Queensland Coastal Wetland Resources: The Whitsunday Region

Abstract

This report provides key resource data for the ongoing assessment of the requirement for additional Marine Protected Areas (e.g. FHAs under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994) in regions of high fish habitat value in the Whitsunday Region from Gloucester Island to Cape Hillsborough (hereafter referred to as the Study Area). The study also provides baseline information on the coastal wetlands within this Study Area for consideration in the Ramsar site nomination process.

The project aimed to:
1. document and map the coastal wetland communities of the Study Area;
2. document levels of existing disturbance to and protection of the wetlands;
3. examine existing recreational, indigenous and commercial fisheries resources in the region;
4. evaluate the conservation values of the areas investigated from the viewpoint of fisheries productivity and as habitat for important and/or threatened species for future FHA/MPA declaration.