration sites, might not have been good enough for seedlings, scientists say.

Teasing apart exactly why some beds persisted and others did not is difficult. A number of projects were conducted on the St. Mary's River in Maryland and some died while others "within arms' reach" survived, Orth said. Some difference in that short distance was great enough to determine the success or failure of a grass bed, he said. "But we'll never know, because we don't have the funding for it."

Research on some of those issues had just begun when funding for SAV restoration efforts ended. Without that type of knowledge and the ability to successfully plant grass beds, Orth and Karrh said, large areas of the Bay could remain barren even if water quality improves.

While grasses have generally been recovering in freshwater areas where there are multiple species that provide an abundant source of seeds, high-salinity areas rely on eelgrass, which has been declining for two decades. Many areas in the lower Bay have no beds nearby to supply seeds.

The surviving eelgrass beds in the St. Mary's River, Orth noted, remain the only eelgrass documented in the Potomac drainage since 1963. "In some places, where there are no source populations, recovery is not going to happen, or not for a very long time," he added.

Susquehanna Flats' recovery after storm shows resiliency of large beds

Bay scientists had been worried that the deluge from Tropical Storm Lee, which sent a massive plume of sediment-laden water down the Susquehanna River and into the Bay in late summer, might have buried the largest grass bed in the Chesapeake.

But recent aerial photographs show that the bed on Susquehanna Flats survived largely intact.

"While we did see some declines along the flanks and edges of that big bed, my gut feeling says next year should be OK for grass beds up there," said Bob Orth of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and leader of the team that conducts the annual Bay grass survey. That, he said, demonstrates the ability of large, dense and healthy grass beds to survive stresses that would wipe out smaller beds.

Susquehanna Flats was nearly barren little more than a decade ago, but a lush bed covers nearly 10 square miles today.

Nonetheless, the unusually high flows that washed huge amounts of nutrients and sediment into the Bay during the spring and late summer months of 2011, coupled with unusually high summer temperatures, are expected to take a toll on grasses Baywide. Scientists expect final figures for 2011 to show a decline from the 79,675 acres observed in 2010. The Bay Program goal is 185,000 acres.

An aerial photo comparison of Susquehanna flats for 2010 and 2011 can be viewed at: http://thumper-web.vims.edu/bio/sav/wordpress/archives/1458.

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Image: DNR biologist Mike Naylor inspects eelgrass beds near Crisfield, MD, prior to harvesting some of the grass for seed stock in 2007. Photo Credit: Dave Harp

Urban estuaries 100-fold weaker as 'Blue Carbon' sinks

06 January 6th, 2012 eco-business.com

Australian scientists have reconstructed the past six thousand years in estuary sedimentation records and found that changes in plant and algae abundance point to a possible undermining of these natural coastal carbon sinks.

The findings, published in Global Change Biology, show an increase in microalgae relative to seagrass in the past 60 years. This shift could diminish the ability of estuaries to mitigate climate change.

‘We have effectively gone back in time and monitored carbon capture and storage by coastal ecosystems, finding a 100-fold weakening in the ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon since the time of European settlement,’ said University of Technology Sydney’s Dr Peter Macreadie.

‘This has severely hampered the ability of nature to reset the planet’s thermostat’.

The scientists collected soil cores from sites in and around Botany Bay. A chronology for the cores was determined using radiocarbon dating. Changes in plant and algae composition over time were then determined according to the change in isotopic ratio of the organic matter in the sediment.

The team’s analysis suggests the relative reduction in seagrass and increase in microalgae coincided with a time of rapid industrial expansion and increased nitrogen deposition.

These findings are critical because plants such as seagrass have a relatively large carbon sink capacity, which plays a critical role in mitigating climate change.

‘Unfortunately, this outcome is common to urbanised estuaries throughout the world, therefore the study adds further support for the inclusion of Blue Carbon habitats (seagrasses, saltmarshes, and mangroves) in greenhouse gas abatement schemes,’ said Dr Macreadie.

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Futenma plan once again thorn in side of DPJ

Failure to follow through on deal puts U.S. relations in precarious position

28 December 2011, By MASAMI ITO and ERIC JOHNSTON, The Japan Times

Map of Okinawa locating the US bases in Japan, including the Futenma air base and its planned relocation site (AFP, Afp/Gal)

The submission of the environmental assessment on Henoko in Okinawa sparked polarized reactions from the governments in Tokyo and Washington and the people of Okinawa, underscoring the gap in awareness over the contentious relocation of the Futenma air base.

Despite thunderous public outrage among Okinawa residents, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had repeatedly expressed his intention to submit the report by the end of the year. And in the end, the Defense Ministry was unable to hand the report to the Okinawa Prefectural Government directly as planned and was forced to use the mail.

Pundits say Noda was adamant about submitting the report by Dec. 31 as a show of good faith to the United States. Amid the gridlock facing the Futenma plan, the U.S. Congress lost patience and recently decided to cut $150 million from the 2012 budget to move thousands of marines from Okinawa to Guam, which was a major part of the relocation package.

"The Futenma issue has been in a deadlock and has become a thorn between Japan and the U.S.," said Fumiaki Kubo, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo. "Japan wanted to submit the report to give consideration to the U.S. and show that it is making efforts one step at a time to resolve the issue."

Ever since the Democratic Party of Japan took power in 2009, promising and failing to move the Futenma base out of Okinawa, the central government's relationship has been rocky not only with the locals on the island but also the U.S. However, Kubo thinks bilateral ties have taken a turn for the better, as both sides have agreed to focus on other pressing matters, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

"Japan and the U.S. agreed that while Futenma is important, they will not let it affect other outstanding bilateral issues," he said.

The experts, however, are unsure whether Japan's submission of the report will have any impact on Congress to restore the funding.

Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, stressed that regardless of the impact the assessment report may or may not have on Capitol Hill, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima now has to reach a decision on the relocation plan.

"The time has come to make that decision. It is difficult to predict whether this will influence thinking on Capitol Hill. . . . Yet delaying the decision is not likely to be fruitful, and will only increase frustration all around," Smith said.

Since taking office in 2006 with the backing of the pro-base business community and the Liberal Democratic Party, Nakaima has kept Tokyo and Washington guessing as to whether he will actually override local opposition and, with appropriate financial incentives from Tokyo, formally approve the Henoko plan.

