DOCSLIB.ORG

Understanding Vessel Activity in Marine Protected Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Understanding Vessel Activity in Marine Protected Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring Marine Policy 120 (2020) 104138 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine Policy journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Sleuthing with sound: Understanding vessel activity in marine protected areas using passive acoustic monitoring Logan R. Kline a,*, Annamaria I. DeAngelis b, Candace McBride c, Giverny G. Rodgers c, Timothy J. Rowell b, Jeremy Smith c, Jenni A. Stanley b,d, Andrew D. Read e, SofieM. Van Parijs b a Under Contract to Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA b Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA c Parks Australia, GPO Box 858, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia d Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA e National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University, 2 Bay Drive, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450, Australia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Monitoring compliance and enforcing laws are integral to ensuring the success of marine protected areas (MPAs), Marine protected areas but traditional monitoring techniques are costly and resource demanding. Three SoundTrap 300 recorders were Marine parks deployed for one month between 1 July and September 12, 2018 to collect acoustic data in two marine parks off Passive acoustic monitoring southeastern Australia: one recorder in Cod Grounds Marine Park (CGMP) and two in the Solitary Islands Marine Compliance Park National Park Zone (SIMP NPZ). Extractive activities such as fishingare not permitted in these zones. Raven Enforcement Surveillance Pro 2.0 was used to analyze data for vessel presence. Transmission loss equations for each site were generated using patrol boat GPS tracks and used to predict if acoustically recorded vessels were inside park boundaries based on received sound levels. In CGMP, 41 vessels were predicted within the park during the recording period; 34 vessels were predicted within the SIMP NPZ. Thursdays and Saturdays were identifiedas peak days for vessel presence in CGMP while Thursdays were the peak day in the SIMP NPZ. Most vessel activity at both locations took place between 06:00 and 17:00 AEST. Peak vessel presence in CGMP occurred at 09:00 AEST while the peak vessel presence in the SIMP NPZ occurred at 16:00 AEST. Approximately 12.7 h of vessel sounds were recorded within CGMP; approximately 3.8 h of vessel noise were recorded within the SIMP NPZ. Passive acoustic monitoring of vessel patterns in Australian Marine Parks has provided valuable insight to redirect compliance decisions on how to focus surveillance efforts. 1. Introduction health [4], and protecting endangered or commercially viable species [5,6]) and are principal to international efforts to improve MPA man­ Marine protected areas (MPAs) are recognized global conservation agement [7–9]. This is particularly true of large and/or remote MPAs, tools developed with the goal of conserving natural and cultural oceanic which present considerable challenges for ensuring effective surveil­ resources.1 The quantity and size of these areas have grown considerably lance [10]. Australian waters contain a handful of the largest MPAs (e.g. over the last few decades; as of 2018, MPAs constituted approximately Coral Sea Marine Park and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) and repre­ 6.6% of the global ocean, with 13,000 MPAs worldwide averaging 2.5 sent some of the most thoroughly monitored regions of ocean on the km2 in size [1]. Effective compliance and enforcement of management planet [7,9,11]. rules are essential for meeting the ecological goals of MPAs (e.g. In Australia, the management of MPAs is shared between state and conserving species diversity and richness [2,3], promoting ecosystem Australian government agencies. Australian Marine Parks * Corresponding author. 102 Kenduskeag Avenue, Apt 1, Bangor, ME, 04401, USA. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L.R. Kline), [email protected] (A.I. DeAngelis), [email protected] (C. McBride), giverny. [email protected] (G.G. Rodgers), [email protected] (T.J. Rowell), [email protected] (J. Smith), [email protected] (J.A. Stanley), andrew. [email protected] (A.D. Read), [email protected] (S.M. Van Parijs). 1 https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/mpa.html. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104138 Received 22 November 2019; Received in revised form 2 July 2020; Accepted 13 July 2020 Available online 27 July 2020 0308-597X/Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). L.R. Kline et al. Marine Policy 120 (2020) 104138 (Commonwealth reserves proclaimed under the Environment Protection acoustic signature [42]. In lieu of satellite-derived spatial information, and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) are located at the outer edge of PAM can provide estimations of presence and characteristics of motor- state and territory waters, generally begin 3 nm from shore, and extend ized vessels with unknown spatial attributes, as well as continuous to the outer boundary of Australia’s exclusive economic zone (200 nm) monitoring of remote locations for months at a time. Additionally, PAM [12]. A total of 58 marine parks are currently managed by Parks can enhance management understanding and improve decision-making Australia, part of the federal environment portfolio, and were estab- by unveiling human and