While we can never know for sure, an extraordinary number of animals and plants are threatened with extinction — up to a third of all mammals and over a tenth of all birds. And the problem is getting worse…
Coral reef ecosystem off Palmyra Atoll part of newly expanded Marine National Monument.
Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This fall, President Obama signed a proclamation that created the biggest marine reserve in the world. By extending the protective boundaries around Wake Island, Jarvis Island and Johnston Atoll from 50…
Australia’s Commonwealth marine parks were designed to protect marine life, including important foraging areas for sea birds.
In June 2012 the Labor government announced the “world’s largest” system of marine parks, adding 2.3 million square kilometres and taking the overall size of Australia’s Commonwealth marine reserves to…
Shark Bay is one of Australia’s 19 World Heritage Areas, home to dolphins, dugongs, and sharks.
Matthew Fraser
In the summer of 2010-2011 Western Australia experienced an unprecedented heatwave — but not on land. Between December 2010 and April 2011, sea temperatures off the WA coast reached 3C above average, and…
Floodwater plumes, like this one in Moreton Bay, do less damage to reefs that are in marine reserves.
Healthy Waterways/supplied
Marine reserves are a hot topic in Australia, with federal and state governments debating whether to allow recreational fishers to take fish from within their boundaries. But new research demonstrates…
Already operating as a coal port, the disposal of dredge material from expanding Abbot Point is now the subject of a legal challenge.
GBRMPA
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s recent decision to allow 3 million cubic metres of dredge material to be disposed of 25 kilometres off Abbot Point in north Queensland has attracted passionate…
Marine protected areas aren’t doing their job.
Charlievdb/Flickr
This research is a finalist for the 2014 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research. Marine protected areas have been created across the globe to stem the loss of biodiversity in our oceans. But are they…
While we don’t know much about oceans off north west Australia, we know they’re important.
Australian Institute of Marine Science
How do we get the most out of our marine reserves? The government is in the process of reviewing Australia’s network of marine protected areas. The review focuses on zones that exclude recreational fishers…
Step away from the fish, with your beak in the air.
Reemul
Some of the world’s most vulnerable marine habitats are being failed by the conservation orders put in place to protect them. As the Environmental Audit Committee meets to discuss how it will implement…
Going fishing? 96% of Australia’s coastline is still open to recreational fishers.
Flickr/deswalsh
The federal government’s recent announcement “reproclaiming” the new Commonwealth Marine Reserves overturns previous plans to protect Australia’s marine biodiversity, and review the management of Australia’s…
Want to catch more fish? Science says: ave a place for baby fish to grow.
E. Peter Steenstra/USFWS
Over a year ago I wrote an article in this column saying that the marine parks were good news, even for recreational fishers and the fishing industry. Last Friday, the Abbott government announced that…
Maria Island’s protected waters have given us insight into how species respond to warmer temperatures.
Paul Benjamin
Southeast Australia is an ocean warming “hotspot” – a region where temperature at the ocean’s surface is increasing more rapidly than elsewhere. That means this part of Australia is like an outdoor laboratory…
By consulting more with fishers, governments can build support for conservation science.
Flickr/Ben Christian Photos
Last year the current government unveiled plans for the world’s largest network of marine parks around Australia’s coast. Now the Coalition has pledged to put a pause on the plan should it form government…
Chagos: more marine life than practically anywhere else, and Captain Bird’s Eye is getting his hands on none of it.
Anne Sheppard/Chagos Trust
The Chagos Islands marine protected area is the largest of its kind in the world, encircling the dozens of tiny islands of the Chagos archipelago that lie in thousands of miles of Indian Ocean between…
With only 4% of no-take zones within 100km of shore, new marine parks will leave plenty of places to take a tinny fishing.
Rob and Stephanie Levy
Last night the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network survived a vote in the House of Representatives. The Opposition had hoped to disallow the motions setting up the network, but were narrowly defeated…
Why can’t people and marine parks get along?
Flickr/f-l-e-x
In what is either a win for fishers or another blow to reserves, recreational fishers have been allowed back into marine sanctuaries under controversial new reforms in New South Wales. In the past four…
Only 7% of the NSW coast is currently protected from fishing: it’s about to be 0%.
Éamonn Lawlor
The NSW Government’s announcement this week allowing beach fishing in sanctuary (no-take) zones of marine parks flies in the face of sensible conservation of precious marine biodiversity. It is a warning…
On land and in the sea, we’re losing sight of what nature conservation is about. We’ve become dangerously focused on protected areas, but rarely consider what they’re supposed to achieve. One result is…
Failing to reach a decision on protecting Antarctic waters doesn’t mean the process is over.
Dean Lewins/AAP
The annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) wound up in Hobart on Thursday last week without declaring a system of marine protected areas (MPAs…