Marine reserves saved coral reefs from Queensland floods

 community, fisheries, government, research, waterways/wetlands
May 232014
 

Original story by Andrew Olds, Griffith University; David Rissik, Griffith University; Kylie Pitt, Griffith University; Paul Maxwell, Griffith University; Rod Connolly, Griffith University, and Russ Babcock, CSIRO at The Conversation

Marine reserves are a hot topic in Australia, with federal and state governments debating whether to allow recreational fishers to take fish from within their boundaries. But new research demonstrates that reserves can have a real benefit for marine ecosystems — by protecting coral reefs from floods.
Floodwater plumes, like this one in Moreton Bay, do less damage to reefs that are in marine reserves. Photo: Healthy Waterways

Floodwater plumes, like this one in Moreton Bay, do less damage to reefs that are in marine reserves. Photo: Healthy Waterways

We enjoy fishing; but we also appreciate that marine reserves have many positives. Yes, they restrict fishing in certain areas, but they have been shown to increase the numbers of catchable fish outside reserves.

Our study shows that reserves can also improve the resilience of the habitats that fish rely on. Without them, there would be fewer fish for everyone. Continue reading »

Mangrove lovers tour Tingalpa Creek

 community, government, research, waterways/wetlands
May 222014
 

Original story by Judith Kerr, Bayside Bulletin

MUD, mossies and the threat of rain did not deter a band of nature lovers taking to Tingalpa Creek for a day inspecting life in the mangroves.
Healthy Waterways connect to your creek week- Tim Roe from the Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre skippers a boat full of people along Tingalpa Creek, Thorneside. Photo: Chris McCormack

Healthy Waterways connect to your creek week- Tim Roe from the Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre skippers a boat full of people along Tingalpa Creek, Thorneside. Photo: Chris McCormack

Wildlife Preservation Society organised the information tour as part of Connect to Your Creek Week, which started on Monday, May 19. Continue reading »

New and improved guide to Queensland’s saltmarsh plants

 government, Interest, waterways/wetlands
May 222014
 

News release from Fisheries Queensland

The Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland is back by popular demand.

Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland by Louise Johns.

Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland by Louise Johns.

First printed in 2006, the popular publication is a valuable resource for local governments, students, teachers, community groups, fishers and people with an interest in Queensland’s coastal environment.

Author and senior fisheries biologist, Louise Johns, said the new and improved guide would help people to correctly identify key marine plant species in saltmarsh fish habitats and provide them with a greater appreciation of the importance of the saltmarsh environment.

“Marine plants, including saltmarsh vegetation, are protected in Queensland because of the valuable role they play in ensuring sustainable fish habitats and fisheries production,” Ms Johns said.

“Saltmarshes provide food for aquatic species and recycle nutrients.

“It is important that people are able to identify saltmarsh habitats and do their part to protect this integral fisheries ecosystem.

“The 76-page guide provides colour photographs, detailed descriptions, plant distribution maps and identification keys for the 32 most widespread saltmarsh species in Queensland’s coastal zone.

“It’s a simple, user-friendly guide that will make it easier to identify the species and provide a better understanding of this important ecosystem.

To order your free copy of the Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland, call 13 25 23.

 

Purple jellyfish discovered on Sunshine Coast

 Interest, research, waterways/wetlands
May 212014
 

Original story by Jon Coghill and Annie Gaffney, ABC Sunshine Coast

A bright purple, alien-like jellyfish has washed up on Coolum Beach and an expert says it may be a new species.

Lifeguard Jamie Smith says a local fisherman alerted him and his partner to the discovery after pulling the sea creature up on to the beach to avoid getting stung.

Coolum lifeguards have never seen a jellyfish like this. Photo: Coolum lifeguards/Jamie Smith

Coolum lifeguards have never seen a jellyfish like this. Photo: Coolum lifeguards/Jamie Smith

“The thing that struck me was how long the tentacles [are] and the colour,” Mr Smith said. Continue reading »

Tilapia – Stop the spread!

 community, fisheries, government, pest species, waterways/wetlands
May 212014
 

Original story by Dr Ben Diggles at Fishing World

ONE of the scourges of our tropical freshwater rivers, the Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus, also known as the Mozambique mouth-brooder) was introduced into Australia in the 1960s as an ornamental fish.

Tilapia signage from Fisheries Qld.After being released into the wild (eventually most types of ornamental fish get released at some stage), O. mossambicus and two other species of closely related cichlids (the black mangrove cichlid Tilapia mariae and the redbelly tilapia (Tilapia zilii) have survived and established populations which have since spread into many new places, such that today they dominate many of Queenslands waterways.

These species have been listed in the top 100 of the world’s worst introduced species and they are regarded as one of the greatest threats to Australia’s native biodiversity, because they have several adaptations that combine to enable them to overwhelm native fish populations.

