Port of Thursday Island - Baseline Surveys for Introduced Marine Pests

Dr Kerry Neil, Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries

The Introduced Marine Pests Group (IMPG) has secured funding through the CRC Torres Strait to undertake a baseline survey for introduced taxa within the Port of Thursday Island. Due to limited funding available through this program, only target groups of plants and animals will be examined taxonomically to determine whether recognised pests are present in the samples collected from Thursday Island. Previous studies indicate that the Torres Strait region supports diverse and unique flora and forna assemblages. Without fully identifying all taxa collected there is a chance that introduced taxa not yet recognised as pests will not be identified, which could have a number of management implications. In addition, the information would not fully satisfy the criteria for the information to be entered into the Decision Support System (DSS). By undertaking taxonomic analysis of all samples all introduces taxa would be identified, allowing appropriate management actions to be implemented, and a complete understanding of the coastal biodiversity of the area could be utilised when considering impacts on the environment during port operations and for future port developments.