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What we do
Mission statementCRC Reef Research Centre is a knowledge-based partnership of coral reef ecosystem managers, researchers and industry. Its mission is to plan, fund and manage world-leading science for the sustainable use of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. CRC Reef Research Centre provides research solutions to protect, conserve and restore the world's coral reefs by ensuring that industries and management are sustainable and that ecosytem quality is maintained. Research prioritiesThe priorities for CRC Reef's research are determined by the Board in consultation with users of the research. Our research priorities are: Water quality; Coral bleaching; Crown-of-thorns starfish; Use and Conservation of biodiversity; Sustainable fisheries; Environmental sustainability of ports and shipping; Sustainable tourism. Commercial partnershipsCRC Reef Research Centre and its partners cooperate with commercial companies, where appropriate, to achieve the best results for our clients. CRC Reef researchers are providing Woodside Petroleum with crucial wave information to ensure the safety of offshore oil production platforms in Arafura and Timor Seas and on the Northwest Shelf. The Marine Modelling Unit based at James Cook University was the only group that could do this work at the level of sophistication required. The Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project is a collaboration of unprecedented size involving two partners from CRC Reef (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries), CSIRO and the Queensland Museum. These agencies have provided $4 million of resources, attracting $2 million of co-funding from CRC Reef, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and National Oceans Office. CRC Reef led the development of a communications protocol for managing reporting and contacts with the media. International projectsWorld-wide research and industry collaborations continue to place the CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd and its partners at the forefront of innovative, multi-disciplinary marine science and information transfer. CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd coordinates the delivery of expertise from its partners who have extensive experience in marine science, monitoring and resource management in south-east Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. CRC Reef Research Centre has also established a subsidiary not-for-profit company, the International Marine Project Activities Centre to foster links with international agencies. Expert adviceCRC Reef and our partners can provide expert advice about: Ecology and management of coral reef; Ecology of dugongs, turtles and cetaceans; Marine tourism; Environmental monitoring; Oceanography; Climate change; Education, training and extension; Marine Protected Areas; Marine enginerering; Hydrodynamic modelling; Tropical marine biology; Ecology of seagrasses; Project management. Case studiesSurveying ports for introduced speciesCRC Reef researchers from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries are collaboraing with Port Authorities around Australia and overseas to survey ports for introduced marine pests. A thorough survey of a port is the best insurance against the invasion of foreign pests. It also provides an ecological assessment of the port and surrounding areas. This information will be used to ensure a comprehensive approach to managing marine environments of the ports. Sterilising ballast water CRC Reef began testing a pilot plant to develop techniques for disinfecting ballast water and preventing further introductions of exotic marine species. Safe structures on the ReefCRC Reef resarchers developed the world's first cyclone wave atlas which is being integrated with new guidelines for developing infrastructure in reef and coastal environments. Together, the atlas and guidelines will help the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, engineers and the tourism industry achieve world's best practice in optimising the construction and mooring of offshore bases for tourism. Oil spill study helps protect coastal mangrovesThere are more than 4,400 square kilometres of mangroves along the Queensland coastline which play a vital role in the biological diversity of reef waters. Although the risk of a major oil spill in the region is small, most authorities are still concerned about future shipping accidents. CRC Reef researchers based at the Australian Institute of Marine Science undertook a project funded by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association to help reduce the impacts of any future spills and assist in post-spill recovery. Only mangroves marked for destruction - a reclamation site - were used for the research. The proactive nature of this work will enable researchers to respond with greater understanding and knowledge to save mangroves threatened by any large, near-shore oil spills. Sustainable reef fisheriesCRC Reef's Fishing and Fisheries (F&F) Project involves a number of interrelated research tasks focusing on the fisheries of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. Data and information from these tasks have been used in the development of Queensland's Coral Reef Finfish and East Coast Spanish Mackerel Fisheries Management Plans; Queensland Fisheries Service stock assessment and Environment Australia Sustainability Reporting requirements for east coast shark, barramundi and mud crab. Reef tourism industry analysedCRC Reef researchers have compiled major reef-specific visitor information to aid the sustainable use of the reef. Large-scale visitor surveys of the English speaking visitors as well as surveys in Korean and Japanese are regularly conducted. The results of these comprehensive surveys together with data accessed by the researchers from international market research can help tourism operators enhance their marketing efforts. Information on demographic trends, activity preferences, motivation and reef attitudes is available from research staff at James Cook University. Minke whale researchA CRC Reef project is developing ecologically sustainable practices in the minke whale tourism industry. It has collated observations from hundreds of encounters with minke whales to reveal patterns of distribution, behaviour and social structure and enable individual minke whales to be recognised. The project has successfully developed and tested guidelines for interactions between tourists and whales. A wide range of interpretive material has been provided by researchers to the industry and its clients, and confidential reports were made available to industry operators on ways to improve the ecological sustainability of their operations. Crown-of-thorns starfishThe status of populations of crown-of-thorns starfish has been followed using fine-scale monitoring as well as the Long-term Monitoring Program based at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. This information has been vital to management agencies and the tourism industry. Early warning of starfish outbreaks has enabled measures to be implemented to control populations locally. The crown-of-thorns extension program informed tourism operators directly of research results. The program also did spot-checks of starfish populations at sites of commercial interest. Vast seagrass meadows found in Reef depthsSeagrasses play a vital role in water quality and clarity by keeping sediment settled on the seabed. They also provide shelter and nursery areas for important commercial species of prawn and fish, and are the main diet of dugongs and sea turtles. Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries scientists working with CRC Reef have found seagrasses growing deeper and more extensively than ever before. They have also discovered a new seagrass species. The work was used extensively in the Representative Areas Program developed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It also assisted in identifying new dugong protection areas. 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