Currently 41 Okinawan municipality heads, including 29 conservatives who say they support Japan's alliance with the U.S., as well as the prefectural assembly are calling for Futenma to be relocated outside of Okinawa. Following the election last year of an antibase mayor in Nago, Nakaima appeared to switch his position by announcing that he too would seek to get Futenma out of the prefecture rather than relocated to Henoko.

However, many local construction and real estate firms, worried they will lose out if the construction in Henoko is canceled, have been meeting with pro-Henoko Diet members and local politicians over the past year in an attempt to put political pressure on Nakaima to go through with the plan, under certain conditions.

The result has been further comments from the governor that moving Futenma out of Okinawa would be the quickest option, even as he says building the replacement at Henoko is nearly impossible. To emphasize the point, Nakaima also told Washington policymakers in September that an "irreparable rift" in relations between Japan, Okinawa, and the U.S. would be the result of forceful construction of the Henoko base.

Nakaima's statement over the weekend that Okinawa would be forced to accept the environmental assessment came just after the administration agreed to provide Okinawa with nearly ¥294 billion in support for fiscal 2012, a 27 percent increase over the roughly ¥230 billion Okinawa received this fiscal year.

This money is just the beginning. Okinawa is negotiating with Tokyo for a 10-year revitalization plan that would run until 2022. Thus, final approval from Nakaima for the Henoko relocation has become Okinawa's strongest bargaining chip for negotiations over the new 10-year plan. As Okinawa media pointed out, the governor indicated only that he would accept the environmental assessment. He made no mention of whether he would approve the Henoko plan itself.

But if Nakaima is ready to accept the environmental assessment, base opponents and international environmental groups are not. Since at least 2003, activists have waged a campaign to stop the Henoko base due to environmental concerns. That year, a coalition of U.S. and Okinawan groups filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the U.S. Department of Defense, charging that the plans to construct the Henoko facility on reclaimed land would destroy the habitat of the endangered Okinawa dugong.

A marine mammal, the dugong is listed as a protected species under the Japanese Register of Cultural Properties. The animal is an ancient symbol of abundance and some Ryukyu legends hold the dugong is sent by the sea god to warn people of approaching tsunami.

"I would imagine the assessment will say there is no major impact on the dugong if the base is built. But we have to determine if the dugong would be driven away by noise in the waters due to the marines practicing beach landings at Camp Schwab and Japanese frogmen checking the surrounding seabed," said Kunitoshi Sakurai, a member of the Okinawa Environmental Network, which is one of several organizations leading the fight to protect the mammal.

The 2003 lawsuit charged that the Defense Department failed to take into account the effect of the proposed Henoko facility on the dugong, something required under America's National Historic Preservation Act. In 2008, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the Defense Department to submit additional information on what was needed to evaluate the impacts of a Futenma replacement facility on the dugong. But the scope of the ruling applied only to the U.S., not Japan.

Between 2003 and 2008, there were numerous clashes, sometimes physical, between local activists, who used canoes and kayaks to block central government attempts to do geological surveys. Their struggle attracted international attention, with groups like Greenpeace, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and WWF expressing support and offering assistance.

In 2009, Okinawa Prefecture called on the central government to carry out a survey of the dugong over a period of several years after it was learned that the Okinawa Defense Bureau cut the discovery of a dugong in Henoko Bay out of an official report. Tuesday's assessment says the government is satisfying Okinawan demands by carrying out dugong surveys since 2009. The exact number of dugongs in the Henoko Bay area is unknown, with environmental activists saying there are up to 50 while some residents who support the base claim sightings are rare.

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Image: Protesters stage a 13 kilometre long human chain around the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station last year

Turtle tracker studies sea damage

22 December 2011, ABC Online

Researchers will soon have a better picture of changes to our coastline thanks to a project launched at Mon Repos. The 'project' is a middle-aged loggerhead turtle that goes by the name of Leonie.

Leonie is a regular to the waters of Mon Repos. The 102kg turtle started breeding 14 years ago, and in 2009 a satellite tracking system was placed on her back to monitor her progress.

It's this previous data that makes her so special says Dr Col Limpus, chief scientist with the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

"We've had a lot of damage from the floods last summer, and we've seen negative impact on green turtles and dugongs.

"So we can compare her behaviour and the habitats she used before and after the floods, and it gives us an opportunity to learn more about the impacts of extreme weather events on these animals."

For most of the time Leonie lives in Moreton Bay in an area that has a lot of protection. The area where she makes her home has a boating 'go-slow zone' overhead, and she feeds on shellfish and crabs. Every couple of years, Leonie travels about 450kms to Mon Repos where she lays several clutches of eggs.

On her most recent visit to Mon Repos to lay eggs, Leonie was identified by the rangers and taken to the research facility. It was here that she was scanned with an ultrasound and the satellite transmitter was placed on her back. It took four men to lift her from the back of the ute onto the beach, and she then made her own way back into the water.

Dr Limpus say that Leonie will probably lay twice more in the next month before making the return trip home.

"She's got lots of yolks in the ovaries to make another two clutches of eggs. In two weeks time she will be back here; somewhere on the northern end of the beach because that's where she likes to nest.

"We'll meet her and check that everything is still functioning. Two weeks after that she'll head back to Moreton Bay."

The data that Leonie's tracking system generates will produce maps once a month, which the scientists will use to monitor changes in behaviour compared to the previous data.

Over time this will give the scientists a picture of area damaged by last year's floods.

"The damage was caused by the flood plumes that brought sediment down from the catchments. It blocked sunlight, settled on the bottom, and smothered some of the animals and plants."

Dr Limpus says the sediment from the floods has killed off sea grass and algae which is the main source of food for ocean-dwelling herbivores.

Dugongs and green turtles have been most affected, with a number of dead turtles washing up on local beaches. Dr Limpus has also observed a number of sea turtles who are skinnier than normal.

"This will have an impact on the proportion of adults that actually breed for the year."

The impact on loggerhead turtles has not been the same as green turtles, but the tracking of Leonie gives scientists a unique opportunity to study extreme weather events and their effects due to high level of data already gathered.

The goldilocks zone

The 1.6km beach at Mon Repos is known as one of the best nesting beaches for turtles in the country.

But what is it about this beach that makes it so special? Dr Limpus says that they don't really know, but there are a few factors that could explain it.