biological presence patterns in the acoustic lished with the objective of protecting and conserving biodiversity and soundscape (see Refs. [24,42,43] for examples). Given that vessels other natural, cultural, and heritage values whilst allowing for ecolog- without AIS technology comprise most anthropogenic noise contribu- ically sustainable use of natural resources. Characterized by large, tions to shallow water soundscapes [44], PAM has the potential to be a highly biodiverse, and often remote ocean habitat that is difficult to powerful management tool. monitor, Australian Marine Parks are susceptible to a host of non- We present the use of PAM to develop a replicable methodology by compliant activities, notably illegal fishing and pollution [13]. Strong which temporal patterns of unknown motorized vessels near or within enforcement of MPA laws has shown the potential to rapidly increase the two Australian Marine Parks, Cod Grounds and Solitary Islands Marine number and density of target species in protected areas [5,6], and Parks, could be characterized over a one month recording period. The compliance alone has a strong positive effect on species biomass [14]. primary aim of this study was to optimize the effectiveness of future Optimizing compliance programs to protect MPA values ensures surface and aerial patrols by presenting a novel, low-cost technique for enforcement activities are effective and targeted toward observed estimating and understanding vessel presence and implications for characteristics of noncompliance [9]. A major challenge facing Austra- compliance in these highly protected areas. lian Marine Park managers is establishing effective and efficient tech- niques to optimize enforcement activities. 2. Materials and methods Manned surface patrols are the most common method for monitoring and enforcement in coastal MPAs [11], however they are 2.1. Study sites cost-prohibitive and resource demanding [7]. Furthermore, surface pa- trols have limitations in their scope of coverage and cannot realistically Australian Marine Parks are divided into zones that determine where detect all noncompliant activities. Studies have shown success in using certain activities can occur. National Park Zones (International Union automated identification systems (AIS) to monitor noncompliance of for Conservation of Nature Category II; NPZs) offer a high level of pro- commercial vessels in MPAs [15]. However, AIS data are limited by tection, with the goal of protecting and conserving ecosystems, habitats, small fleet coverage, the inability to identify vessel type, lowered ca- and native species [12]. This designation prohibits all extractive activ- pacity for data analysis by management agencies, and the ability to turn ities, such as fishing, aquaculture, and mining, and only permits off AIS at any time, thus masking criminal activities [16]. Vessel non-extractive activities unless authorized for research and monitoring. monitoring systems (VMS) have also been utilized to successfully deter Three bottom-mounted acoustic recorders (SoundTrap 300s2) were noncompliance events and have been used to analyze fishingactivity in deployed in two NPZs located off the southeastern coast of Australia: one MPAs [17]. Yet, similar to AIS, VMS is limited by fleet coverage; in in Cod Grounds Marine Park (CGMP) at a depth of 37 m, deployed from Australia, less than 15% of the Australian commercial vessel fleet has July 1, 2018 to August 4, 2018, and two 140 m apart within the NPZ of access to VMS that alerts users to their presence in MPAs [7]. Notably, Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP NPZ) at a depth of 42 m, deployed recreational vessels are not equipped with VMS and are not required to from August 10, 2018 to September 12, 2018 (Fig. 1). The two recorders have AIS, creating a significant gap in MPA user understanding and in the SIMP NPZ were placed on opposite sides of a seamount, Pimpernel awareness for managers. Satellite imagery
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Regulation Impact Statement
    1 CONTENTS 1. PROBLEM DEFINITION 3 1.1 Background to the problem 3 1.2 The problem 6 2 WHY GOVERNMENT ACTION IS NEEDED 7 3. POLICY OPTIONS FOR MANAGING AUSTRALIAN MARINE PARKS 8 3.1 Policy options 8 3.2 Comparison of policy options 12 4. BENEFITS AND COSTS OF THE POLICY OPTIONS 13 4.1 The four goals for establishing the marine parks 18 4.2 Social and economic outcomes (costs) 22 4.3 Compliance/regulatory costs 31 5. PROCESS USED TO DEVELOP MARINE PARKS POLICY OPTIONS 33 5.1 Option 1 33 5.2 Option 2 39 6 PREFERRED POLICY OPTION 40 7 IMPLEMENTATION AND REVIEW 41 7.1 Reviewing management arrangements 41 7.2 Involvement of stakeholders and partner agencies in the implementation and review of management plans 41 7.3 Next steps 42 APPENDIX A: DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROCESSES USED TO DEVELOP THE POLICY OPTIONS 45 Processes informing Option 1 45 Processes informing Option 2 48 APPENDIX B: EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATION FEATURES AND SOCIO- ECONOMIC VALUES IN AUSTRALIAN MARINE PARKS 50 APPENDIX C: STATISTICS FOR AUSTRALIAN MARINE PARKS AND NETWORKS UNDER OPTIONS 1 AND 2—AREA AND NUMBER OF CONSERVATION FEATURES INCLUDED IN ZONES THAT OFFER A HIGH LEVEL OF PROTECTION, COMMERCIAL FISHERY DISPLACEMENT AND ACCESS FOR RECREATIONAL FISHERS 65 2 1. PROBLEM DEFINITION 1.1 Background to the problem According to Australia’s 2016 State of the environment report, Australia’s marine environment is generally in good condition, but is subject to a wide range of pressures.1 Several pressures that, in the past, have had substantial impacts on the marine environment (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Fishing Business Assistance Grants
