Gladstone Harbour: A working port rich in marine resources

QUEENSLAND'S LARGEST MULTI-COMMODITY PORT

THE GLADSTONE HEALTHY HARBOUR PARTNERSHIP (GHHP) IS PROUD TO RELEASE THE

Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2019

The Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership (GHHP) presents its fifth annual report card to the community and stakeholders. The 2019 Gladstone Harbour Report Card contains the results calculated using 33 indicators derived from 108 different measures within the four components of harbour health: Environment, Economic, Social, and Cultural.

The 2019 report card includes, for the first-time fish health within the Environmental component. The fish health score is determined from two projects both of which assessed the health of fish species commonly caught in Gladstone Harbour.

  1. Visual Fish Condition: An automated visual assessment is made from images captured by fishers using a mobile phone app. Length and weight data are also recorded at the time of capture.
  2. Fish Health Assessment Index: A thorough assessment of the health of individual fish based on visual condition and the condition of several organs and tissues.

Overall, the Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2019 grade results were Environmental health of Gladstone Harbour satisfactory (C), Cultural health of Gladstone Harbour satisfactory (C), Social health of Gladstone Harbour good (B) and the economic health of Gladstone Harbour good (B).

While there were some changes to the scores within the indicators, the overall grades were unchanged from 2018.

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WANT TO
KNOW MORE?

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The GHHP Education Resource Kit contains activities and assessment pieces that form part of the school curriculum for students from prep to grade 12.

The kit aims to provide students of all ages with an understanding of the health testing taking place in the Gladstone Harbour.

Inside the 2019 GHHP Technical Report

The 2019 GHHP Technical Report provides a comprehensive overview of the 2019 Gladstone Harbour Report Card and contains the complete results for all report card components, Environmental, Social, Cultural and Economic.

The technical report explains the drivers and pressures that could influence the results and includes the methodologies employed to collect data and calculate the final grades and scores.

A full overview (including maps) of the areas in which monitoring for all four report card components was conducted is also provided.

2019 Research Highlights

FISH HEALTH has been included in the report card for the first time. Health is assessed by visual assessment as well as examination of the internal and external organs of dissected fish from a monitoring program.

A CITIZEN SCIENCE approach has been used to include data for one fish health program. Data was provided by anglers from images and measurements collected at the Boyne Tannum HookUp and by the Gladstone Sports Fishing Club.

MUD CRABS have been captured (and released) from an unfished Central Queensland population to confirm the benchmark used for Sex Ratio. Results help assess the extent to which crab populations are impacted by fishing and other pressures.

A rare MANGROVE LEAF OYSTER (lsognomon ephippium) Reef was discovered in Rodds Bay during mangrove field surveys in May 2019. These reefs were extensively harvested for the shell in years gone by.

EAGLE RAYS (Aetomylaeus spp.) were observed schooling in large numbers in Rodds Bay during mangrove field surveys in May 2019. These animals gather at times, possibly for mating.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

The Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership acknowledges the traditional owners of the land and sea in the Port Curtis Coral Coast region, the Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda and Bailai people, and pays respect to the ancestors, the Elders both past and present, and to the people.