| Summary: | This document outlines the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s (GBRMPA) position on the conservation and management of protected species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the Marine Park) in relation to the Queensland East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery (ECIFF). A protected species is a plant or animal in the Marine Park that is protected by law (i.e. under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 Regulation 291) and needs special management. Protected species are classified as either threatened, iconic or at risk and are some of the natural values associated with the listing of the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Area. Protected species include dugongs, dolphins, whales, sawfish and marine turtles. Most populations of protected species within the Marine Park are under pressure, some with noticeable population declines in the past 40 years, as is the case for threatened dugong and marine turtles. An exception is the humpback whale, whose population is recovering and as such will interact more frequently with ECIFF gear. The decline of some populations, the increase of at least one population and the presence of all of these protected species along the Great Barrier Reef coast mean that appropriate management arrangements need to be in place to reduce the potential for interactions between them and the ECIFF, in particular the large mesh net component of the fishery.
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