Researchers undertaking two of the largest marine science programs in Australia are sharing their findings at the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) research conference this week.
Premier and Science Minister Colin Barnett said that the $19 million WAMSI Dredging Science program was helping better understand the effect of dredging on the marine environment, and would identify better approaches to assessing and managing the impact of future dredging operations.
“ There are millions of cubic meters of dredging needed to support our economy. But because we don’t know the full impact of dredging, we have to take quite a precautionary approach when setting conditions on companies to have confidence the environment is protected ,” Mr Barnett said.
According to Environment Minister Albert Jacob , this dredging research was an excellent collaboration among industry and science providers to address knowledge gaps in managing environmental impacts. The dredging science program combines $9.5 million in industry funds from Chevron, Woodside and BHP Billiton, with over $9.5 million co-investment from the WAMSI partners.
The conference includes more than 60 presentations from researchers and invited speakers and is running at the State Library of Western Australia from March 30 to April 1, 2015.