"This stretch of coast has the right temperatures to give good hatching and give a good mix of males and females."

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by temperature. As you go south along the coast, the tendency is more male turtles; whereas if you go north the tendency is more female turtles.

Also, due to the shape of the coast the beach at Mon Repos offers protection for the eggs in the event of a cyclone. Dr Limpus says that beaches at Moore Park and Kelley's beach would lose 100 per cent of eggs during a cyclone.

"Maybe the turtles are recognising something about beach stability?

"About half of all of the loggerhead turtles that breed in eastern Australia come and lay their eggs on this little beach.

"When you think about it, it's the most important spot in eastern Australia for loggerhead turtles.

"They have been using this beach for hundreds if not thousands of years, and if you start to put some of these things together, and obviously it comes together at Mon Repos."

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Image: Leonie the loggerhead was released from Mon Repos with a satellite tracking system on her back. Photo credit:  Ross Kay - ABC

Queensland Greens Sceptical About Gladstone Water Quality Panel

15 December 2011, Dredging Today

The Queensland Greens say a team of experts reviewing water quality and seagrass health in and around Gladstone Harbor is too close to the dredging industry.

The Dredge Technical Reference Panel oversees dredging in Gladstone Harbor, and comprises marine and water quality experts, and representatives from the Queensland government and the Gladstone Ports Corporation.

The corporation is conducting the dredging program off Gladstone to prepare for the construction of two liquefied natural gas plants and export hubs at Curtis Island and the expansion of the Gladstone port.

The panel met in Gladstone on Thursday to review the latest water quality and seagrass monitoring results.

The Gladstone Ports Corporation says the panel is an “independent panel of technical experts established … to provide high level advice to the project team“.

A spokeswoman said the panel members will analyse the latest data and convene early next year to discuss the results and recommend changes, if any, to the corporation’s dredging program.

Queensland Greens spokeswoman Dr Libby Connors said the statement that the panel was independent was media spin.

“The chair of the panel, Dr Rick Morton, has worked for Brisbane Ports Corporation, which has an extensive dredging program,” Dr Connors said in a statement.

Scientific consultants employed by the Gladstone Ports Corporation were also on the panel, she said.

“We’re just concerned it’s too pro-dredging to be capable of reproducing genuine independent technical advice,” Ms Connors told.

The Gladstone Ports Corporation has been approached for further comment.

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Turtle reign

15 December 2011, Fiji Times

PLANS have been set in motion for 2012 to further reduce the level of turtle meat consumption in Fiji.

According to a statement from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, at their second bi-annual meeting at Raviravi Village in Macuata, turtle monitors agreed on several key actions.

These include conducting beach patrols and tagging and monitoring turtles to bring down the level of consumption of turtles, and also introduction of a reporting format to enable monitors to track their progress against their action plan.

It was also recommended that turtle monitors assess permits for the harvesting of turtles from the community before the final approval from the Fisheries Department.

"The reporting will show the progress of the work they are carrying out and will help them to feel motivated that they are making headway on the action plan," said Penina Solomona of WWF-South Pacific.

The Dau Ni Vonu (DNV) network strongly recommended they also evaluate applications for permits to harvest turtles, according to the statement.

"The DNV are at the site and they are already carrying out the work of protecting turtles, so it's naturally also their responsibility to monitor its harvests.

"It all links to the fact that they want to see a decrease in consumption and that can only happen if they are aware of when an event is taking place."

The recommendation was made to officials from the Department of Fisheries and a decision is expected to be filtered back to the DNV at its first meeting next June.

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Monitors profile turtle feeding grounds

13 December 2011, Fiji Times

THE Raviravi foreshore in Macuata was a hive of activity last week after a group of turtle monitors in the Northern Division conducted a beach profile.

Apart from the beach profile, the monitors surveyed the types of seagrass to acquire additional skills on how to protect turtles from extinction.

Organised by the World Wildlife Fund under the South Pacific's Marine Species and Climate Change Adaption Program, the initiative brought more than 20 turtle monitors from Bua and Macuata together.

Penina Solomona, the program coordinator, said the initiative would help the monitors identify certain areas which were adaptable for turtles.

"This activity broadens their knowledge on what is affecting the feeding grounds as seagrass is the main source of food for turtles," she said.

"Their understanding should not only be focused on tagging the turtles but also the nesting grounds and the seagrass these species will rely on for survival. It's all interconnected because protecting the feeding grounds is also looking after the food sources of turtles."

Ms Solomona said the monitors would also realise the connection of human activities on the land such as logging and clearing from agriculture with the marine environment.

"The monitors will help monitors to proactively safeguard seagrass beds from chemical runoffs and debris," she said.

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Image: A group of turtle monitors surveying the seagrass and profiling the feeding grounds of turtles at Raviravi Beach in Macuata last week. Photo credit: WWF

New hope for turtles and dugongs

09 December 2011, by Laura Packham, The Cairns Post

TRADITIONAL owners say they will use more than $50,000 in secured state funding to better protect turtle and dugong populations in the Far North.

uru-Gulu Gungandji tribe are in regular meetings with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to look at new management measures for their sea country, including the option of imposing strict permits on traditional hunting.

Tourism operators and tourists reported at least 14 turtles had been killed at Green Island in the past month and feared the overkill would wipe out populations for the area.

Last month, tourists were also confronted by several speared and gutted turtle carcasses on the beach of Green Island.

Guru-Gulu Gungandji elder Robert Sands said he did not support the practice and called for hunters doing the wrong thing to be prosecuted.

"We very strongly oppose that sort of activity," Mr Sands said.

"I wish those young fellas would stop using traditional hunting as an excuse to do the wrong thing – it’s appalling."

He said traditional hunting should not occur around the island as the area was only ever used as a ceremonial site.

Yarraburra Gunggandji elder Ricco Noble said his people also did not support the inappropriate killing of marine mammals and had previously filed complaints with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service about rogue hunters netting dugongs and turtles in Yarrabah bay.

Prosecute illegal Green Island turtle hunters, says elder

He claimed the men pictured in yesterday’s The Cairns Post were traditional owners of the sea country and were not hunting turtles but instead were at the island for recreational purposes.

He said the men in the boat had witnessed rogue hunters cutting the fins of turtles on the beach of Green Island.

"We don’t support the way they are killed and don’t usually hunt in that (Green Island) area, but instead usually in the reefs around there, such as Arlington reef," Mr Noble said.