Firstly, tilapia females carry their eggs and larvae inside their mouths, providing protection which virtually ensures the survival of the next generation. They are also a particularly hardy fish, tolerant of poor water quality, pollution, low oxygen levels (which they tolerate by gulping air at the water surface) and a wide range of water temperatures (8- 42 °C). They can also survive in brackish water, which allows them to move between river systems after river flow events, and have rather flexible dietary requirements. When their favoured algae, animal waste and planktonic food items are scarce, they can readily adapt to alternative food sources, ranging from completely herbivorous to totally carnivorous (including cannibalism). Continue reading »

Another broken promise: budget switches Landcare for Green Army

 community, environment, government
May 202014
 

Original story by Ian Rutherfurd, University of Melbourne and Andrew Campbell, Charles Darwin University at The Conversation

Among the environmental fallout of the federal budget, Australia’s Landcare program has taken a hit, losing A$484 million. In return, the government’s environmental centrepiece, the Green Army, receives A$525 million.
Australia already has a world-leading system for managing the environment - why are we dumbing it down? Photo: Andrew Campbell

Australia already has a world-leading system for managing the environment – why are we dumbing it down? Photo: Andrew Campbell

But switching money from Landcare to the Green Army is trading down for a less effective conservation model. It also repeats a pattern of reduced funding and weakened delivery started under former Prime Minister John Howard, and confuses improved agricultural productivity with improved environmental management. Continue reading »

Measuring the damage of pest fish

 pest species, research, waterways/wetlands
May 202014
 

Original story by  Joanna Prendergast, ABC Rural

Moitoring ferals: Colin Johnson, from Durack Institute of Technology in Geraldton, with a fish trap he uses to monitor fish stocks in the Chapman River. Photo: Jo Prendergast

Moitoring ferals: Colin Johnson, from Durack Institute of Technology in Geraldton, with a fish trap he uses to monitor fish stocks in the Chapman River. Photo: Jo Prendergast

Researchers in Geraldton in Western Australia are targeting feral fish in local waterways.

Tilapia is a pest fish introduced to Australia and lives in numerous river systems in both Western Australia and Queensland.

Durack Institute of Technology researcher Colin Johnson is leading a program monitoring tilapia numbers in the Chapman River near Geraldton, by regularly placing traps in the water.

He says the fish populations are monitored to ensure the fish numbers don’t increase and threaten other nearby waterways.

“The main focus is to try and determine the range of pest species, which is the tilapia, within the Chapman River and to also see if it’s become established in the surrounding rivers,” he said.

Sleepy cod threat to Queensland’s western rivers

 Australian native freshwater species, pest species, research, waterways/wetlands
May 192014
 

Original story by Brian Williams, The Courier Mail

SCIENTISTS fear a fish species introduced to Queensland’s iconic western rivers could become another environmental pest.
Although sleepy cod is a native species found on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range, it risks upsetting the ecological balance in the western rivers.

Although sleepy cod (Oxyeleotris lineolata) is a native species found on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range, it risks upsetting the ecological balance in the western rivers.

Sleepy cod have been found in the Thomson River from Windorah north to Longreach and are likely to be in the Barcoo.

The cod is a native species but found naturally only on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range, from Rockhampton north and into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Continue reading »

Legal fight over dredge spoil dumping

 environment, government, waterways/wetlands
May 192014
 

Original story by Sharnie Kim, ABC News

A tourism industry group is mounting a legal challenge against the decision to allow the dumping of dredge spoil in the Barrier Reef marine park area off far north Qld.
Coal export terminal at Abbot Point.

Coal export terminal at Abbot Point.

The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) is taking the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBPC) to the Federal Court next month.

It is challenging the decision to allow three million cubic metres of dredge spoil from the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion at Bowen to be dumped at sea.

AMPTO spokesman Col McKenzie alleges the marine park authority breached its own rules.

“Their own environmental scientists weren’t happy with granting the permit and on that basis alone the precautionary principle should’ve come into play,” he said.

He says the association is not against development but wants the dredge spoil dumped on land.

Mr McKenzie says the permit should never have been issued.

“The reality is there is simply just not enough science that would indicate the dumping of three million cubic metres of dredge spoil will not have a bad effect on the environment,” he said.

A number of green groups are running separate challenges.

The matter goes before the Federal Court in Cairns in June.

Warmer world might push sea turtles numbers up

 environment, research, threatened species, waterways/wetlands
May 192014
 

Original story by Rachel Sullivan, ABC

While warming temperatures will produce more female than male sea turtle hatchings, sea turtle populations will not crash — at least for the next few decades, a new study suggests.
A few male loggerhead turtles will go a long way as temperatures warm. Although females will rule, males breed more often and can fertilise multiple clutches.

A few male loggerhead turtles will go a long way as temperatures warm. Although females will rule, males breed more often and can fertilise multiple clutches.

In fact, sea turtle populations will increase because males breed more frequently than females, report researchers today in Nature Climate Change.

Sex in many reptile species is determined by temperature during incubation. For sea turtles incubation temperatures below 29°C produce male hatchlings; above that temperature females are produced. Continue reading »

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