Where is the Gulf of Carpentaria (GoC)?

The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large almost completely landlocked body of water in northern Australia that acts as a catchment for all Ghost Nets from the Indo/Pacific region. The GoC is a very remote part of Australia consisting of mainly Indigenous communities and mining towns.

Who are we?

The insert in the map above shows the location of most of the communities or Indigenous Sea Ranger Organisations in the Gulf. These communities, or ranger organisations, are active participants of the project both on the ground and as members of the Steering Committee.

Other non-government participating organisations are Northern Gulf Resource Management Group (managing the whole project), WWF, Northern Land Council, North Australian Indigenous Land & Sea Management Alliance, Clean Up Australia & Oceanwatch Aust Ltd.

The Project also has an advisory committee of representatives from 2 Commonwealth & 2 State Government Departments:

• National Oceans Office Branch, Dept. of Environment & Heritage (DEH)
• Natural Heritage Trust Branch, (DEH)
• Dept. Business, Industry & Resource Development, Northern Territory
• Dept. Natural Resources & Mines, Queensland. 

See participants for profiles of each organisation.

What is the Problem?

Nearly all (90%) of the marine debris entering the GoC is of a fishing nature and originates from all parts of south east Asia. Once the Ghost Nets are in the Gulf, due to the circular current - gyre (see grey arrows on the map below), they are stuck in an endless cycle of fishing, getting washed ashore and washed back into the water during a storm or king tide event. On the eastern side of the Gulf (western Cape York) the nets arrive during the monsoonal season from November to March while on the western shores the nets get swept in during the south east trade winds mainly between May – September.

The problem with Ghost Nets, or any marine debris is the impact they create on the environment physically (aesthetically) as well as ecologically. Since 1996, 205 stranded turtles have been recorded on Cape Arnhem alone including four of the marine turtle species listed as either endangered or vulnerable under Australian legislation. The floating nets also create havoc with navigation and the safe operation of vessels at sea. They get caught up in propellers, rudders and even engine intakes.

Over 200 different types of nets have been identified to date.

The red dots on the map give an indication of the distribution and abundance of nets as seen from a helicopter 300ft (100M) above sea level in November 2004 during a seagrass survey conducted by the Queensland & Northern Territory Fisheries Depts*. NB that they did not survey the islands.

The site highlighted on the map with the blue circle has been cleaned up of all debris annually for the past 6 years by a combined effort from WWF, Dhimurru Rangers & Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA). The photo shows the CVA volunteers sitting on the total amount of rubbish collected from that small site (8kms beach) during the annual cleanup 2005. Most of the Gulf has never been cleaned up.

As only about 10% of the Ghost Nets found so far are of Australian origin this makes finding a solution to the problem a complex issue needing more than just a quick fix cleanup & an education campaign to local fishermen.  It needs:

• Quality information in the form of research and data so that government & non-government organisations have useful tools to assist them to broker International solutions to stopping the source of this menace,
• Capacity building of Indigenous rangers to continue managing their sea country beyond the life of this project, and
• Finding solutions to the disposal of this incredible amount of non biodegradable rubbish, apart from the current method of land-fill.

Added to that we are working in an environment that is extremely remote and unpopulated with areas difficult to access by land. The people are mostly Indigenous scattered in isolated pockets, some in townships created by the establishment of mines and the rest in homelands. This means they have culturally diverse backgrounds and a wide range in their capacity to do things. We are also working with a diverse cross-section of partners from Government to NGOs and in multiple jurisdictions of relevant policies and law including Northern Territory, Queensland & Australian Governments.

For more information refer to the attached pdf documents:

    History of Marine Debris in Northern Australia
Details how the project has evolved over the past decade or more.

    Project Brief: 2004
Project summary and Rationale as submitted to the Department of Environment & Heritage; Natural Heritage Trust II for funding.

* Roelofs , A.J., Coles, R.G. and Smit, N. (2005). A survey of intertidal seagrass from Van Diemen Gulf to Castlereagh Bay, Northern Territory, and from Gove to Horn Island, Queensland. Report to the National Oceans Office. Cairns, Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries.

How are we fixing the problem?

The Steering Committee summarised how we are fixing the problem in the 6R diagram seen below.

• Remove the Ghost Nets from the Gulf of Carpentaria coastline and waters.
• Record the numbers, size and location of the Ghost Nets found.
• Rescue animals trapped in the nets
• Report about the activities that the community have done to improve people’s awareness about the Ghost Net issue.
• Reduce the number of Ghost Nets in the Gulf of Carpentaria by working together
• Research factors that influence the distribution, abundance, movement and impact of Ghost Nets in the Gulf.

There are a couple of other R’s they also thought important such as Relax….

Methodology

The project is coordinated from an office in Karumba (South East corner of the Gulf) and employs a Coordinator, a trainee office admin person and two Project Officers, one for each state. 

The project officers work closely with the Indigenous Rangers in developing and implementing annual work plans that detail the how, why, where etc of cleanup and monitoring activities, the equipment, training and other resources they need.  (see the attached template) 

The Karumba office source and supply these resources.  Simultaneously the Karumba office coordinates communication activities such as media releases, website updates & presentations; the compiling & analysis of data collected during cleanups; prioritising and implementing research projects that will add to the knowledge base of where the nets are coming from as well as looking for recycling opportunities for these huge accumulating piles of nets.

How you can help

Although the programme has been funded for three years there is much that we still need.  We will not be able to fix the problem in this short of time.  If you want to help we need:

• Equipment (view list)
• Vehicles in particular 4WD tray backs & quad bikes.
• Cash to pay for fuel and other operating costs.
• Further funding to keep the project going into the future

Contact Details