"It’s a handful of people doing the wrong thing."

The Gunggandji PBC Aboriginal Corporation secured a $50,000 Sea Country Partnerships grant in the latest round of GBRMPA funding to address critical issues around sustainable use, management and monitoring of turtles and dugongs and traditional fisheries (fish and crabs).

More information: Click Here

Happy ending for four turtles

08 December 2011, ABC Local

Four Moreton Bay turtles found stranded and starving have been re-released into the wild thanks to a team of marine experts who brought them back to health.

It has been a hard year for marine animals in Moreton Bay.

The January floods washed river sediment into the bay, blanketing the sea grass beds, a crucial food source for many animals.

Four turtles fell victim, and were found stranded on a beach on North Stradbroke Island in August.

Dr Kathy Townsend from the Moreton Bay Research Station at Dunwich was part of the team responsible for saving the animals.

"We did some triage - we spent about 72 hours doing first aid care on the animals," Kathy says.

The turtles were then sent to UnderWater World on the Sunshine Coast, where they were taken care of and rehabilitated.

"And we got a phone call not so long ago saying they are fat and healthy and ready to go, and so we had the joy of being able to return the animals back into Moreton Bay," says Kathy.

This was a very happy ending to a very grim situation.

"When we first got them they were all emaciated, on the point of starvation and very lethargic and barely even lifting up their heads," she says.

Three of them were starving due to a parasite infection and lack of food.

Kathy says the fourth turtle had been eating debris "and so it was what's called a 'floater' where the animal was sitting on the surface of the water and couldn't dive down to feed itself so it too was also starving."

And it wasn't just these four turtles that the floods affected. The sediment covering the sea grass beds meant that many marine animals didn't get food to fatten up before the winter season.

"And then after that winter season we just had at least twice as many strandings than we had ever had in past years."

But the floods were not all bad news for the bay.

"The good thing is it's actually bringing a lot of nutrients into the bay, it's like fertilising your garden.

"We're starting to see that the bay is recovering quite nicely right now - a lot of that sediment has moved away and a lot of that sea grass is getting wonderful fresh big regrowth."

This is why it was safe to release the four turtles back into the Moreton Bay environment.

"But of course we have concerns because if we have another season like we did last season it's going to repeat itself and probably become compounded, it's going to become more disastrous than it was the last time."

As for the turtles that were released, they have been tagged but Kathy says there has been no sighting of them since.

"But I'm hoping we don't see them again, if we don't see them again that's a good sign."

Turtle Release A Team Effort from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

Image: A volunteer releases one of the turtles back into Moreton Bay. (University of Qld)

Authorities to probe turtle spearing

06 December 2011, By Kirsty Nancarrow, ABC Online

The Queensland Government has ordered an investigation into reports Indigenous hunters are spearing turtles at Green Island, off Cairns in the far north, while tourists are swimming nearby.

The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) says it has been sent photographs of the hunters in waters off the island last Friday morning.

Traditional owners are allowed to hunt the protected animals under the Native Title Act but many local Aboriginal groups have imposed a moratorium on taking turtles because of their dwindling numbers.

AMPTO spokesman Col McKenzie says he is outraged by the photos taken at Green Island.

"They were taken at nine o'clock in the morning as boats were arriving with hundreds of tourists on board," he said.

"This is not the message that we want to sell to the world about tourism and protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

Queensland Environment Minister Vicky Darling says she is concerned by the reports and will ask her department to investigate.

"I really believe most traditional owners are very sensitive to this and wouldn't be doing this sort of hunting in front of people," she said.

"It's just a matter of finding out who these people are and talking to them about the appropriateness of it.

"If it's a poaching case, then that's certainly something that the State Government can investigate.

"In this case, having seen these images, I'll be asking my department to investigate this particular instance and see what's going on."

More information: Click Here

Industrialization weakens important carbon sink

29 November 2011, EurekAlert

Australian scientists have reconstructed the past six thousand years in estuary sedimentation records to look for changes in plant and algae abundance. Their findings, published in Global Change Biology, show an increase in microalgae relative to seagrass in the past 60 years. This shift could diminish the ability of estuaries, which are natural global carbon sinks, to mitigate climate change.

According to Dr. Peter Macreadie, University of Technology, Sydney Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow, "We have effectively gone back in time and monitored carbon capture and storage by coastal ecosystems, finding a 100-fold weakening in the ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon since the time of European settlement. This severely hampered the ability of nature to reset the planet's thermostat."

Scientists collected cores, samples of earth, from sites within and around Botany Bay, Sydney. A chronology for the cores was determined using radiocarbon dating. Changes in plant and algae composition over time were then determined according to the change in the isotopic ratio of the organic matter in the sediment.

The team's analysis suggests that the relative reduction in seagrass and increase in microalgae coincided with a time of rapid industrial expansion and increased nitrogen deposition. These findings are critical because plants such as seagrass have a relatively large carbon sink capacity, which plays a critical role in mitigating climate change.

"Unfortunately, this outcome is common to urbanized estuaries throughout the world, therefore the study adds further support for the inclusion of Blue Carbon habitats (seagrasses, saltmarshes, and mangroves) in greenhouse gas abatement schemes," said Dr. Macreadie.

This research demonstrates that human activities have weakened the sink capacity of Botany Bay, and this is likely to occur in other coastal ecosystems.

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Wet season ban on reef chemical

29 November 2011, by Miranda Forster, Sydney Morning Herald

New restrictions on the use of a weed killer harmful to the Great Barrier Reef won't protect the World Heritage listed asset, a conservation group says.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has attacked new rules set by Australia's chemical regulator, which has banned the use of diuron on certain crops during the upcoming wet season.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) says the ban is aimed at protecting aquatic ecosystems from runoff of the chemical, commonly used by cane, tea, banana and pineapple farmers.

But WWF's pesticides policy manager Martin Breen said the regulator had caved in to the demands of chemical manufacturers, and the wet season ban was meaningless.

Diuron has been linked to coral bleaching and loss of seagrasses and has been found 60km inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

In September, scientists from Queensland's Environment Department found traces of dangerous pesticides at up to 50 times the levels deemed safe in waterways flowing onto the reef.

Three chemicals, including diuron, were at toxic levels exceeding national standards for contamination of freshwater ecosystems at eight sites along the Great Barrier Reef coast.

