Wheatstone Environmental Offsets - Barriers to sawfish migrations

This study was designed to assist in the conservation of sawfishes in Western Australia and implementing Conditon 66 (c) (Biodiversity Offsets Strategy for Wheatstone Project). This was achieved by gathering detailed ecological information on the current distribution, migration patterns, and habitats critical to the survival of the species. This information is crucial for prioritising, developing and implementing appropriate management arrangements to protect these rare species and their habitats. This project addresses the following key objectives:

• Assessing the locations of barriers to sawfish migrations in northern Western Australia.
• Prioritisation of existing barriers relative to their potential impact to the migration patterns of sawfish.
• Monitoring of sawfishes below specific barriers.
• Exploring the use of ‘trap and haul’ to assist sawfish negotiating potential barriers.

Data is stored on Pawsey Data Portal (https://data.pawsey.org.au/)