Environment and Heritage Minister welcomes major study into south coast marine environment

20 February 2003

Government of Western Australia Media Statement

The Hon. Judy Edwards MLA
Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Portfolio: Environment and Heritage

A major study into the rich marine fauna of Western Australia's south coast has been awarded $250,000 from the Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME).

Announcing the grant today, Environment and Heritage Minister Judy Edwards said the project will look at the distribution and abundance of sponge fauna around the Recherche Archipelago off Esperance and also determine the importance of these sponges as habitat for other sea creatures.

"This the first of a number of projects to be announced, which are part of a $2million allocation of funding for collaborative research projects in marine science from the Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME)," Dr Edwards said. "SRFME has been a catalyst for a new era in collaboration among research organisations in WA and this project will highlight the rich marine biodiversity of this State."

The study will be conducted by researchers from the University of Western Australia, WA Museum, CSIRO and the Department of Conservation and Land Management who collectively bring a high level of knowledge and expertise about sponges, marine ecology and the Esperance marine environment. "Sponges are an important and dominant component of the seabed community and yet this will be the first detailed study off the southern coast of Western Australia," the Minister said.

SRFME Research Director John Keesing has compared the sponges' importance to the marine habitat with that of sea grasses in shallow water. "Knowledge of their distribution and abundance is critical to understanding how species such as fish and molluscs depend on the structure of the sea floor for food, habitat and survival," Dr Keesing said.

He said the project was a good example of the fundamental research that was required before marine-based industries or effective nature conservation could occur. "There is the potential to base an industry around drug discovery from chemical extracts from marine sponges and yet we probably haven't even discovered half the sponges that exist in WA, let alone know anything about their potential as medicines or their conservation status," Dr Keesing said.

"The expectation that the study will discover a number of species that are completely new to science illustrates how little we still know about our marine environment and how important a program like SRFME is to WA."

SRFME is a joint venture between the WA Government and the CSIRO.

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