Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00641:body:0:p62
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00641
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 241190–255828

implementation of the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan to build on existing turtle monitoring and water quality management programs in Queensland.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A4
Measure of success
Stock continues to recover                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                B1, B2

Green – Coral Sea (G-CS)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Unknown
Threats                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       A. Climate change and variability   High
Important nesting areas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Internesting Buffer: 20 km
Sand cays of Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and islands in the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Mating: Unknown
Index beaches monitored: Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve (1991/92-2003/04)[91].                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Nesting: Oct–Apr (peak: Nov–Feb)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Hatching: Dec-Jun
Foraging habitat
Post-hatchling/young juveniles: Spend the first 5-10 years in oceanic waters of the southern Pacific Ocean, utilising floating seaweed rafts and opportunistically feeding on gelatinous organisms, before returning to shallow foraging habitats: reefs, mangroves or seagrass meadows.
Juvenile-adult: Tidal/sub-tidal habitats with coral reef, mangrove, sand, rocky reefs and mudflats where there are algal turfs or seagrass meadows present[18]. A proportion of turtles may also remain resident in the open ocean[92].
Foraging grounds monitored: New Caledonia[192], Moreton Bay, Heron/Wistari Reefs, Shoalwater Bay[145], Hervey Bay[225].
Distribution: See Figure 10.
Stock description
A large proportion of this stock nests on remote coral cays protected within the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve and forages within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. As such, this stock is considered likely to be robust, despite a lack of longitudinal monitoring. Further, there is a close genetic association with the Chesterfields Island nesters (New Caledonia), suggesting that the stock may be larger than previously thought[192]. Management of this stock is primarily undertaken by Parks Australia, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Government.
The main uncertainty surrounding this stock is its resilience to predicted changes in cyclone activity as a result of climate change and how quickly low lying coral cays will recover after extreme weather events. Due to the remote nature of its nesting and foraging habitats, it is also not known to what extent this stock is affected by 'marine debris', 'international take' and 'fisheries bycatch'.
Priority actions specifically required to recover this stock                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Action Area
    * Assess long-term impacts of extreme weather on nesting beaches.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A2
    * Identify and protect suitable beaches and islands that could be used as nesting habitat under a rising sea level model/scenario to ensure that these are suitable for colonisation in the future.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              A2
Measure of success
Due to its inaccessibility, long-term monitoring has not been advocated for this stock, and therefore, an appropriate measure of success cannot be determined.

Green – northern Great Barrier Reef (G-nGBR)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Early stages of decline[33]
Threats                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                A. Climate change and variability            Very high
H. Habitat modification – extractive industries (historical)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Very high
B. Marine debris – entanglement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        High
Important nesting areas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Internesting Buffer: 20 km
Major: