Monitoring Sea Country of the Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area, Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory (ALC)

On the heels of comprehensive surveys in 2016 and 2018 of the Groote Eylandt Indigenous Protection Area (IPA) which mapped the sea floor and investigated water and sediment quality and fish communities, the Anindilyakwa Land & Sea Rangers and Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC) joined forces with the Australian Institute of Marine Science in 2019 to develop a fish monitoring partnership. The monitoring program was designed to provide ongoing scientific data to track the ongoing health and status of culturally important fish resources in the shallow water habitats of Groote Eylandt, a stated objective of the Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area Plan of Management 2016. Participatory mapping of Sea Country by Angurugu and Umbakumba Rangers and Traditional Owners was used as the basis of the program’s sampling design to best assess location of monitoring sites and provide a permanent record of local ecosystem knowledge.

Fish monitoring began in 2019 and occurs once a year during October/November, targeting fish communities and year-round in-situ water temperature. Surveys are conducted with remotely operated systems (BRUVS & Vemco temperature loggers) that allow collection of long-term data which can be archived and queried at a number of levels. BRUVS surveys were not completed in 2021 and 2022 survey effort changed from (previous) 160 BRUVS drops to 30 initiated to support senior staff shortages in Anindilyakwa and Umbakumba Rangers.

All data are collected by the rangers with video and statistical analysis done at AIMS to assess annual trends in fish abundance and diversity. Temperature data contributes to AIMS’ National Temperature Data Program.

The ALC Rangers are the first Northern territory members of the Northern Australia Marine Monitoring alliance (NAMMA), a partnership between AIMS and Traditional Owners across tropical Australia.