Mr Breen said the only way to protect the reef was to completely ban the use of diuron, which remained effective months after it was sprayed on crops.

"You could actually apply this stuff in April or May and it could still be in the soil in high concentration in December," he told AAP.

"Then if you get a rain event at any time of the year it just gets washed straight off into the reef. The only safe level of use for this chemical is no use at all."

Mr Breen said diuron manufacturer DuPont proposed the wet season ban, but a federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) report found the argument behind the ban was "hard to sustain".

It said Queensland's wet season was so variable that it would be impossible to choose a low risk time to spray.

DuPont and a canegrower's organisation also proposed to cut their use of diuron by half to 1.8kg per hectare, which is the level that has now been approved by APVMA for application outside the wet season.

However, this level is still 11 times higher than that deemed safe in the SEWPaC report.

"It seems like APVMA may have taken only the advice of the chemical companies and ignored the advice of the environment department," Mr Breen said.

"They need to explain what the logic is in that and ask how that protects the environment."

An APVMA spokeswoman said it recommended a diuron rate of 1.8kg per hectare based on existing Queensland regulations for sugar cane and had not buckled to commercial pressure.

"It is entirely feasible that other organisations have taken account of this regulatory rate in formulating their submissions to the APVMA," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

She said the rate was still under review while APVMA considered new data, and the wet season suspension of diuron was an interim step based on the prediction of a wet summer in 2011-2012.

Sugarcane group Canegrowers said the approval of a 1.8 kilogram per hectare rate of use for diuron was a win for the industry but said it would fight APMVA over its order to stop the use of the chemical during the wet season.

Canegrowers environment manager Matt Kealley said the suspension would cause weeds to get out of hand and possibly result in significant crop losses.

"Make no mistake, we are not about to stand by and watch such a perverse outcome for growers, which will cost many millions of dollars of lost productivity across Australia," he said in a statement.

More information: Click Here

Indigenous authority mooted to manage traditional hunting

18 November 2011, By Kristy Sexton-McGrath, ABC Online

Indigenous leaders in north Queensland say banning the use of guns, GPS devices and spotlights could help ease dwindling dugong and turtle numbers.

About 80 regional leaders are meeting this week to help develop a turtle and dugong conservation strategy.

Yesterday, they released key recommendations for a report to be handed to the state and federal governments.

Among them, the establishment of an Indigenous authority to manage turtle and dugong hunting practices.

They have also discussed introducing restrictions on the use of guns, while Cape York traditional owner Robbie Salee says he supports a ban on GPS devices.

"Anybody can pick up anything now and say, 'oh yes, we don't need to go [to] this old fellow to tell us where these hunting spots are'," he said.

However, Mr Salee says he does not support a full ban on traditional hunting.

Traditional owner Lauren Bowyer, from Archer Point, south of Cooktown, says she supports the idea of establishing an Indigenous authority that would have the power to fine rogue hunters.

"It's long overdue and its something that we really, really need to have established," she said.

"Obviously it needs to have representatives from each community in the Cape so that the whole voice is heard and not only the Cape but the whole Torres Strait as well, so everybody is heard.

"It needs to come from our people - not from somebody talking supposedly on behalf of the people."

Cape York traditional owner Horace Nona says the controlling body would operate like the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, complete with statutory powers and the ability to fine rogue hunters.

"We would like our rangers to go out there and force and apprehend and do whatever we need to do to minimise that sort of behaviour on sea country," he said.

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Report uses pre-dredging data

18 November 2011, by Nikita Watts And Daniel Burdon, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin

THE latest report on the environmental health of Gladstone Harbour is based on data 12 months old and gives no indication of what effects the summer floods or dredging activity may have had on the local marine ecosystem.

But the report also gives little to no indication of any negative changes to the local ecosystem since the last report in 2007.

The $750,000 Port Curtis Ecosystem Health Report Card monitors water quality, seagrass and sediment quality in the Gladstone Harbour area.

It was released yesterday by its 17 industrial sponsors, after several months of internal negotiations during a protracted "members' feedback" process.

One of the "major sponsors and participants" of the PCIMP, Gladstone Ports Corporation, could not reveal why the report had not been released before.

A GPC spokeswoman released a statement which said: "The funding was conditional on PCIMP and Central Queensland University releasing in a timely fashion all information on the results of their monitoring programs to the public.

"GPC has never instructed PCIMP or CQU to withhold the results of the monitoring programme."

The report card said that of eight different zones in the harbour, all scored at least a "B+", under a scoring system measured against Australian water-quality standards.

Data was collected by scientists working for Vision Environment, a Gladstone company which completes the program, over a three-year period - July, 2008, to November, 2010.

All data was collected before the 2010-11 summer floods and recent dredging operations.

The aim of the program was to produce baseline environmental data to inform local industry about what other technical studies should be undertaken.

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Image: The latest data released about Gladstone Harbour sheds no more light on the situation which forced Simon Whittingham reject 600kg of fish. (Photo credit: Chris Chan GLAFISH)

Baby dugong found dead on beach

15 November 2011, Fraser Coast Chronicle

ANOTHER marine animal has been found dead on a Fraser Coast beach in a year that has seen record numbers of dead turtles and dugongs.

Wildlife Preservation Society Fraser Coast chapter president Carolyn Bussey said a baby dugong had been found dead on a Burrum Heads beach, less than two months after an adult dugong washed up on a Pialba beach.

The baby dugong brings the 2011 tally of dugong strandings to 21 in total, compared to only 6 in 2010.

Across Queensland, Only Townsville has recorded a higher number of dugong strandings at 52 so far this year.

For turtles, Hervey Bay has recorded 94 strandings, compared to 65 last year.

A whale was also found washed up on Fraser Island this year and another young whale stranded itself on the Boonooroo coast line.

Residual effects from the January floods have been blamed for the spike in marine animal deaths.

As the main food source for both turtles and dugongs, the flood damage to seagrass beds has heavily impacted both species.

Water quality in the local rivers has also been blamed for creating silt runoff which can kill seagrass.

"It is very important to have healthy river systems with good riparian vegetation to minimise silt runoff in to the sea," Mrs Bussey said.

