Director's Report

In our third year, the Centre placed considerable effort into delivering research to Reef users and the wider community. The goal of "making science results useful" underpins much of the Centre's activities in communication. Research findings clearly show the successful synergy resulting from multiagency team structures inherent in the CRC philosophy.

Assisted by tourist operators, the Centre is investigating whether tourists' experiences match their expectations of a Reef trip, while engineers are developing safer and more environmentally friendly pontoon structures. Photo courtesy Pure Pleasure Cruises.

Scientific results from issues-driven research increased markedly across a broad base of publications and presentations to an array of audiences. This process of peer review provides a critical component for quality assurance and credibility of Centre research, and was highlighted by 26 presentations at the International Coral Reef Symposium (a meeting of reef scientists and managers held each four years) in Panama, June 1996.

Collaborative efforts in research are providing a breakthrough in knowledge across a number of Reef issues, changing dogma into data and information to support Reef management options and industry opportunities.

Some examples include:

predicting and mapping the distribution of a Crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak;

understanding the process and fate of terrigenous sediments in the GBR;

identifying new deepwater seagrass beds;

describing regional differences in water nutrient concentrations and in fish stocks;

measuring historical records of 200 years of land use in marine sediment cores;

assessing diver and pontoon effects on coral reefs and fishes;

segmenting and identifying regional patterns of tourist use;

measuring changes in seabird populations responding to natural phenomena;

measuring test parameters on screw anchor moorings and stresses on pontoon moorings.

A key set of research data aimed at describing and assessing potential impacts of Reef tourism at various sites in the GBR shows minimal influence and often insignificant changes against a background of natural dynamics in the coral reef ecosystem. Some specific findings are highlighted in the research section of this report. The minimal influence, for example, of scuba divers, is not necessarily the pattern in other parts of the world but reflects a combination of effective management, professionalism in the industry and education and awareness in tourists. Other Reef use and access factors such as anchor damage have obvious impacts at local, popular sites. Here the Centre is involved with management and industry in approaches to resolve anchor/access issues, for example in the Cairns sector.

Delivery of research results and assessments to policy makers, noted in the Chairman's Report, and to Reef managers and industry is a major thrust requiring continued effort, resources and a search for innovative ways to reach our clients. Information transfer is not a trivial exercise for the Centre, recognising that our main industry clients are mostly Small-Medium sized Enterprises (SME's) represented by 562 individual tourism operators and some 500 commercial line fishermen. The Centre has relatively strong links to fishermen through the developed structure and network of the Queensland Commercial Fishermen's Organisation and by collaborative research activities with the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority. Direct involvement of commercial, and some of Queensland's estimated 24000 recreational fishermen, in Centre activities is helping expand the "ownership" of our research and flow of information.

More than 25 tourism operators and 10 Reef-based marine companies are directly and collaboratively involved in core research by the Centre. Liaison with the Reef tourism operators continues to build, for example with the formation of Reef Tourism 2005, a regional network in the Cairns-Port Douglas sector, and to expand with wider AMPTO dialogue groups.

Internationally, the Centre focussed on strengthening our alliance with the Australian Marine Science & Technology (AMSAT) consortium (for research and skills delivery) and INTROMARC (for training links). Successful collaboration has included dialogue with Malaysian universities, representation at the 4th ASEAN Science & Technology Week in Bangkok, and collaborative work implementing the World Bank Project Design in Indonesia for the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Project (COREMAP).

The Centre continued initiatives in education, communication and research. We now have 52 postgraduates and an Honours Augmentation Grant Scheme assists an additional 8 students. This not only meets our goals for education and graduate awareness about industry and management, it adds research knowledge and skills to further support applied research in the GBR. Particular effort has been made to communicate Reef science to the wider community through greater interaction with the media. The success in achieving research support from relatively non-traditional funding sources is highlighted in the report.

Overall, the Centre had a productive year and continues to build stronger support from Reef users and managers. Next year will focus on sustaining the research and enhancing our communications performance. The current review of the Centre communications strategy and results of our forthcoming 3rd Year Review by the CRC Program will provide a framework for assessment and appropriate redirection of goals, activities and resources. A major conference on GBR Science, Management and Use will provide further focus on research information and peer review. Further effort will involve carrying the science findings into industry through regional workshops and association groups as we continue to seek the right mix of approaches for making the research accessible and useful to Reef users and decision makers.

Chris Crossland
Director

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