    Fisheries Assistance and User Engagement Package - Fishing Business Assistance Program Grant Opportunity Guidelines Opening date: 20 March 2019 Closing date and time: 11:00pm AEST 7 May 2019 Commonwealth policy The Department of the Environment and Energy entity: If you have any questions, please contact Enquiries: Community Grants Hub Phone: 1800 020 283 Email: [email protected] Questions must be sent no later than 30 April 2019 Date guidelines released: 20 March 2019 Type of grant opportunity: Demand Driven Contents 1. Fishing Business Assistance Grant Opportunity Process 4 1.1 Role of the Community Grants Hub 6 1.2 About the Fisheries Assistance and User Engagement Package 6 1.3 About the Program grant opportunity 7 2. Grant amount 7 3. Grant eligibility criteria 9 3.1 Who is eligible to receive a grant? 9 4. The grant approval process 10 5. Grant acceptance process 10 5.1 Overview of acceptance process 10 5.2 Acceptance process timing 11 5.3 Questions during the acceptance process 11 5.4 The grant agreement 12 5.5 Notification of payment 12 6. How the grant will be paid 12 7. Grant evaluation 13 8. Grant payments and GST 13 9. Probity 13 9.1 Complaints process 13 9.2 Conflict of interest 14 9.3 Privacy: confidentiality and protection of personal information 15 9.4 Freedom of information 16 10. Consultation 16 11. Counselling 16 12. Glossary 17 Appendix A - List of affected Australian Marine Parks 20 South-west Network of Australian Marine Parks 20 North-west Network of Australian Marine Parks 20 North Network of Australian Marine Parks 21 Coral Sea Marine Park 21 2 Temperate East Network of Australian Marine Parks 21 Appendix B - Definition of authorised to fish 22 Appendix C – Displacement Methodology 24 Appendix D - Beach price calculation methods and beach prices 46 Appendix E - Community Grants Hub - Late applications policy 62 3 1.
    [Show full text]
  • D18 1294700 2018-2600 Our Marine Parks Draft Grant Opportunity
    Fisheries Assistance and User Engagement Package – Our Marine Parks Round One Grant Opportunity Guidelines Opening date: 14 February 2019 Closing date and time: 2.00PM AEDT on 12 March 2019 Commonwealth policy Department of the Environment and Energy entity: Administering entity Community Grants Hub Enquiries: If you have any questions, contact Community Grants Hub Phone: 1800 020 283 Email: [email protected] Questions should be sent no later than 5/03/2019 Date guidelines released: 14/2/2019 Type of grant opportunity: Targeted competitive Contents 1. Our Marine Parks Round One Grant Opportunity processes ................................................ 4 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 2. About the Fisheries Assistance and User Engagement Package ......................................... 5 2.1 About the Our Marine Parks Grant Round One opportunity ............................................ 6 3. Grant amount and grant period ................................................................................................. 7 3.1 Grants available ............................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Project period ................................................................................................................... 7 4. Eligibility criteria ........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Temperate East Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018 0 © Director of National Parks 2018
    Temperate East Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018 0 © Director of National Parks 2018 This document may be cited as: Director of National Parks 2018, Temperate East Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018, Director of National Parks, Canberra. ISBN: 978-0-9876152-5-1 This management plan is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Director of National Parks. Requests and enquires concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the: Manager Temperate East Marine Parks Network 203 Channel Highway Hobart TAS 7050 Photography credit Front cover Australasian gannets (Alan Danks) Temperate East Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 5 Part 1. Managing Australian Marine Parks................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Introductory provisions .................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Australian Marine Parks .................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 Australian Marine Parks vision and objectives ................................................................................. 8 1.4 Management plan overview ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Te-Dft Mp-2017
