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Work HistoryAquenal has conducted a diverse range of aquatic environmental projects, including marine farm monitoring programs, environmental risk assessments, underwater surveys and inspections, threatened species surveys and relocation programs, introduced pest surveys and management plans, marine park biodiversity monitoring, avian ecological assessments, coastal GIS mapping projects and numerous other biological surveys and community coordination projects. Environments assessed have ranged from freshwater through to estuarine and marine, and have included wetlands in addition to fully aquatic habitats. Aquenal has also conducted a number of collaborative research projects involving the collection and compilation of data on marine biodiversity. Aquenal's work has primarily been undertaken in Tasmania, however additional projects have been performed in mainland Australia and Aquenal is also involved with international marine reserve management research. Further information is available here on the following principal areas of Aquenal's work:
Marine farm environmental surveysAquenal has performed environmental baseline surveys and follow-up monitoring surveys of over 60 marine farms in Tasmania. Farms surveyed include finfish, subtidal shellfish and intertidal shellfish operations in environments ranging from shallow, sheltered bays to open ocean coasts and deep river estuaries. Depths sampled have ranged from intertidal through to 45 m, in tidal currents of up to two and a half knots. Surveys include filming and assessment of the seabed along underwater transects, and sampling and analysis of sediments and macroinvertebrate communities. In addition to work in Tasmania, Aquenal has conducted environmental baseline and monitoring surveys of barramundi farms in the Northern Territory. Aquenal developed the biological aspects of the environmental monitoring program and has conducted baseline surveys of biological communities and physico-chemical parameters at four farm sites located in the Tiwi islands, Bynoe Harbour and Port Darwin. Follow-up monitoring surveys were subsequently conducted at some farms, however the viability of the farms was subsequently affected by local conditions and operations ceased. Back to top
Sea cages housing Atlantic salmon Environmental risk and impact assessmentsAquenal has conducted environmental risk and impact assessments for coastal developments such as tourist facilities, marinas, wharves and bridges. Risk assessments have also been performed for industrial sites, effluent outfalls, thermal discharges, dams, pipelines, sub-marine cable installations, dredging operations and multi-use strategic land development proposals (see below). In addition, desktop studies have been performed for clients to summarise impacts over wide areas of the Australian coastline.
Bell Bay Power Station (photo courtesy of Hydro Tasmania)
Impact and risk assessment projects have involved desktop studies and field surveys to identify relevant legislation and controls as well as existing environmental conditions and values. Risk assessment techniques have subsequently been used to determine the likelihood and potential consequences of environmental impacts. Mitigation strategies and environmental management plans have been developed to minimise the risk and extent of these impacts. In some projects, other consultancy companies are responsible for conducting the risk assessment, however they commission Aquenal to collect the baseline ecological and environmental data upon which to base their assessment. Examples of environmental risk and impact assessments conducted by Aquenal, and other ecological studies performed to contribute to such assessments, are listed below and include projects in Tasmania, Bass Strait and the broader South East Region of Australia, as defined by the National Oceans Office.
Threatened species surveys and relocation programsThreatened species surveying and management is a growing area of Aquenal’s expertise. Projects conducted have been concerned with both freshwater and marine, as well as vertebrate and invertebrate, species. Work undertaken has included desktop studies, field surveys of existing populations, searches for new populations and development and implementation of relocation programs. Examples of briefs performed are provided below:
Endangered seastar Patiriella vivipara Introduced marine pest surveysAquenal has a diverse range of expertise in the detection and identification of introduced pest species. Our staff have experience in surveying introduced species in ballast water, hull fouling, natural environments and Port harbours around Australia. Aquenal has undertaken detailed introduced species surveys in three major Australian ports, as part of the National Baseline Ports Survey Program administered by the Commonwealth Government. Aquenal has also been contracted by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW) to conduct marine pest surveys at minor ports around Tasmania; by the New South Wales Marine Park Authority to conduct a marine pest survey at Lord Howe Island; by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority to perform baseline marine pest surveys at Skardon River and Port Kennedy on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland; by the Australian Maritime College to assist them with biofouling inspections for the Port Botany Expansion Project; and by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) to conduct bio-fouling assessments of representative fishing vessels nationwide and, in a separate project, to monitor the effect of a local Tasmanian trapping program on population numbers of the northern Pacific seastar Asterias amurensis. Surveys conducted to date include:
The results of the Port of Launceston, Port of Hobart and Port of Burnie surveys are now publicly available, and PDF versions of reports for these surveys are available from our Reports page. A summary of the results of the Lord Howe Island marine pests survey is available via the New South Wales Marine Park Authority website at the following address: http://www.mpa.nsw.gov.au/pdf/lhimp-Research-Summaries.pdf Field surveys were performed in conjunction with desktop studies to identify all known introduced species present in the Ports, assess risks to aquatic habitats and recommend feasible management strategies. Field survey methods were implemented in accordance with sampling protocols developed by the Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) at the CSIRO, with these protocols a pre-cursor to the recently developed Australian and New Zealand standards for marine pest monitoring presented in the Marine Pest Monitoring Manual. This manual documents the standards that will guide future designs and methodologies for marine pest surveys conducted in Australia. Aquenal has played a role in the review and finalisation of the manual, as described below. Field methods used to date have included video surveying, still photography, pile scraping, visual surveys, macrobenthic and dinoflagellate cores, plankton netting, crab trapping and seine netting. Physico-chemical parameters were assessed in sediment samples and in the water column using a submersible data logger. The additional DAFF-commissioned surveys noted above employed different and project-specific methods. The commercial fishing bio-fouling project involved sampling dry-docked vessels in major ports around Australia, with quantitative quadrat scrapes taken from hulls and qualitative samples collected from fishing gear and other potential collection points. Samples of marine flora and fauna collected were identified to species level or the lowest possible taxonomic unit in the Aquenal laboratory. The seastar trapping monitoring study involved designing and implementing a monitoring program to record abundances of Asterias amurensis before, during and after trapping trials. This required divers to record seastar numbers on standard length transects near trapping areas and at control sites.
