The DEP's objectives are to ensure the environment is managed so that it is conserved and enhanced, and to ensure that development in Western Australia is environmentally acceptable. This is achieved through activities in the areas of environmental systems management, waste management, pollution prevention, evaluation of proposals, policy co-ordination and regional service. These include fishing and aquaculture, marine industries, climate, conservation, water and wastewater, primary industry and land resources, oil and gas, and tourism. This Program is a multi-disciplinary team addressing all aspects of the multiple use of marine ecosystems in the Exclusive Economic Zone, and particularly the interactions between different uses. Program research ranges from regional marine ecosystem studies to understanding marine ecosystem dynamics, and the design and evaluation of monitoring and feed-back strategies for resource and environmental management.
Staff includes biologists, mathematicians, biological and physical oceanographers and economists.