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BOOST TO MARINE CONSERVATION IN TORRES STRAIT10 December 2002 Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran today announced $3 million funding to support a three-year Torres Strait research program to be run by the Cooperative Research Centre for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (CRC Reef Research Centre). The funding is part of a $478 million funding package for the Federal Government’s 2002 Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program. The Torres Strait Program will focus on research that will ensure the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources in the Torres Strait including fisheries, seagrasses, dugongs and turtles. “As part of the Torres Strait Research Program, we will also research opportunities for low-tech, high value mariculture ventures to provide important bases from which to develop industries appropriate to the economic development of the Torres Strait,” said CRC Reef researcher Dr Bruce Mapstone, who led the proposal. “The program will build capacity of the people of Torres Strait to benefit from their marine resources in a sustainable way.” “The program will also help to fulfill Australia’s obligations under the Torres Strait Treaty and other agreements with Papua New Guinea. The work also addresses several key objectives identified in the Marine Science and Technology Plan and will be an important part of the Regional Marine Planning processes led by the National Oceans Office,” he said. The research program builds on the strong track record of CRC Reef Research Centre and brings together community and industry interests represented by the Torres Strait Regional Authority; managers from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, the National Oceans Office and Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries; researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, James Cook University, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, and non-government organisations - the Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation. The Torres Strait research program will be based at CRC Reef Research Centre in Townsville with a full-time presence in the Torres Strait. The research program is due to start in July 2003. For more information contact:
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