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Harbour's seagrass cover increases

10 November 2011, by David Sparkes and Megan McEwan, Gladstone Observer

SEAGRASS levels are increasing in Gladstone Harbour, according to a new report. Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC) said the report was proof that dredging was not to blame for the reduction in levels early this year.

GPC has released the October results of seagrass monitoring which showed increases in seagrass cover around Fishermans Landing, Pelican Banks North and Pelican Banks South.

The seagrass cover at these sites had reached similar levels to the same time of year in 2010 and 2009.

GPC CEO Leo Zussino said this was a good result, showing the dredging is not killing off seagrass.

"What (the report) is saying is that inside Gladstone Harbour, close to the western basin, we have either significant improvements since September or it's the same (depending on which area.) And the Fishermans Landing one is spectacularly improved."

He said the report shows that dredging is not impacting on seagrass meadows.

"I think that what people are concerned about, is the impact of dredging upon seagrass beds that were denuded. And what this is saying is that we are extremely pleased to see that the seagrass beds in close proximity to the dredging project are continuing to recover at very good rates."

Capricorn Conservation Council project officer Chantelle James said although she had not seen the report she was glad to hear the seagrass percent cover had increased.

"We welcome that the report has been released and the Capricorn Conservation Council will over the coming weeks look at the report and work with industry and stakeholders to figure out what is happening in the harbour with water quality and seagrass cover," Ms James said.

But she said she was not convinced of the significance of the findings because it was in her understanding that seagrass levels always increased at this time of year.

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Calls for action on traditional turtle hunting after tourists witness slaughter on Green Island

10 November 2011, by Laura Packham, The Cairns Post

TOURISTS have watched on in horror as turtles have been slaughtered in a popular holiday location in the Far North.

Tourism operators are now calling for increased public debate about the traditional hunting of green sea turtles and dugongs and are seeking a ban on the practice in key tourist locations.

They said killings happened often enough to distress visitors and send the wrong message around the world.

Visitors to Green Island on Friday were confronted with a number of speared turtle carcasses left at the popular tourist island.

Two weeks ago, tourists said they saw fins being cut off turtles on an island beach.

A ranger at the park was also believed to have been threatened for asking traditional hunters not to kill marine animals in front of tourists.

The island attracts about 300,000 visitors a year.

Located about 30km from Cairns, Green Island is used for traditional hunting and fishing under the Native Title Act of 1993.

Indigenous leaders said they could self-regulate their traditional hunting practices.

Traditional owners of the area, also known as Wunyami, have hunted there for thousands of years.

Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises tourism operator Steve Davies yesterday called for a ban on hunting turtles and dugongs in popular tourist areas.

Mr Davies also called for a return to the customary traditional hunting practices of using canoes instead of motorised vessels.

"Traditional methods of hunting for retaining their culture is great but roaring out on to the Reef in great big boats, with large outboard motors and spotlights is not traditional hunting at all," he said.

"Last year, a dugong and turtle were killed in front of 300 passengers on the Big Cat.

"It was just horrific, with blood everywhere and passengers crying. People were just devastated.

"The pictures these tourists take are being filtered all over the world."

North Queensland Land Council’s Danny O’Shane said he did not support a moratorium on hunting.

He said with between 70 and 90 per cent unemployment across some indigenous communities, such as Yarrabah, indigenous families relied on the practice for fresh meat.

"I think Australia should be more inclusive," he said.

"We are a hunting people and if tourists come to this place they must understand this has been our way of life for a long time.

"I don’t know if it does cause tourists to drop off, I think very few know about it, if any. I think the concern is
money."

Former tourism employee Dominic Eggins said the killing of the endangered marine animals was difficult to explain to local and international visitors.

"It’s a really hard sell when you’re trying to tell people this is a beautiful pristine area, a marine park within the Great Barrier Reef where everything is protected and you can’t even take shells off the beach," Mr Eggins said.

"And just over there we’ve got some people in a boat traditionally hunting and killing dugongs and turtles."

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in conjunction with traditional owners, has produced a brochure for local tourism operators of "how to tell the story" of traditional hunting and native title to visitors.

The brochure advises tourism operators to discuss the law that recognises Native Title Holders’ rights.

"Many traditional owner groups have taken active steps to limit the take of turtle and dugong and in some cases have voluntarily agreed to temporarily suspend take of these species," a GBRMPA spokesman said.

Last month Environment Minister Vicky Darling praised two Far Northern Aboriginal tribes, the Nywaigi and Girramay people, for suspending hunting permits until turtle and dugong numbers recovered.

The latest data on turtle populations show there were 1232 turtle strandings in 2011, compared with 639 last year.

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Reef chief recommends port rethink

07 November 2011, by Four Corners and the ABC News Online Investigative Unit, ABC Online

Queensland's iconic Great Barrier Reef could be put at risk if authorities do not rethink plans to allow massive expansion works at ports along the Queensland coast, an expert says.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russell Reichelt has also told ABC TV's Four Corners he warned the Federal Government that huge dredging operations aimed at servicing Queensland's growing coal seam gas industry posed an unacceptable risk to marine life on the reef.

At least six major port developments are either planned or underway up and down the Queensland coast, but Mr Reichelt says officials need to change tack to protect the reef.

"We think that there's far better outcomes for the function of the Barrier Reef ecosystem if major activity is constrained to a few highly managed areas rather than spread every hundred kilometres up the coast," he said.

He raised particular concerns over two planned expansions: one at Port Alma, south of Great Keppel Island, and one in the pristine waters of far north Queensland at Bathurst Bay.

Both plans include the development of coal-loading facilities.

'Extreme concerns'

Mr Reichelt says the authority expressed extreme concerns to the Federal Government about the development of a liquefied natural gas hub and the associated dredging operation at Curtis Island, off Gladstone.

It is the largest dredging operation ever undertaken in the World Heritage area, and part of the spoil will be taken out to sea to a dump site within one kilometre of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Marine life is already under enormous stress in the area from this year's floods and Cyclone Yasi, which have caused a record number of dugong and turtle strandings as well as significant damage to seagrass beds.

Mr Reichelt says he provided written evidence to the government that the scale of dredging associated with the building of four coal seam gas processing plants on Curtis Island would have an unacceptable impact on marine life.

"Our advice was to raise extreme concerns with it," Mr Reichelt said.

"We regarded it as not acceptable in the ... World Heritage property and gave that advice to the department at the time.