    © Director of National Parks 2017 This document may be cited as: Director of National Parks 2017, Draft Temperate East Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network Management Plan 2017, Director of National Parks, Canberra. ISBN: This management plan is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Director of National Parks. Requests and enquires concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the: Manager Temperate East Marine Parks Network 203 Channel Highway Hobart TAS 7050 Photography credit Front cover Australasian gannets (Alan Danks) DRAFT Temperate East Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network Management Plan 2017 1 FOREWORD Australia is surrounded by magnificent oceans and a marine environment that is the envy of the world. Our oceans are distinctive and diverse, home to marine life found nowhere else. Our oceans support people’s livelihoods and the Australian lifestyle. They provide places for people to watch wildlife, dive and snorkel, go boating and fish. Importantly, they create jobs in industries like fishing and tourism, and are a source of food and energy. Establishing marine parks is recognised as one of the best ways to conserve and protect marine species and habitats. In 2012, the Australian Government established 40 new marine parks around the country (formally called Commonwealth marine reserves). This was a significant achievement, expanding the total coverage of Australia’s National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas to 3.3 million km2—some 36 per cent of our oceans. Individual marine parks have been carefully located to include representative examples of Australia’s marine habitats and features.
    [Show full text]
  • Our Marine Parks Round 2 Gogs
    Our Marine Parks Round Two Grant Opportunity Guidelines Opening date: 9 December 2019 Closing date and time: 11.00PM AEDT on 28 February 2020 Commonwealth policy entity: The Department of the Environment and Energy Administering entity Community Grants Hub Enquiries: If you have any questions, contact Community Grants Hub Phone: 1800 020 283 (option 1) Email: [email protected] Questions should be sent no later than 5.00PM AEDT on 21 February 2020 Date guidelines released: 9 December 2019 Type of grant opportunity: Open competitive Contents 1 Our Marine Parks Round Two Grant Opportunity processes ................................................ 4 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 2 About the Our Marine Parks Grant Round Two opportunity .................................................. 5 3 Grant amount and grant period ................................................................................................. 7 3.1 Grants available ............................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Project period ................................................................................................................... 8 4 Eligibility criteria ......................................................................................................................... 8 4.1 Who is eligible to apply for a grant? ................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18
    Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 Acknowledgement of traditional owners and country We acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders both past and present. © Director of National Parks 2018 ISSN: 1443-1238 (Print) ISSN: 2204-0013 (Online) The Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 by the Director of National Parks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, government agency logos, content supplied by third party, and all images depicting people. For licence conditions see: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/. All reasonable efforts has been used to identify third party content using ‘©organisation’. This work should be attributed in the following way (use “Source:” if the work is reproduced without any changes; use “Based on” if the work is adapted or altered): Source/Based on: Director of National Parks Annual Report 2017–18 by the Director of National Parks [2018] licensed under CC-BY 3.0 AU. Original available at: environment.gov.au/resource/annual-report-2017-18-director-national-parks Director of National Parks Australian Business Number: 13 051 694 96 d Director of National Parks | Annual Report 2017-2018 Letter of transmittal The Hon Melissa Price MP Minister for the Environment Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Minister As the accountable authority for the Director of National Parks I am pleased to present the annual report on the activities of the Director of National Parks for the reporting period ending 30 June 2018 in accordance with section 46(1) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).
    [Show full text]
  • Director of National Parks Report on the Renaming Proclamation 2017
    Report of the Director of National Parks under Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Section 351 Concerning the proposed Proclamation to rename “Commonwealth marine reserves” to “marine parks”. 22 September 2017 CONTENTS 1 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 2 The matter to be dealt with by the proposed Proclamation ...................................................... 2 3 Regulatory Impact Statement ........................................................................................................ 2 4 Consultation ..................................................................................................................................... 2 4.1 Comments in support of the renaming proposal ................................................................ 2 4.2 Comments opposed to the renaming proposal ................................................................... 3 4.2 Comments that were neutral, not clear or not relevant ..................................................... 3 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report has been prepared in accordance with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) for consideration by the Minister for the Environment and Energy in relation to the proposed Proclamation to rename 58 existing “Commonwealth marine reserves” to “marine parks”. Renaming these 58 reserves is the only matter to be dealt with by this Proclamation. A Notice
    [Show full text]