Overview
The following information is drawn from the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2024 (Outlook Report).
The Region’s direct uses include commercial marine tourism, defence activities, fishing, recreation, research and educational activities, ports, shipping, and the traditional use of marine resources.
Commercial marine tourism
Commercial marine tourism significantly contributes to the Reef’s social and economic values. The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant declines in tourism visits in 2020 due to border closures. Visitors have slowly returned since but have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. The Reef Authority’s high-standard tourism program remains in place, although uptake has slowed. Training for reef tourism guides has increased, and tourism products have diversified since 2019, including edu-tourism and underwater artwork.
Defence activities
Defence activities, specifically training, are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Modern defence training activities have local impacts in the Region, and balancing defence activities with conservation in sensitive habitats remains a high priority. The risk of not achieving an appropriate balance increases as cumulative stressors increase.
Fishing
Fishing occurs throughout the Region. Ongoing pressures from fishing include the extraction of biomass, animals’ interaction with fishing equipment, and discarded catch. Illegal fishing and extraction remain a concern. Fisheries management has undergone significant reform, with harvest strategies now in place for key fisheries. The protection of key fisheries within no-take areas has been highly successful. Since 2019, stock assessments, risk assessments, and stock status assessments have improved the understanding of the impact of fishing. Some stocks remain depleted, outcomes from implemented reforms are yet to be fully realised, and knowledge gaps remain.
Recreational use (not including fishing)
Recreational use (not including fishing) is one of the Region’s major direct uses. It encompasses short trips to the beach and longer journeys to the Reef. Recreational vessel registrations between 2018 and 2022 were the highest recorded and have increased proportionally to population growth. The use of smaller watercraft (e.g. jet skis) in inshore areas is rising, as is the use of larger vessels that access the mid- and outer-shelf reefs. The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and border restrictions on recreational access and use varied throughout the pandemic.
Research and educational activities
Research and educational activities occur in many parts of the Region, often around research stations. Understanding the cumulative effects of the impacts associated with research and educational activities remains limited. Since 2019, research about climate change, the ecosystem’s resilience and adaptation, intervention technologies, and the Region’s social-ecological values have continued to grow.
Ports
Ports provide significant economic and social benefits to Queensland and national economies. The decrease in throughput since 2019 reflects the impacts of border closures and changes to market, freight and supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2019, three capital dredging campaigns have occured for expansion projects at the ports of Cairns, Townsville and Gladstone. All capital dredge material was disposed of on land. Approximately 30 hectares of new land was reclaimed at the Port of Townsville. The average annual volume of maintenance dredging disposed of at sea decreased overall. Accessibility of information about port activities has improved since 2019, though gaps remain.
Shipping
Shipping traffic through the Region was affected by the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a temporary decrease in cargo shipping and significant reductions in cruise ship arrivals. Knowledge and management gaps remain around the impacts of ship anchoring, resuspension of sediments from ship propellers and light pollution from ships at anchor.
Traditional use
Traditional use of marine resources is part of the Reef’s Indigenous culture and the ongoing connection of Traditional Owners to their Land and Sea Country. Engagement of First Nations peoples in Sea Country management continues to increase. Since 2019, one new Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement has been accredited, bringing the cumulative area covered by these agreements to more than 43% of the Region’s coastline. Information on trends in traditional use remains limited despite an improvement since 2019 through deeper engagement of Traditional Owners in management and through Sea Country values mapping.
Summary
Due to the Region’s many direct uses, the Reef’s values are exposed to a variety of pressures, including local and widespread impacts. Changes have occurred across direct uses, driven by the increasing population, the COVID-19 pandemic, market activity, and fisheries reforms.
The reductions in direct use during the pandemic have mostly been reversed, and certain impacts from fishing remain. The cumulative effects of extraction and damage to the Reef by direct use, coupled with broad influences of climate change and smaller recovery windows, will affect ecosystem resilience. It is critical that management actions effectively address direct use impacts to support the resilience of the Reef’s ecosystems.
The success of Reef-dependent industries, such as commercial fishing and marine tourism, may be seriously affected by the significant pressures on the Region. Knowledge gaps remain about the specific scale and nature of these effects. Cumulative impacts can also affect people’s health, wellbeing, enjoyment, personal connection and appreciation of the Reef.
Results
See the links below the tables for the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2024’s full assessment information and methods.
