Project Sea Dragon

Client:  Sea Farms Group Limited
Project: Large scale aquaculture
Timeline: 2015 – 2022

The Project

Seafarms Group Limited proposed to develop a substantive aquaculture project located on the Legune coastal floodplain within the extreme north-west corner of the Northern Territory.

Survey Approach

Austecology was commissioned to design and negotiate survey strategies and methods acceptable to both the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments.  A comprehensive and systematic field survey program was approved.  Key elements of the survey program were:

  • Land-based dry-season waterbird counts of freshwater wetlands across the floodplain.
  • Boat-based and aerial surveys of waterways for migratory shorebirds and high-tide roosts.
  • Wet-season aerial transect counts for waterbirds and survey of waterbird breeding colonies.
  • Late wet-season target surveys for threatened fauna. Species included, Gouldian Finch Erythrura gouldiae, Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (western) Malurus coronatus coronatus, Northern Quoll Dasyurus hallucatus, and Victoria River Downs Blacksoil Ctenotus Ctenotus rimacola camptris.
  • Late wet season biodiversity surveys which included a comprehensive trapping program, an active search/survey program, call broadcast surveys, camera trap surveys, and microbat echolocation surveys.

Management Plans and Monitoring

In accordance with EPBC Act project approvals, and in consultation with government agencies, Austecology prepared a Waterbird Monitoring Plan.  That plan provided the framework for monitoring waterbird population dynamics and established limits of acceptable change for habitat values, so as to trigger, if required, adaptive management responses.

Austecology was commissioned to implement the 5-year monitoring program, which included an annual report of findings in the context of the agreed limits of acceptable change.  The main aspects of the annual survey work were:

  • A systematic ground-based survey program of all freshwater floodplain wetlands during dry season conditions.
  • A systematic, wet season transect-based aerial waterbird count of freshwater wetlands on the Legune coastal floodplain, an area of 46,452 hectares.
 
This body of work has provided project compliance with both the Commonwealth and Territory approval conditions throughout the progression of the project.

Dry season waterbird count

Wet season aerial waterbird count

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