Assessing the effects of changes in Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning plans on southern mid-shelf shoals (MTSRF Project 4.8.2)

Surveys were undertaken in February/March 2007 (Autumn), August/September 2007 (Spring) and October 2009 (Spring) on two pairs of discrete deepwater shoals in the mid-shelf section of the southern Great Barrier Reef. The objective was to find pairs of shoals that were matched in terms of depth, habitat, areal extent, cross shelf position and latitude. Within each pair, one shoal was to be from a 'green zone' (closed to all fishing) and the other from a 'blue zone' (open to fishing), based on the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, carried out in 2004. The pairs of reefs chosen were: East Warregos (green) and West Warregos (blue); Barcoo Bank (green) and Karamea Bank (blue). The bathymetry of each shoal was surveyed in detail by multibeam acoustic swathe mapping prior to sampling of fish and benthic habitat. A lightweight towed video system developed by AIMS was used to survey seabed habitats on and around the four shoal sites over the first two trips.Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS (TM)) were used to sample the fish communities on each shoal on all three cruises. This study was undertaken to describe the fish fauna in relation to habitat and spatial and temporal variables on selected deep shoals of the southern region of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. This is one component in a series of surveys conducted as part of this MTSRF project, see also separate metadata records on:Reef base shoals (Capricorn-Bunker, Pompey and Swains Groups) Shoals off Cardwell Shoals off Cairns Magnetic Shoals (Townsville)

2007年2-3月（秋季）、8-9月（春季）及2009年10月（春季），研究人员在南大堡礁中陆架区域的两对离散深水浅滩开展调查。调查目标为筛选深度、生境类型、面积范围、跨陆架位置及纬度匹配的浅滩对，每对中一个来自‘绿区’（禁止所有渔业活动），另一个来自‘蓝区’（允许渔业活动）——该分区基于2004年大堡礁海洋公园的重新规划。最终选定的珊瑚礁对为：East Warregos（绿区）与West Warregos（蓝区）；Barcoo Bank（绿区）与Karamea Bank（蓝区）。
在对鱼类和底栖生境（benthic habitat）采样前，研究人员通过多波束声学条带测绘技术详细调查了各浅滩的水深地形（bathymetry）。前两次航行中，使用AIMS开发的轻型拖曳视频系统对四个浅滩站点及周边海底生境进行调查；三次航行均采用诱捕遥控水下视频站（Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations，BRUVS™）对各浅滩鱼类群落采样。
本研究旨在阐明南大堡礁海洋公园内选定深水浅滩的鱼类区系（fish fauna）与生境、时空变量的关系，是海洋和热带科学研究设施（Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility，MTSRF）项目系列调查的组成部分。相关元数据记录另见：礁基浅滩（Capricorn-Bunker、Pompey及Swains群）、卡德韦尔外浅滩、凯恩斯外浅滩、磁浅滩（汤斯维尔）。