Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan 2017–2027 Supporting Document Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: publication library THIS DOCUMENT PORT PHILLIP BAY PORT PHILLIP BAY ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PORT PHILLIP BAY MANAGEMENT PLAN ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN DELIVERY MANAGEMENT PLAN PLAN SUPPORTING DOCUMENT CONSULTATION SUMMARY SCIENTIFIC DESKTOP REVIEW PRIORITISING CATCHMENT TO SEAGRASS AND KNOWLEDGE OF VICTORIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL BAY MODELLING REEFS PROGRAM SYNTHESIS MARINE VALUES ISSUES Cover: Leatherjacket (Meuschenia freycineti), amongst kelp at Pope's Eye, Port Phillip Bay Marine National Park. Photo – Gary Bell/OceanwideImages.com Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: Delivering a healthy Bay that is valued and cared for by all Victorians Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Port Phillip Bay 7 3 Values and challenges 19 4 Responsibilities and management 29 5 Priority areas for action 43 Priority Area 1: Connect and Inspire 44 Priority Area 2: Empower Action 46 Priority Area 3: Nutrients and pollutants 48 Priority Area 4: Litter 51 Priority Area 5: Pathogens (human health) 54 Priority Area 6: Habitat and marine life 57 Priority Area 7: Marine Biosecurity 59 6 References 61 Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: Delivering a healthy Bay that is valued and cared for by all Victorians 1 Giant Spider Crabs (Leptomithrax gaimardii) at Rye Pier. Photo – David Reinhard 2 Introduction 1 The Victorian Government is delivering on The Plan has also been informed by its commitment to protect and enhance the investigations on the values of the Bay and health of Victoria’s marine and coastal threats to these values. These have included environments by developing a new Environmental targeted scientific investigations, complementary Management Plan for Port Phillip Bay. government projects and other activities such as a review of the achievements and learnings The Plan, as required under the State Environment from the previous environmental management Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) Schedule plan ('2001 Plan'), a review of policies and F6 Waters of Port Phillip Bay (1997), presents a programs, and an assessment of the economic framework for the protection and enhancement benefits provided by the Bay and how these of beneficial uses of the Bay. may change in the future. A summary of the key The approach for developing the Plan was to documents that have informed development establish the long-term vision for the Bay, and of the Plan are provided in Table 1. then use scientific knowledge and community This Supporting Document collates information and stakeholders’ understanding of the Bay to from the background investigations and identify a series of goals, priority areas and community and stakeholder engagement, and actions that will drive a coordinated effort over provides context to the management framework the next 10 years (Figure 1). (the Plan). This document describes the Bay, its Development of the Plan has been informed physical and ecological functions; the value and by input and advice from government and challenges to consider; and the current context industry through a project reference group, for environmental management. It also provides key stakeholders through targeted engagement, details concerning the Plan’s priority areas, and the broader community through public highlighting key points from background consultation. investigations and other complementary programs and investigations. Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: Delivering a healthy Bay that is valued and cared for by all Victorians 3 Key principles guiding the development of the Plan The development of the Plan has been guided • We need to work collectively to: by the key principles outlined in the Victorian – Address legacy and future impacts affecting biodiversity plan, Protecting Victoria’s Environment the health of the Bay. – Biodiversity 2037, and those in the Water for Victoria plan. – Engage citizens and communities in decisions that affect the health of the Bay. In developing the Plan it is recognised that: – Align outcomes. • The Bay is in good health and supports a range of environmental, social and economic values. • We need to recognise and manage for Traditional Owner values and entitlements. • The Bay will be affected by future pressures such as climate change and population growth, and • We need to demonstrate to the community that we need to plan and manage for a resilient Bay water quality management systems are effective and work towards long-term sustainability. in protecting and enhancing the values and uses of the Bay. • We need to recognise and build on past achievements made by the community, industry and