In another project, Sydney Ports required all dredging equipment and floating plant associated with the Port Botany Expansion Project to be free of organisms and foreign sediment that present a risk to the integrity of the marine ecosystem of Botany Bay. Jan Du Nul (the world’s largest dredging company) contracted the Australian Maritime College to manage this work, who in turn engaged Aquenal to assist with inspecting all dredging equipment and floating plant to ensure was is free of marine pests and foreign sediment prior to use. In addition to the above port surveys and biofouling assessments, Aquenal has collected data on distributions of introduced species from a wide range of other surveys. This information is fed into a distributional and photographic database developed through a joint project with CRIMP and funded through AusIndustry™. Further information on this database is provided below. In addition to the database component, this project involved development of introduced species taxonomic expertise. Back to top Introduced marine pest management and technologiesIn addition to marine pest surveys, Aquenal has been commissioned by Commonwealth research and government agencies to conduct a range of marine pest management and technologies projects, as outlined below:
Further information on these projects is provided below: Aquenal was contracted by the CSIRO to support the management of the National Port Survey collection and database for marine pests. On the basis of marine taxonomic expertise and experience in managing similar biological databases, Aquenal was commissioned to:
In a seperate DAFF project, Aquenal conducted a desktop study to identify, describe and assess prospective containment and treatment technologies that have been used in, or can be adapted to, marine pest eradication/control in the Australian marine and estuarine environment. DAFF also commissioned Aquenal to review the Marine Pest Monitoring Guidelines and Manual developed in accordance with the National System for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pest Incursions. The objectives were to review and evaluate monitoring trial surveys and, in consultation with museum staff and other researchers around Australia, develop a revised monitoring manual that is user friendly and practical. Aquenal has also been conducting its own research and development project (IMProtector) to develop a practical and inexpensive means of isolating and decontaminating vessel hulls to destroy bio-fouling communities and hence significantly reduce the risk of introduction of marine pests via this vector. The IMProtector caters for vessels up to 25 m in length and can be installed without vessels needing to be removed from the water. To date Aquenal has designed and fabricated a prototype system which has been tested on ocean going yachts ranging from 10.8 m to 12.5 m in length. If the IMProtector system proves to be as practical and effective as our early tests indicate, there is considerable potential for deployment of similar systems in all ports of entry, cruising yacht clubs and high value marine protected areas. Click here for additional information on the IMProtector. Back to top Marine Park biodiversity surveysAquenal's expertise in marine park biodiversity assessment is founded on the skills of one of its Directors, Dr Graham Edgar, who has been at the forefront of marine park biological research both in Australia and overseas. Aquenal has conducted biodiversity surveys of two marine parks in New South Wales, the Marine Protected Area at the Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay, and the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, the latter located 590 km offshore from the Australian mainland.
The field survey at the Booderee National Park included quadrat sampling of rocky intertidal species, seine netting of seagrass and sandy habitat fish species, and transect surveys of fish, algae and mobile invertebrates on subtidal rocky reefs. An ongoing monitoring program for the marine park was also devised. The survey report has been published by the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage (see our Reports page).
