Introduced Species Survey, Port Lincoln, South Australia

Hewitt, C.L., Havenhand, J., Campbell, M.L., Moore, K.M. and Murfet, N.B. (1997) Introduced Species Survey, Port Lincoln, South Australia. CRIMP/CSIRO Division of Fisheries

Abstract

A prerequisite for any attempt to control the spread by shipping of introduced marine pest species in Australian waters is a knowledge of the current distribution and abundance of exotic species in Australian ports. This information base is lacking for nearly all Australian ports. The current port survey program is a joint initiative of the Australian Association of Port and Marine Authorities (AAPMA) and the CSIRO Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) and is supported by the Australian Ballast Water Management Advisory Council (ABWMAC). The program seeks to redress the lack of knowledge about the occurrence of exotic species in Australian ports and provide a consistent basis on which the introduced species status of individual ports can be assessed.

Port surveys designed to identify all exotic species will inevitably be subject to scientific, logistic and cost constraints that will limit both their taxonomic and spatial scope. Recognition of these constraints has lead AAPMA and CRIMP to adopted a targeted approach which concentrates on a known group of species and provides a cost effective approach to the collection of baseline data for all ports. The targeted surveys are designed to determine the distribution and abundance of a limited number of species in each port. These species are listed in Appendix 1 and are made up of:

• those species listed on the Australia Ballast Water Management Advisory Council' s (ABWMAC) schedule of introduced pest species;

• a group of species which are major pests in overseas ports and which, on the basis of their invasive history and projected shipping movements, might be expected to colonise Australian ports; and

• those known exotic species in Australian waters that currently are not assigned pest status.

The targeted surveys will also identify species of uncertain status (endemic or introduced) that are abundant in a port and/or are likely to become major pest species. A major component of each port survey is a local public awareness program designed to collect information that might indicate the presence of introduced species in the port and adjacent areas, the approximate date of introduction, and potential impacts on native marine communities.

This preliminary report details the targeted ABWMAC pest species results of an introduced species survey of Port Lincoln, South Australia, carried out between May 28 and June 4, 1996. The survey was the first undertaken in South Australia as part of the AAPMA/CRIMP initiative and was jointly funded by the South Australian Ports Corporation and CSIRO.

Item Type:	Report
Series Name:	A report for the South Australian Ports Corporation
Publisher:	CRIMP/CSIRO Division of Fisheries
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/64861

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