National Oceans Office, 2004.

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• Key species: A description of key species groups in the Northern Planning Area (PDF - 5.84 MB)

About the report

This report provides a description of key marine species groups – in particular their status, habitat and distribution, regional significance, threats and information gaps – in the Northern Planning Area (NPA).

This report is an important information base for the regional marine planning process for the NPA.

The information contained in the report is part of the commitments of the Australian, Queensland and Northern Territory (NT) Governments for the initial scoping phase of the planning process.

The project was a coordinated approach between research agencies and scientific expertise across northern Australia to provide a description of what we know (and do not know) about the marine species across the region.

By fostering this coordination the National Oceans Office, on behalf of the three governments, has collated the best available knowledge in a consistent and accessible format, to support the regional marine planning process and to inform others with an interest in the marine environment in northern Australia.

This report consists of 23 separately produced chapters, each written by researchers with expert knowledge of each species group.

The information in each chapter is designed to be a standalone report for those who wish just to access information on a single species group.

This has meant some necessary duplication in places but this has been minimised where possible without compromising the standalone nature of the chapters.

The chapters are also structured around a template so that consistent information is provided for each species group throughout the report.

Two summary chapters support these chapters, in combining information on threats/impacts on species groups across the NPA, and summarising the key information gaps across the species groups.