Marine Produce Australia: Cone Bay Barramundi Aquaculture ...

4.3 Coral reef monitoring
4.3.1 Objectives
The aim of the coral reef monitoring plan (CRMP) is to meet the EPA objective for protection
of benthic primary producer habitats as per EPA Environmental Assessment Guideline No. 3
(EPA 2009). The EPA's environmental objective for BPPHs is to protect BPPHs from
developments that may cause irreversible loss or serious damage to BPPHs (EPA 2009).
Gilmour et al. (2007) describes several sub-lethal indicators of coral health that may be used
to infer early signs of stress in coral communities. The indicators, which are based on the
effects of dredging (i.e. elevated TSS and decreases in LAC), can be assessed qualitatively or
semi-quantitatively. Indicators based on coral mucous and pigmentation have been chosen
for inclusion in the EMMP. The indicators are to be used in conjunction with other lines of
evidence (i.e. parametric analysis of TSS and LAC between coral impact and coral reference
sites) to measure potential for adverse effects to corals.
4.3.2 Responsibility
Coral reef system management shall be the responsibility of the Proponent (MPA). The work
may be delegated to a nominated third party to undertake on behalf of the Proponent.
4.3.3 Timing
The CRMP will be implemented as soon as reasonably practicable upon exceedance of the
corresponding water quality EQG for TSS, LAC and/or chlorophyll-a (Table 4.7).
4.3.4 Sampling regime
Site selection
Nine coral monitoring sites have been established: three potential impact locations, all
located within the high ecological protection area, and six reference sites located around the
Razor Islands (Figure 4.1). GPS coordinates for the coral sites are provided in Appendix C.
Sampling method
To mitigate risks associated with crocodiles, field methods will be developed to capture
images of coral from a vessel. At each site, a high resolution digital camera will be lowered
at n=10 randomly generated distances along a 20 m transect. The camera will be mounted
on a frame such that the distance between the camera and the coral habitat is controlled.
The extent of coral mucous coverage will be determined qualitatively, by assigning indices of
relative coverage:
1 = no visible mucous
2 = light mucous (75%).
The extent of pigmentation will be determined using semi-quantitative methods developed by
the Coral Watch program http://www.coralwatch.org/web/guest. The Coral Watch program
uses a colour-coded card to assess the level of pigmentation from normal (healthy) through
to bleached (severely impacted) (Figure 4.4). Each colour square corresponds to a
concentration of symbionts in the coral tissue, with the concentration of symbionts directly
linked to the health of the coral.
It is recommended that the coral health card is secured to the inside corner of the frame such
that the card is in the camera's field of view. This will mitigate any ambiguity that may be
caused by image brightness and/or contrast.
26 Oceanica: Marine Produce Australia: Cone Bay Barramundi Aquaculture, Environmental Monitoring & Management Plan