Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00641:body:0:p73
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L00641
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 387017–405093

actions specifically required to recover this stock                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Action Area
    * Understand how changes in sand and water temperature affect reproductive and foraging success.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    A2
    * Manage dredging and trawling such that marine turtles continue to utilise seagrass habitat without injury and are not displaced as a result of these activities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  A9

    * Continue long-term monitoring of nesting and foraging populations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                B1, B2
Measure of success
The stock continues to recover                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          B1

Loggerhead – south-west Pacific (LH-swPac)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Early stages of decline[138]
Threats                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        F. Fisheries bycatch – international   Very high
A. Climate change and variability                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              High
B. Marine debris – entanglement and ingestion                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  High
G. Light pollution                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             High
Important nesting areas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Internesting Buffer: 20 km
Major: Mainland coast Mon Repos to Wreck Rock[144].                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Mating: Oct–Dec (peak: Nov)
Minor: Wreck, Heron, Lady Musgrave, Tryon, Eskine and Northwest Islands, Swains Reef, New Caledonia[144].                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Nesting: Oct–Mar (peak: Dec–Jan)
Index beaches monitored: Mon Repos (1969- ), Wreck Rock (1978- ), Capricorn Bunker Group (1977- )[144].                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Hatching: Dec–May (peak: Feb–Mar)
Foraging habitat
Post-hatchling/young juveniles: Hatchlings disperse through the southern Pacific Ocean as far as South America[21].
Juvenile-adult: Tidal/sub-tidal habitats with hard and soft substrates including rocky and coral reefs, muddy bays, sand flats, estuaries and seagrass meadows[18]. A proportion of turtles may also remain resident in the open ocean.
Foraging grounds monitored: Moreton Bay, Heron, Wistari.
Distribution: See Figure 12.
Stock description
Nesting of loggerhead turtles in the South Pacific Ocean occurs almost entirely on beaches of the east coast of Australia and New Caledonia[136]. Hatchlings disperse through the south Pacific gyre reaching waters off Peru, Chile and Ecuador[21]. Post-hatchlings spend approximately 16 years at sea before returning to the Coral Sea-Tasman Sea region of the south-west Pacific. There has been a severe reduction in the number of turtles recruiting to Australian foraging grounds from this oceanic phase[144]. This could be a result of small turtles being captured as bycatch in fisheries or in marine debris whilst at sea. The decreased recruitment of animals comes on top of a severely reduced population caused by trawling in internesting habitat during the 1980/90s. The introduction of mandatory use of turtle excluder devices in the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery in 2001 led to a rebound in the nesting turtle abundance[136]. Similarly, fox control measures on mainland beaches has increased hatchling production in Australia[144].
Mainland nesting occurs adjacent to urbanised areas and is at risk from the impacts of anthropogenic light[121]. Climate change impacts also appear to be affecting nesting beaches with changes in hatchling sex ratios and emergence success[40] and increased extreme weather events resulting in erosion of nesting sites[136].
Management of the stock in Australia is primarily undertaken by the Queensland Government and greater than 80 per cent