Benthic habitat surveys of potential LNG hub locations in the Kimberley region.

A number of sites in the Kimberley region were considered for their suitability as a location for a proposed common-user liquefied natural gas hub precinct. These included Gourdon Bay, Quondong - Coulomb Point, Perpendicular Head and Packer Island. The marine benthic communities at these prospective sites are largely undescribed. On behalf of the Northern Development Taskforce (NDT), the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DECWA) has approached CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to undertake a joint benthic community survey of four locations in this region.

This survey data will compliment the limited existing data and will used by NDT to rank and select suitable sites to be included in a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SAE). This selection process will be used to identify a suitable hub site that will minimise the degree of habitat disturbance by avoiding areas of high biodiversity and significance for threatened species and high productivity and structural complexity that may contain complex marine habitats, endemic species and important wildlife.