Project number: 2016-104
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $150,000.00
Principal Investigator: Timothy M. Ward
Organisation: SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
Project start/end date: 31 Jul 2017 - 29 Apr 2019
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stakeholder
Rac Sa
Ecosystem
Data
Aquaculture

Need

This project is a case study that addresses science needs identified in the National Marine Science Plan 2015, relating to:

i) systematic collection of environmental, social and economic baseline data;
ii) establishing a monitoring program to support effective management and conservation;
iii) incorporating social, economic and cultural data into marine assessments.

This socio-ecological assessment of Spencer Gulf is needed to evaluate and support future management of the gulfs ecosystems, industries and communities.

It will: i) improve current understanding of the web of interactions that drive patterns and trends in the Gulfs key ecological, economic and social feature and ii) help ensure that ecological, economic and social benefits from future use of the Gulf’s assets are balanced and maximised.

This assessment of Spencer Gulf is needed to build on progress towards 1) ecosystem-based management of the fishing and aquaculture sectors achieved through previous FRDC projects (see references in Goyder application attached) and 2) ecosystem-based management of the gulfs ecosystems, industries and communities (especially stakeholder engagement) achieved as part of the $2.5M industry-funded SGEDI.

Funding provided by FRDC and the Goyder Institute for Water Research are needed to ensure that momentum towards ecosystem-based management achieved through SGEDI previous projects is maintained during a period where the availability of additional industry funds is limited.

Objectives

1. Establish a time series of key indicators for monitoring the social, economic and ecological status of Spencer Gulf.
2. Establish online interactive maps of the environmental conditions, ecological assets, human activities and socio-ecological values of the gulf.
3. Undertake an integrated assessment of the status of the gulf’s socio-ecological systems.

Final report

Authors: Tanner J.E. Bailleul F. Bryars S. Doubell M. Foster N. Gaylard S. Gillanders B.M. Goldsworthy S. Huveneers C. James C. Jones A.R. Maher J. Nursey-Bray M. van Ruth P. and Ward T.M.
Final Report • 2020-12-04 • 3.63 MB
2016-104-DLD.pdf

Summary

Traditionally, management of marine activities has occurred on a sector-by-sector basis, with limited consideration of the interactions between different activities and users, or their cumulative impacts. There is increasing global recognition of the need for Integrated Management (IM) of the complex array of commercial and recreational activities that occur in marine environments, and their impacts on the socio-ecological assets that comprise these systems. An integrated monitoring program that includes social, economic and ecological indicators is an essential element of IM. 
This report collates existing information on the threats to the ecosystems of Spencer Gulf and its industries and communities.  Datasets that may provide a useful indicator for one or more assets or threats are collated.  The focus is on datasets for which there are available time-series data. Most existing monitoring programs are designed to assess the impacts of and/or manage individual activities, or to monitor particular species.  While we have identified a broad range of valuable data sets for Spencer Gulf (~170), we have also identified many gaps, and a number of data sets that are only collected sporadically, and for which there is no guarantee of continuation.
Overall, we have identified around 170 different data time-series that could be used as the basis for a suite of indicators of the overall social, economic and ecological status of Spencer Gulf, as well as numerous data gaps.  One challenge identified by this work is that a number of potentially important data sets are collected and reported at spatial scales that are not useful for examining the status of Spencer Gulf.  This data is either collected/reported at a statewide scale, or for terrestrially-based natural resources management regions.  The next step is be to consolidate the datasets collated here into a smaller subset that provide a useful and amenable set of actual indictors that can be utilised to monitor the status of the gulf and assess the impacts of the range of activities undertaken in it, going forward.  The collation of information undertaken in this report is an important steps towards undertaking an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of Spencer Gulf.

Project products

Article • 3.49 MB
2016-104-SPG Task 2 Industries & Communities Report.pdf

Summary

This report describes a new software platform - named 'Gulfview' - that was developed to allow stakeholders to efficiently access spatially-explicit information about the environmental characteristics, ecological assets, human activities, management arrangements and socio-economic values of Spencer Gulf. 
Map • 408.16 KB
2016-104-Spencer Gulf socio-ecological status.pdf

Summary

This map depicts the socio-ecological Status of Spencer Gulf 2019
Presentation • 2019-04-01 • 1.58 MB
2016-104-Goyder Presentation Gulfview.pdf

Summary

This presentation highlights the interactive software platform called Gulfview, which allows stakeholders to access spatially-explicit information about the environmental characteristics, ecological assets, human activities, management arrangements and socio-economic values of Spencer Gulf 
Presentation • 2019-04-01 • 3.33 MB
2016-104-Goyder Presentation SG socio-ecological status and recommendations.pdf

Summary

This presentation reports the socio-ecological assessment of the industries, communities and ecosystems of Spencer Gulf by:
• Collating existing data-sets
• Developing potential social, ecological and economic indicators
• Assessing status of the Spencer Gulf
• Identifying key knowledge gaps and other data limitations
• Recommending next steps
Presentation • 2019-04-01 • 2.47 MB
2016-104-Goyder Presentation SG Integrated Management.pdf

Summary

Why Spencer Gulf?
• increasingly crowded marine space
• gateway for SA’s agriculture, mining and energy sectors
• produces approximately half of SA’s seafood
• recreational hotspot and growing ecotourism
• important conservation values
• nationally recognised case-study for integrated management
• process needed to resolve conflict among user groups (fishers, conservation, miners, desalination plants)
• need a more efficient and transparent decision-making process

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