"Our concerns filled many pages, and were related to any potential spill over into the marine park of dredging activity, the impact on migratory species, humpback dolphin, indo-pacifics and snubfin dolphins."

In an attempt to allay these concerns, Environment Minister Tony Burke imposed guidelines to ensure water quality and protect marine life.

Mr Reichelt then agreed with the decision to go ahead.

The first stage of the Curtis Island development was given the go-ahead just six weeks after Mr Burke took office last year.

The United Nations World Heritage Committee rebuked the Federal Government for failing to notify it in advance of the approvals for LNG projects inside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area.

The failure was a breach of World Heritage guidelines, but Mr Burke says the process followed common practice.

"For decades governments of each side, as a matter of routine, have responded to any enquiries that came internationally but they haven’t been providing notification in advance of decisions," he said.

"It's been the way the practice had been within the governments of both sides for many, many years.

"The moment this was raised by the World Heritage Committee, we undertook to change that process and make sure that there'll be a more routine method of notification."

A World Heritage mission will visit Queensland in the coming months, amid concerns the booming LNG industry could threaten the long-term health of the reef.

Dr Fanny Douvere, the World Heritage maritime co-ordinator, says Australia's go-ahead for the Curtis Island development triggered serious concerns at the World Heritage Centre in Paris.

"When we received the environmental impact assessment from the Government of Australia which is also online, it appears to have contradictory statements," she said.

"On the one hand, it states that the facilities and the measures taken for the protection of the environment make it unlikely there will be any significant negative impact on the outstanding universal value of the Great Barrier Reef.

"On the other hand, it also concludes there will be a direct and indirect impact on the coastal and marine habitats and species including seagrass, mangroves, dugongs and turtles."

Irreversible damage?

Gladstone and Curtis Island are microcosms of the resource development boom along Queensland's coast that are raising concerns about long-term stress on Australia's natural living treasure.

The development of four coal seam gas plants and planned port expansions will create jobs and increase Australia's export earnings - but is it at the cost of irreversible damage to the reef?

In the next 20 years, the Gladstone Ports Corporation has permission to dredge 46 million cubic metres from within the harbour boundaries, which are in the World Heritage area.

The multi-billion-dollar projects that require dredging around Curtis Island will also dramatically increase ship traffic.

Gas companies Santos, Origin Energy and the Gladstone Ports Corporation - which was granted approvals to do the dredging work - have been required to undertake environmental impact studies to gain government approvals, resulting in a significant number of environment conditions.

Water quality has been an ongoing and highly contentious issue.

As of last week, the multi-million dollar dredging project in disease-hit waters near Curtis Island has been stopped while scientists determine if it is impacting the water quality.

A three-week fishing ban was imposed on the Gladstone harbour due to considerable water quality concerns after sick fish with skin lesions and cloudy eyes were found.

The ban was lifted on October 6 following water test results, released by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), that indicated no deterioration in water quality since dredging began.

However, one of Queensland's leading independent water quality experts, Jon Brodie, told Four Corners the report has serious limitations.

"Water quality is a really complex business and there's lots of different contaminants," he said.

"So although you can do some water quality investigations and come up with some crude interpretation, if you’ve got biological effects still going evidently I'd say the fish tell a truer story than the water quality data does because of the complexity of the water quality data story and interpretation of it is very difficult."

On Friday, DERM released a second report on water quality in Port Curtis; this time, they included the testing that was originally omitted, for heavy metal contamination.

This latest report found levels of aluminium, copper and chromium did in fact exceed the safety guidelines at several sites in the harbour.

But the report found these were not "of significant environmental concern".

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Far North's green sea turtles too hungry to breed

07 November 2011, The Cairns Post

THE Far North's green sea turtles are too hungry to think about sex, according to experts who are tipping a short breeding season and dramatically reduced numbers of babies.

Seagrass meadows from Mission Beach south to Townsville were devastated by cyclone Yasi in February and in the following months, reports of dead and sick turtles were highlighted right up the coast.

Nine months after the monster storm, traditional turtle spots such as Cowley Beach are without nests and Mark Hamann from James Cook University’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences said it was because the species failed to fatten up before the breeding season – leaving many with no extra energy for mating.

"The turtles we are seeing are not in the best condition," he said.

"Their shells have sunken in and in the lead-up to breeding season they would have been very hungry, so I will not be surprised if many traditional nesting spots don’t turn up any turtles this year.

"They were just too hungry to breed."

Joined by Girringun Rangers and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority staff in Cardwell on Friday, Dr Hamann released three green sea turtles into the ocean after attaching state-of-the-art satellite tags to their shells.

As part of JCU’s Extreme Weather Response Program the groups will track the turtles to better understand how they respond to cumulative impacts like loss of food and habitat degradation after an event like Yasi.

At a cost of $4500, the gear will measure depth and track movement sending daily signals over the next eight months.

Dr Hamann, who will lead the project, said the situation after Yasi was unprecedented.

"We need to see how green turtles react to this so we can prepare for similar conditions in coming wet seasons," he said.

"We know the loss of seagrass is impacting coastal green turtle populations, with unusually high numbers of deaths.

"We now need to know how the remaining turtles are responding to these conditions."

GBRMPA species conservation expert Mark Read said the results from the research would help managers consider future actions to protect turtle populations from additional stress.

"By working with the Girringun Rangers and researchers from JCU we will be able to combine traditional knowledge with scientific information to analyse the effectiveness of current management strategies and possibly improve them further," he said.

More information: Click Here

Image: Better understanding: GBRMPA’s Phil Koloi (clockwise from left), Mark Read, Andrew Simmonds and JCU’s Mark Hamann release a turtle fitted with a satellite tag. Photo credit: SCOTT RADFORD-CHISHOLM

Commercial fishermen in Gladstone Harbour call for urgent compensation

04 November 2011, 730 Report Queensland

Source: 7.30 Queensland | Duration: 7min 49sec

Transcript

There are fears pollution may have caused diseases in local seafood in Gladstone in central Queensland.
Marlina Whop

JESSICA van VONDEREN: First to Gladstone. It was once a fishing friendly coastline but these days there are fears that local waters are gaining the reputation as a dead sea. An unprecedented number of diseased or dead marine life has been found this year and there's debate about whether Mother Nature or industrial growth is to blame. A Government report out today found three metals in harbour water aluminium, copper and chromium exceed national guideline levels but there's no clear evidence they're harming marine life. However fishermen say their industry is collapsing before their eyes. From Gladstone, Marlina Whop reports.

