OceanWatch’s Simon Rowe spent a week in the Coral Sea late December with Tangaroa Blue Foundation, Auswaste and volunteers as a component of the ReefClean program. The mission was to visit many small offshore islands north of Cooktown to collect marine debris and collate as much information on each piece for the Australian Marine Debris Initiative Database. So what do you think was collected? See a portion of it being sorted in the image below.

This information is being used to undertake the next steps in reducing or eliminating these items ending up on our shores. In particular, we are working on a source reduction plan for the Professional fishing use of Cyalume light sticks. Call up if you have any thoughts. Also of interest and found on this trip are a new type of sophisticated FAD (Fish Attracting Device), illegal in Australian waters but being used by fisheries in the pacific to target pelagic species such as Tuna. They incorporate LED lighting, solar panels and some have sonar transducers to indicate presence of fish below to transmit the information to the fleet. If you do come across one please let us know where.

More information on this expedition can be found here.

ReefClean is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation and Oceanwatch Australia.
 

The bushfire crisis that Australia experienced this season has been felt far and wide throughout the Australian community. At OceanWatch we are deeply concerned about the current situation, due to the far reaching effects  it continues to have on our people, properties and our natural environment. The ongoing bushfire emergency will significantly impact the unique ecosystems in our rivers, creeks and estuaries for many months to come. 

OceanWatch Australia will be working with Commonwealth, State and Local governments, as well as with industry, affected communities, and our land based NRM counterparts on emergency actions to mitigate further impacts on our extraordinary waterways.

At the heart of our operations will always be the involvement, problem solving capabilities of our local seafood industry and affected communities, similar to Landcare - but for the marine. We will continue to strive towards solutions that help our nation recover from the current disaster.

Please contact OceanWatch if you have lost infrastructure due to the recent crisis, or if you have concerns about aquatic and marine habitat. We will do all will can to continue to support our people and our waterways. 

 

Image Source: ABC 

NSW bushfires sparks mass fish kill at Macleay River on Mid-North Coast
A mass fish kill occurred in a 60-70km stretch of the Macleay River near Bellbrook, north-west of Kempsey, last weekend...The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) confirmed it received reports of mass fish deaths due to run off from recent rain..."DPI fisheries staff have been on high alert for these circumstances since the commencement of the bushfire season," a spokesman said. - ABC
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Image Source: ABC

Dubbo fish kill won't be the last as drought, fire raise extinction risk, ecologists warn

"A renowned angler says a mass fish kill in the parched Macquarie River in New South Wales this week left the waterway looking like "tomato soup."
Tens of thousands of fish of all sizes and species are estimated to have perished near Dubbo, in the state's west, after much-needed rain washed sediment into the river, causing dissolved oxygen levels to drop rapidly." - ABC

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