9 September
2006 - Grant applications are open for the Australian
Government's recently-announced national hub for
marine mammal research and conservation.
The Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, said the Australian
Centre for Applied Marine Mammal Science (ACAMMS)
housed at the Australian Government Antarctic
Division would address key knowledge gaps in mammal
conservation, management and policy priorities
of Australia's whales, seals, dolphins and dugongs.
"The Government has allocated
$2.5 million over four years to the Centre, which
will harness the expertise of Australia's very
best marine mammal researchers," he said.
"The more we can learn about the effects
of interactions between humans and marine mammals
the better we will be able to protect these magnificent
creatures."
The ACAMMS is the first centre
of its kind in Australia. It aims to:
• Assess the status of populations of Australia's
marine mammals and their distribution, abundance
and structure;
• Determine the threats to marine mammal populations
with a focus on understanding the nature and extent
of interactions with humans;
• Develop risk management and mitigation strategies
for marine mammal and human interactions and test
their efficacy; and
• Develop powerful, new, non-lethal technologies
and methodologies with improved methods of abundance
estimation such as distance sampling, acoustic,
genetics and remote sensing.
"We are keen to attract
proposals that can best help us with marine mammal
management," Senator Campbell said.
"The Howard Government
works exceptionally hard in the international
community, through its involvement in such organisations
as the International Whaling Commission (IWC),
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) and the Commission for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR),
to continue to provide the necessary protection
for our much-loved marine mammals."
To reflect the large-scale movements
of many marine mammal species, the Australian
Government funding will focus on the whales, dolphins,
seals and dugongs of the Australasian region,
including the waters of the Indian, Southern and
South Pacific Oceans.
Applications close on 17 October 2006.
Full details are available at www.aad.gov.au/acamms
Rob Broadfield
