Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047:reg:21:p4
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 21 (pt 4/5)
Character Range: 77753–81027

net from an entangled Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus). Image: Phillip Island Nature Parks

         26  /  Threat Abatement Plan

           The AFMA, working in partnership with the Australian Border Force and Parks Australia, has successfully recovered and disposed of abandoned foreign gillnets sighted inside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and Torres Strait Protected Zone. Nets have also been located and opportunistically recovered by the Australian Defence Force.
           Debris along the northern Australian coastline is driven by oceanic currents that circulate in a clockwise gyre, with ghost nets transported into the Gulf of Carpentaria by south-easterly trade winds, where they accumulate in high densities (Wilcox et al. 2015a). The Global Ghost Gear Initiative, established by World Animal Protection, operates with the Northern Prawn Fishery to address this problem in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The initiative works with fishing industry stakeholders around the world to remove ghost nets from the ocean.
           Beach-based clean-up activities provide an opportunity to record valuable data on the types of objects found, allowing identification of frequently found items and potentially their source. In South Australia, a number of beach clean-up programs along the coastline of the Eyre Peninsula are led by the aquaculture industry (Adopt-a-Beach, Oyster Industry Coastal Debris recovery program). Debris is collected and categorised to aid in identifying and addressing sources. The Australian Marine Debris Initiative has built a system of source reduction planning into its work and has achieved significant gains, including bringing about legislative change in Western Australia.
           A potentially innovative approach to removing plastic involves using strains of microorganisms with the capacity to degrade plastics. These microorganisms use synthetic polymers as their sole source of carbon. Some types of plastics are highly biodegradable, while others, such as polystyrene, have low biodegradability. Polymer biodegradation in natural ecosystems is affected by environmental and microbiological factors and further advances in biochemistry and biotechnological fields could offer new perspectives on the bioremediation of plastic contamination (Caruso, 2015). Plastic has a longer half-life than most natural floating marine substrates, and a hydrophobic surface that promotes microbial colonisation and biofilm formation (Zettler et al., 2013). Anthropogenic, millimetre-sized plastic polymers have created a new pelagic habitat for microorganisms and invertebrates; this 'epiplastic' community appears to influence the fate of marine plastic pollution by affecting the degradation rate, buoyancy and toxicity of plastics (Reisser et al., 2014). Diatoms appear to be the most diverse group of plastic colonisers; bryozoans and barnacles have also been recorded, as have rounded, elongated and spiral cells considered to be bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi. Researchers speculate that, apart from providing long-lasting buoyant substrata that allow many organisms to disperse widely, marine plastics may also supply energy for microbiota capable of biodegrading polymers and/or associated compounds, and