The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has been working to enhance defences against aquatic pests recently completing a marine pest survey on Christmas Island.
The work is part of a service delivery agreement between the Australian Government and DPIRD to deliver marine biosecurity services to the Indian Ocean Territories, including Christmas Island.
DPIRD's Aquatic Pest Biosecurity team travelled to Christmas Island, 1,500 kilometres west of the Australia's mainland and 2,600 kilometres from Perth to conduct marine pest biosecurity surveillance.
The trip also provided an opportunity to work alongside marine invertebrate specialists from the Western Australian Museum and collaborate with Marine Parks Australia in a valuable scientific partnership.
Whilst there, Marine Parks Australia Marine Park Coordinator Laura Smith observed the DPIRD team's marine pest surveillance methods and participated in collecting water samples for eDNA analysis. DPIRD and Marine Parks Australia explored opportunities for future collaboration such as the potential installation of Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures at key sites across both Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
As part of the visit, the Christmas Island community was invited to a Sunset Science Sunday presentation, hosted by Parks Australia, which was well attended, led to engaging discussion and generated positive feedback for the visiting scientists and specialists.
Research Scientist Matthew Hewitt said it was timely to highlight the important aquatic biosecurity work DPIRD undertakes today on World Ocean's Day to protect the marine environment from pests and diseases and support the long-term sustainability of our state's fisheries.
"The field surveillance consisted of SCUBA diving, snorkel and shoreline activities of marine infrastructure and natural substrate at sites within Christmas Island. Structures inspected included cantilevers, jetties, moorings, chains, and buoys," Mr Hewitt said.
"Plankton tows and water samples were taken throughout the sites for eDNA metabarcoding analyses. In addition, sea squirts, mollusc, barnacle, and alga specimens were collected and preserved for further identification.
"Initial results indicate there were no detections of invasive marine species of concern, but the finals results will be provided in a full implementation report once all analyses and identifications have been completed."
