South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES) - Voyage II

Voyage Number

IN2024_V03

Voyage Dates

01 May, 2024 to 31 May, 2024

Voyage Location

Hobart to Sydney

Chief Scientist

Dr Richard Little

Institution

CSIRO

View the full voyage

Voyage summary

Research voyage from Hobart to Sydney to conduct a repeat survey of the biodiversity and habitats of the marine waters of south-east Australia. Called the South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES), this is the second of four voyages in the project. 

The marine waters of southeast Australia are one of a series of global ocean-warming hotspots. In this region, the ocean surface is warming at a rate four times the global average and many species have extended their distributions southward, with apparent changes in local abundance. Projections show that these changes will continue for the next century.

Fishery and ecosystem assessments were last conducted in this region 25 years ago. This voyage will repeat the surveys to document changes and establish a new biological and environmental baseline. The knowledge generated will be essential for better planning and managing current and emerging industries, and protecting important habitats and species throughout the region.

There is one other project on this voyage:

• Seabird detector (Carlie Devine, CSIRO): Pilot project to test an automatic seabird detector camera system.

The voyage has 33 science participants from 5 institutions including the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), and 22 crew from MMA Offshore Ltd.

The CSIRO Indigenous Research Grants Program provided a grant to Dr Richard Little's team for 'Supporting Indigenous Scientists and Community in the South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey'.

The South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey team led by Dr Richard Little acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the seas in which we are conducting this research. The research area includes Tasmanian, Victorian, New South Wales and Commonwealth waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present, and thank them for their continued stewardship over the lands, seas and skies in which we live, work and rest.

Voyage outcomes

The objectives of SEA-MES voyage II were successfully delivered, contributing to the overall SEA-MES program and its objectives. This voyage is part of a multi-voyage program to understand the impacts of changes to the marine ecosystem and prepare for the continued impending changes. The data and knowledge from this research will be used by fisheries, marine park and other conservation managers, industry and stakeholders including the renewable and non-renewable energy industries.

As a result of this voyage, data has been collected to improve our understanding of how the south-eastern Australian marine ecosystem has changed over the past 30 years. Observations include that small pelagic fish species such as jack mackerel continue to show increased abundance. The voyage included mapping and sampling large areas of the Flinders and Freycinet Marine Parks and are continuing to monitor the fisheries marine closures.

The voyage included investigating new data capture and monitoring techniques including commencing a program pairing two established sampling methods (demersal trawl and deep towed video) with two methods of environmental DNA (eDNA) collection. A new passive eDNA sampler was deployed at 23 sites to enable the comparison of fish and habitat composition at each site and between different collection methods.