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31 December 1998 |
Ref 98/300 |
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At the end of the International Year of the Oceans, Australia's leading marine scientist has called for an all-out effort to define where Australia's boundaries lie - and what they contain.
Chief of CSIRO Marine Research, Dr Nan Bray, says that Australians can be proud of the economic and environmental achievements that are being delivered in the marine sector by the Federal Government, conservation, industry and science.
"New benchmarks in policy development and research have been established during the International Year of the Ocean, but now we need to focus on the research needed to adhere to that policy.
"As a country with one of the largest marine jurisdictions, we had the incentive to show the way in developing an Oceans Policy. For Australia every year should be the year of the ocean, and in 1999 we need to achieve as much or more than we have done in 1998", says Dr Bray.
She lists key marine research achievements in 1998 as:
- Establishment of a CSIRO-Bureau of Meteorology ocean observing research centre in Melbourne, and plans for an enhanced ocean monitoring program beginning in 1999.
- Improved understanding of conditions in the Indian Ocean influencing rainfall in Western and Southern Australia.
- Conservation initiatives, including the declaration of new marine protected areas around Australia (Great Australian Bight Marine Park and the world's second deep ocean marine protected area, on seamounts south of Tasmania).
- The development of rapid assessment techniques to identify
marine habitat and map the marine ecosystem, which will allow
an ecosystem-based planning and management program.
- Continued marine resource and topographical mapping by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation of Australia's marine jurisdiction that will be one of the three largest in the world. The top five marine nations, with Australia, include the United States, France, Indonesia and New Zealand.
- Initiating a project to re-seed wild populations of prawns in Exmouth Gulf
- A start to research to aid environmental managers in controlling the spread in the wild of introduced species such as European carp and Pacific oysters.
"The dilemma for Australian marine science is that the lack of resources is hampering opportunities for development and conservation.
"The challenge for Australians - because we will all benefit - is to now ensure development continues to be guided by research and that we don't make the same type of environmental mistakes in the ocean that we made on the land," says Dr Bray.
Dr Bray says the $70 billion contribution from the marine area, from the coast to the deep ocean, currently represents about 16 % of the gross national product, and is the most vigorously growing sector of the Australian economy.
"To put this in perspective, this is a larger economic contribution to the nation than either agriculture or mining, neither of which show anything like the growth recorded by the marine sector.
"Having created a National Oceans Policy, we now need a mechanism to fund the research required to implement the policy. This must be a partnership arrangement between industry, conservation and science," says Dr Bray.
Dr Bray lists some priorities for marine research:
- Defining the boundaries of Australia's Marine Jurisdiction.
- Continuing to assess the nature and extent of marine life and harvestable resources from the coast to the deep ocean.
- Continuing to map the Exclusive Economic Zone. Only five per cent of Australia's EEZ has been mapped and at the current rate it would take more than 100 years to complete.
- Seafloor mapping to determine mineral and oil and gas deposits.
- Development of an ocean observing system combining data from satellites, commercial shipping, ocean moorings and profilers for climate and deep oceans research.
- Better coordination of marine data management.
"In terms of climbing economic value, business growth and job creation, no other sector shows this kind of strength. Continuing research is vital to ensuring sustainable growth," says Dr Bray.
More information from:
Dr. Nan Bray 03 6232 5214
Mr Don Michel 02 6232 5478
Dr Bray will review the International Year of the Ocean at a media conference
at CSIRO Marine Laboratories, Hobart
at 11.00 am Thursday December 31
***
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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