government within the catchment and Bay to enhance values. Table 1 Background investigations completed for the Plan Desktop review of Victoria’s Identified and collated information on values (particularly relating Marine values (Hale and to the State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) (SEPP) Brooks 2015) Schedule F6 Waters of Port Phillip Bay (1997) beneficial uses) in Victoria’s marine environment including Port Phillip Bay. Prioritising Environmental Identified pressures and stressors that pose the greatest risk to the Issues (Hale and Brooks 2016) Bay’s health and its beneficial uses, and assessed priorities for further investigation and management. Science Knowledge Synthesis Collated current scientific knowledge on the status of nitrogen cycling, (Barbee et al. 2016) marine pests and pollutants in the Bay as a basis for developing management actions. Catchment to Bay model A catchment to bay model was built to assess the risk to water quality (Jacobs and HydroNumerics in the Bay from increased loads of nitrogen, sediments and pathogens. 2015a, b) Scenarios were modelled to analyse outcomes for a broad range of management options under future environmental conditions (climate change and population projections out to 2030 and 2050). Community and stakeholder Summarises stakeholder and community consultation over the past consultation (DELWP 2017) 2½ years, showing involvement of stakeholders throughout the Plan’s development, and highlighting two rounds of public consultation where the community helped to shape and refine the Plan. Seagrass and Reefs Program The Seagrass and Reefs Program, completed in 2015, included (Jenkins et al. 2015, and Johnson research to better understand ecological processes for seagrass et al. 2015) and temperate reef habitat in the Bay. Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: Delivering a healthy Bay that is valued and cared for by all Victorians 4 Assessed requirements of What do the community SEPP and other policies and key stakeholders want? Vision Literature review of Bay What are government values (Hale and Brooks) responsibilities and priorities? Goals Stakeholder and What will inspire action community consultation and connect with people? Prioritising environmental issues (Hale and Brooks) Synthesis of science knowledge (CAPIM, University of Melbourne) What is the science telling us about key threats? Catchment to Bay modelling (Jacobs Priority areas for What is the economic and Hydronumerics) environmental benefit of protecting the management Bay, and how may this Review of existing change in the future? policies and programs (EMP Project team) What do stakeholders Targets and the community (where considered Assessed outputs from want action on? appropriate) other reviews and research programs What is not being sufficiently managed through existing Actions for each Stakeholder consultation policies and programs? priority area Management Plan PortNew Phillip Bay Environmental What can be achieved over the next ten years? Economic assessment of Bay values (DELWP) Figure 1 Process for developing the Environmental Management Plan Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan: Delivering a healthy Bay that is valued and cared for by all Victorians 5 Image of Port Phillip Bay and catchment derived from satellite images captured by Landsat 8 between January and April 2017. Imagery sourced from USGS and compiled by GHD. 6 Port Phillip Bay 2 Port Phillip Bay, called Nairm in the language of 10,000 square kilometres. The Bay’s catchment the Traditional Owners, was formed some 8000 is a mix of urban (32%), rural (46%) and forested years ago when rising sea levels at the end of (21%) land uses (Jacobs and HydroNumerics the last ice age resulted in flooding of the delta 2015a). The Bay incorporates many smaller bays, of the Yarra and Werribee rivers. Prior to flooding sounds, bights, coves and inlets (such as Hobsons from the sea, the wide expanses of the plains Bay and Corio Bay), which are all considered had been inhabited by Aboriginal communities parts of the larger Port Phillip Bay. The Bay and for over 30,000 years. There remain many its catchment are shown in Figure 2. Aboriginal cultural heritage landscapes and The Bay is semi-enclosed, with a narrow places of significance recorded around the Bay entrance (approximately 3.2 kilometres wide) (Rhodes 2007). In more recent times the ecology at Port Phillip Heads. The narrow entrance limits of the Bay has been greatly modified by human water exchange between the Bay and Bass activity, especially in the last 150 years following Strait and is significant to the way the Bay European settlement (Edmunds et al., 2006). functions. The central basin is enclosed by The Bay is the largest marine embayment in sandy shoals (the Great Sands), beaches and Victoria. It covers an area of approximately