(FOOTAGE OF DEAD DUGONG)

MARLINA WHOP: It's a sight no fisherman wants to see. In the waters off Gladstone, a dead dugong bobs up and down. A worrying indicator of what's happening below.

DARREN BROWN, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN: Yes VMA just wishing to notify that there is a dead dugong floating between the mouth of the Calliope River and tide Island

MARLINA WHOP: Darren Brown has been fishing off the central Queensland coast since he was a boy. He's never seen anything like this.

RADIO OPERATOR: Thanks for that call I'll notify parks and wildlife.

MARLINA WHOP: Like his fellow fishing operators in Gladstone, Darren Brown is alarmed at the soaring pace of marine animal deaths and disease.

DARREN BROWN: We've actually dropped probably by 70-80 per cent in turnover. This time last year we had 14 staff, now I've got about five and a half including counting casual. Turnover's right down cash flows right down. I've actually tied my trawler up due to just not viable to operate.

(FOOTAGE OF GLADSTONE COASTLINE)

MARLINA WHOP: The Gladstone coastline is a World Heritage listed area about 70 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef. Fishing is a popular past time for locals; for many it's the family business.

(FOOTAGE OF SEAFOOD SHOP)
SHOP ASSISTANT: There you go. Thank you, you have a great day.

MARLINA WHOP: But ever since the outbreak of disease in marine life here the industry has been in panic mode. In mid-September reports of diseased fish prompted the Queensland Government to enforce a three week fishing ban around the region. Fishermen were catching blind barramundi, covered in red sores.

TREVOR FALZON, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN: See how his fins are not nice and neat. And look at the slime.

MARLINA WHOP: Recently it was revealed some bull sharks have also been affected.

TREVOR FALZON: I had some observers from the Qld government on board the boat again and we went out and low and behold we started pulling bull sharks with really bad lesions on them.

MARLINA WHOP: Fishermen caught 10 sharks covered in unusual red blotchy patches.

TREVOR FALZON: Their jaws dropped. There were a quick couple of phone calls to Brisbane. They told them to take the samples straight away.

MARLINA WHOP: Bio-security Queensland scientists believe red spot disease and parasites are infecting fish but they're still searching for the cause. Conservationists blame the rapid growth of industrial activity on the harbour.

MICHAEL McCABE, CAPRICORN CONSERVATION COUNCIL, ROCKHAMPTON: This LNG coal seam gas industry is exceeding the capacity of science to understand what's going on and exceeding the capacity of both the companies and the Government agencies to properly monitor what's going on.

MARLINA WHOP: Michael McCabe believes a large scale dredging project has contaminated the water. In June, the Gladstone Ports Corporation started dredging the Harbour. It's aiming to move 46 million cubic metres of sea bed over the next 20 years.

LEO ZUSSINO, GLADSTONE PORTS CORPORATION: The western basin is going to be the most important industrial port precinct on the east coast of Australia. And it allows for up to 30 berths to be created in the western basin.

MARLINA WHOP: The dredging project is designed to expand the harbour so large container ships can eventually carry liquefied natural gas from nearby Curtis Island to the rest of the world. Three companies Arrow energy, B-G Group and Santos are spending billions of dollars to establish LNG plants on the island. The Ports Corporation's chief executive Leo Zussino admits dredging has encroached on fishing areas. But he insists there's no science to prove it's making fish sick.

LEO ZUSSINO: We are causing an impact upon commercial fishermen's harvest in Gladstone harbour while we are dredging. But we're not causing in our view and all the scientific evidence we've seen any impact upon fish that's causing disease in fish.

MARLINA WHOP: It's not just marine life getting sick. Many fishermen too are breaking out in rashes and fear the harbour water is making them ill.

MARK McMILLAN, COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN: Itchy. Really really really itchy.

MARLINA WHOP: Mark McMillan is one of those who became sick after coming into contact with harbour water. He says he started noticing changes in his catches a few months ago.

MARK MCMILLAN: I caught 15 tonne of barra before the dredging started and not one of them had any sign of disease and about a month after the dredging started they started getting diseased.

RON BOSWELL, NATIONALS SENATOR: But you just can't come in here on top of a traditional industry that has been around for 100 years.

MARLINA WHOP: Nationals Senator Ron Boswell is on board with the local fishing industry. He believes operators are facing ruin and deserve compensation.

RON BOSWELL: Because this harbour's going to be very very busy. There's going to be big floating gas bottles coming in here, coal loading, coal barges. Maybe you just can't fish here professionally and maybe we've got to recognise that.

MARLINA WHOP: That's something the Ports Corporation is considering. But Leo Zussino stresses any compensation would be for a loss of fishing areas, not because fish have been sick.

LEO ZUSSINO: We've got letters from the commercial fishermen's lawyer back in May with photographs of diseased fish. We hadn't started dredging so it's a pretty tall order from there to then say it's the dredging process that's causing the diseased fish.

MARLINA WHOP: Scientific results could now play a huge role in how compensation negotiations are played out. Research by Fisheries Queensland says that the wet summer may have been a factor in the harbour's poor health. It says Gladstone's Awoonga Dam overflowed and that could have posed a problem. A report on the matter says.

"We believe that the estimated 30, 000 barramundi washed over the spillway at the Awoonga dam between December 2010 and March 2011 due to overtopping has contributed significantly to the number of fish seen with symptoms" (18th October 2011 Fisheries Queensland)

The addition of so many large barramundi in the Boyne River below the dam would have significantly increased competition for food and increased physical stress levels of all fish" (18th October 2011 Fisheries Queensland)

MARLINA WHOP: The State Government has appointed an independent scientific panel to conduct more research. That panel requested to the ports corporation make its metal tests in the water more rigorous. So for the first time dissolved metals including arsenic, aluminium and cobalt will be monitored. While fishing operators wait for answers to those tests and more. They say they know one thing for sure the future of their industry is bleak.

DARREN BROWN: We've been a local business for 20 years now and for something to come in and just take it away from you in six weeks it's heartbreaking. I've got a young family I've got to support them and the pressure's immense I can tell you that. But I guess worst of all it's an environmental disaster. Like ah there's no need for those things to be floating belly up in this harbour.

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