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Subject: SEAGRASS-WATCH BULLETIN - 02 March 2007
SEAGRASS-WATCH BULLETIN
02 March 2007
Seagrass-Watch's electronic news service, providing marine and coastal news of international and national interest.
Seagrass-Watch welcomes feedback on the bulletins, and you are free to distribute it amongst your own networks.
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NEWS
Seaweek March 4-10: Marine bycatch matters (Australia)
From 4-10 March 2007, the Marine Education Society of Australasia's (MESA), the Bureau of
Rural Sciences and other key stakeholder groups will work together to develop and deliver an
awareness raising campaign focusing on marine bycatch in wild fisheries. It will include
activities which will increase awareness of bycatch issues; encourage the adoption of existing
bycatch technologies/practices, and encourage research into new technologies/practices.
Seaweek was created in 1987 at the Marine Discovery Centre, Queenscliff, Victoria by Julie
Swartz and Pauline Halpin. It began as an art competition that was promoted in all states of
Australia and was accompanied by an educational kit consisting of marine activities and
relevant information brochures. Today, SeaWeek is a major national public awareness
campaign. It is conducted annually to focus community awareness, provide information and
encourage an appreciation of the sea.
To participate and for more information, visit http://www.mesa.edu.au/seaweek.asp
Clean Up Australia Day: 4 March 2007 (Australia)
Every year hundreds of thousands of Australians help clean up their local environment on
Clean Up Australia Day. It's fun, easy and everyone can take part. Individuals and local groups
can either organise a Clean Up site or volunteer to join an existing site.
From Perth to Penrith hundreds of thousands of Australians collect and remove rubbish from
the environment on Clean Up Australia Day. The day is firmly entrenched in the Australian
calendar. It is an apolitical, non-profit community campaign in which everyone can participate.
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Clean Up Australia Day has successfully grown each year to make this community event the
largest annual environmental campaign in Australia.
To participate and for more information, visit http://www.cleanup.com.au/au/GetInvolved/clean-
up-australia-day.html
See more sea grass (St. Petersburg,FL,USA)
March 2, 2007 - St. Petersburg Times
Tampa Bay is healthier than it has been in years. Over the past two years, the bay has gained
1,300 acres of seagrass, and water clarity is the best since record keeping began in the 1970s,
the Tampa Bay Estuary Program announced this week. As a result of the gains, Tampa Bay
has about 28,299 acres of seagrass, the highest total since the 1950s but still short of the
agency's goal of 38,000 acres. Seagrass serves as the bay's nursery, nurturing and supporting
a wide variety of fish and other species. The seagrass and clarity have been slowly recovering
since the end of sewage dumping in the bay and developers were barred from dredging the bay
bottom.
Source: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/02/State/Dateline_Florida.shtml
Court sinks giant marina plan (Sydney,New South Wales,Australia)
March 1, 2007, Sydney Morning Herald
A controversial marina planned for a small Tweed Valley town has been rejected in the Land
and Environment Court in a case the developer says could have repercussions statewide. The
judgement found that the approval by the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, of the expansion
of a proposed marina at Chinderah from 29 to 115 berths should be overturned. The original
29-berth marina can proceed. Justice Jayne Jagot, in a judgement delivered on Monday, found
that the proposed expanded development would have adverse social, economic, environmental
and visual effects on the town. A key factor in the decision was Justice Jagot's finding that the
proposed marina would disturb significant seagrass beds and that the marina would not
generate local employment.
A spokesman for the developer, Rivercolt Pty Ltd, said the judgement took the company by
surprise. Mr Swarts said he did not expect Rivercolt to appeal against the decision and he
warned other developers seeking to build marinas that they should take note of the decision. "I
think it is an important decision for anyone in NSW. It marks a considerable hurdle for the
development and approval of marinas. They are not easy, they are not flavour of the month and
they attract local opposition.
The case was brought by a Fingal woman, Katie Milne, who represented the concerns of a
range of cane growers, local businesses and environmentalists. The president of the Tweed
Cane Growers Association, Graham Martin, said he opposed the development because of the
effect it would have on sugar cane grown on the Tweed Valley flood plain. Mr Martin said he
felt the local residents were the underdog in the case. "The developer seemed to have so
much power. They come in and have so much money to throw around. They lobby extremely
hard in government," he said yesterday. While recognising that specific factors such as the
seagrass and location led to Justice Jagot's decision, Mr Martin said the judgement could be
relevant in other marina development cases taken to the court.
Source & full story : http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/court-sinks-giant-marina-
plan/2007/02/28/1172338709801.html
Research team to study sea grass die-off in Outer Clam Bay (Naples,FL,USA)
February 27, 2007 Naples Daily News
A four-month study of a sea grass die-off in Outer Clam Bay got a go-ahead from Collier County
commissioners Tuesday. Commissioners voted to spend up to $40,000 to hire a research team
led by sea grass expert Dave Tomasko, a project manager with the firm Post, Buckley, Schuh
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and Jernigan, to study the cause of the die-off and what can be done to restore the sea
grasses, an important link in the marine food chain and a key indicator of estuary health.
Outer Clam Bay, south of Clam Pass in northeastern Collier County, is bordered to the south by
the Naples Cay and Seagate neighborhoods. The Pelican Bay neighborhood is to the north. A
combination of Collier County and Pelican Bay studies dating to 1994 show Outer Clam Bay
has lost more than half of its sea grasses, from about 10 acres to between 3 and 4 acres.
Seagate Homeowners Association president David Buser, who says the die-off has been worse
than the studies show, has accused Pelican Bay of not doing enough to protect the sea grasses
as part of a permit to restore nearby mangroves. The study will pay special attention to ways to
educate the neighborhoods that drain into Clam Bay about how to limit polluted runoff into the
bay.
Source:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/feb/27/research_team_study_sea_grass_die_outer_clam
latest
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TRAINING WORKSHOPS
Townsville (Qld): 18th of March 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/training.html#wrkshop07
Singapore: 26th of March 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/training.html#wrkshop07
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GALLERY
Torres Strait (Australia): 25-28 February 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
Front Beach (TI21)
Workshop - Thursday Island
Back Beach (TI1)
Horn Island (HI1)
Hammond Island (HD1)
Chek Jawa (Singapore): 24 February 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
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FROM HQ
Giveaways http://www.seagrasswatch.org/shop.html#GIVE1
Seagrasses of Australia
Phytoplankton Guide
Manual for Assessing Fish Stocks on Pacific Corral Reefs (only 5 left)
Seagrass Biology
Bookmarks
Stickers
Future sampling dates http://www.seagrasswatch.org/sampling.html
Seagrass-Watch News Issue 27 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/newsletters.html
Handy Seagrass Links http://www.seagrasswatch.org/links.html
8/07/2007
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DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in this bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the
Queensland Government. News articles posted as a free community service for the purposes of non-commercial
education, research and study; review and the reporting of news; and archived for reference of students and researchers
as a 'fair dealing' activity under Australian Copyright Law.
Seagrass-Watch is supported by the Australian Government's Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility
(Department of the Environment and Water Resources) represented in North Queensland by the Reef and Rainforest
Research Centre, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service
(EPA), the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries.
Seagrass-Watch Bulletin is compiled by Len McKenzie & Rudi Yoshida.
8/07/2007