Program 2: Operations

(Program Leader: Professor H Marsh, JCU)

Objective

To find solutions to problems associated with the increasing use of the GBR Marine Park relevant to tourist operators and recreational and commercial fishers.

The GBR Marine Park is a major destination for tourists and regional residents. The demands on access and use are increasing rapidly. The ecologically and socially sustainable levels of tourism, recreational use and reef fishing are examples of issues that both managers and the tourist and fishing industries continue to address while ensuring that development of the region is optimised within the global responsibilities for stewardship of the marine park.

The Operations Program consists of tactical research at spatial scales relevant to major reef users particularly the tourist and commercial and recreational fishing industries. The generous and extensive logistical support that the Centre has received from these industries is central to the success of the Program. After initial reservations about the need for some of the research, the tourism and fishing industries are now very supportive of this Program and the tourism industry has requested that some of the research be speeded up. Resources have been reallocated to achieve this.

The establishment of this Program has been a major challenge as it represents a new stage in the development of tactical reef science which has demanded a much greater level of user involvement than has been attempted previously. Probably because of the resultant high level of public consultation, the issue of the scale and nature of manipulative research that is acceptable in World Heritage and other ecologically sensitive areas has been questioned by the conservation movement. This has had a significant impact on this Program, particularly the Effects of Fishing Project. The need for clear, agreed ethical guidelines on this matter has been identified. The development of these guidelines is being undertaken by the Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council which will be the major input into a Fenner Conference on the issue sponsored by the Australian Academy of Science in late 1997.

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