A grey nurse shark Carcharias taurus recorded on
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Aquenal was commissioned to perform a survey of marine pests at Lord Howe Island (see above) and, in consultation with the New South Wales Marine Park Authority, combined this with a marine biodiversity survey using the standard techniques developed and applied by Dr Graham Edgar and colleagues at other Australian marine parks. The biodiversity survey work at Lord Howe Island included quadrat surveys of rocky intertidal species, transect surveys of fish, algae and mobile invertebrates on subtidal rocky reefs and collection of a large number of photographs to contribute to the park's marine biological species database. Aquenal’s marine biodiversity survey contributed to the development of an on-going biodiversity monitoring program within the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. Aquenal has played a key role in this monitoring, which provides data for assessment of ecological change within the marine park. Back to top
Natural resource management - foreshore mappingA new and important area of Aquenal’s work is GIS mapping of the foreshore environment. NRM South, the southern coordination body of Tasmania’s regional Natural Resource Management framework, commissioned Aquenal to establish and map baseline information on the values, pressures, uses and condition of foreshores in southern Tasmania. The area mapped extends from Bicheno on the east coast through to Port Davey on the south west coast. The project was developed in consultation with a coastal reference group and relevant stakeholders, and supporting information was compiled through literature and database reviews, web searches and field studies. An explanatory report and user guide detailing the project methods and output is provided on our Reports page. The final mapping layers created are available under the Natural Environment (Coastal Values) category on the Land Information System Tasmania (LIST) website and bridge a gap between existing mapping of coastal and marine habitats. The study forms a basis for strategic management of foreshores in the region, provides a tool for Local and State government and establishes benchmarks and reference sites for assessing future change. The project also provides mapping resources to facilitate the protection, improvement and sustainable management of foreshore environments, and has broad implications for the activities of regulatory agencies and other coastal management groups. Aquenal is currently exploring avenues for expanding this work to include other parts of Tasmania. Back to top
Underwater filming and inspectionsOne major factor which puts Aquenal at the leading edge of aquatic environmental analysis is the use of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for collecting underwater video footage. The ROV has many advantages over divers in underwater observation, and can dive to 150 m with no restraints on dive times or number of dives. Aquenal has used an ROV for a range of projects, including marine farm environmental surveys, fish surveys and biological studies incorporated in risk assessment projects, Police Search and Rescue work and inspections of hydro-electric dams. Under certain conditions and in shallow environments, dive surveys have been performed by divers on SCUBA, rather than deploying the ROV. In these cases, divers have used hand-held video gear to capture underwater footage. For more information on the ROV and other underwater video gear, see our Equipment page. Back to top Biodiversity program and marine species databaseA core component of Aquenal's activities is the development of in-house taxonomic expertise and the continuous updating of photographic and distributional databases on introduced and native marine species. We aim to increase available taxonomic and distributional data on Australian, particularly southern temperate, marine organisms, and currently maintain a reference collection containing approximately 3000 species. All data held by Aquenal are compiled within our biodiversity database, which is supplemented by a photographic library of biological specimens to provide a valuable information resource on marine environments and communities. The relational nature and GIS interface of the database allow generation of distribution maps, analyses of levels of biodiversity and extraction and analysis of other desired datasets. (continued below)
Our staff have expertise in the identification of all major southern Australian marine fish, invertebrate and plant groups, and include specialists with taxonomic knowledge of fishes, crustaceans, ascidians, sponges and other marine invertebrates. We also liase closely with relevant taxonomists at state museums, CSIRO and universities. Development of our biodiversity database has been undertaken in co-operation with the Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) at CSIRO, with the support of AusIndustry™ under their Research and Development Start Program. The program provided for database construction and graduate training under the supervision of leading marine taxonomists. We are continually adding to our database through input of data from new projects and specific biodiversity surveys. Aquenal's biodiversity program has also supported research to identify active medicinal compounds in the tissues of marine plants and animals. In accordance with Commonwealth and State legislation, small quantities of algae and invertebrates such as sponges, ascidians and bryozoans have been collected by Aquenal divers and forwarded for chemical screening and the determination of any potential medicinal benefits. Taxonomic and distributional information collected was fed into the Aquenal biodiversity database, with voucher specimens of the different species deposited in state museums and the Aquenal reference collection. Back to top
Collaborative research projectsAquenal has collaborated with a commercial paint company and the University of New South Wales in trials of environmentally friendly anti-fouling paint formulations. Aquenal's participation involved implementation of field trials at several localities in south east Tasmania. Test racks containing samples treated with paint formulations were installed and samples were photographed each month using an underwater camera. Digital images of test racks were electronically transmitted for analysis of fouling communities and the effectiveness of paint formulations tested. Aquenal has also collaborated with other research agencies, such as the CSIRO (see above) and organisations involved with testing the medicinal properties of marine specimens (see above). Back to top Community project coordinationAquenal staff are also experienced in environmental interpretation and coordination of community projects. One project involved coordination of several community volunteer exercises to relocate populations of the endangered seastar Patiriella vivipara from a bridge development site at Sorell in Tasmania. The initial relocation exercise involved 20 volunteers from Green Corps and Conservation Volunteers Australia and took approximately one week to complete. Work conducted by Aquenal included design of methodologies, provision of information sheets and instruction to volunteers during the field exercise. A similar exercise was conducted following completion of construction works to return seastars to a re-aligned section of causeway adjacent to the new bridge. Aquenal participated in media aspects of these community volunteer exercises and was responsible for on-going monitoring of relocation and control sites to assess and report on the success of the relocation program. Back to top
Community volunteers relocating the endangered seastar
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