Sawfish collection records have been collated for a number of conservation assessment projects. This MarLIN record refers specifically to a customised dataset that was created for delivery to the Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEW). The dataset comprises distribution records of the freshwater sawfish, Pristis microdon, and the green sawfish, Pristis zijsron, in northern Australia. The records include incidental catches in prawn trawls and gill nets. The data sources included logbook and observer data from state and Commonwealth fisheries, and museum records. The dataset includes records from dataset 'Sawfish catch data in Northern Australia' (MarLIN record 6549).

The dataset is a map of a benthic environmental classification of the North Marine Region (NMR). The aim of the classification was to summarise the way the physical environment near the seabed varies across the NMR. In particular, we were interested in variation within and across bioregion boundaries. The analysis was performed for the Department of the Environment and Water Resources for use in profiling of the NMR during the development of a marine bioregional plan for the region. The environmental classification process comprised laying a grid of cells over the NMR and sorting the cells into clusters on the basis of their physical environmental attributes. The classification method was unsupervised, model-based clustering with a Gaussian mixture model, and was performed with the MCLUST package for R. With this method, the statistical distributions of the clustering variables are modelled as a mixture of multivariate normal distributions. Clustering is a two-step process. First, the parameters of the mixture model are fitted by maximum likelihood. Second, the model is used to assign grid cells to clusters. The clustering variables were bathymetry, median current stress, sediment gravel percentage and average bottom salinity. The environmental characteristics of the nine clusters were (1) deep; (2) deep; (3) low stress, low gravel, low salinity; (4) average for the region; (5) average for the region; (6) shallow, low stress, high salinity; (7) shallow, low salinity; (8) shallow, high stress, gravel; and (9) shallow, high stress, high salinity.

The dataset is a compilation of records of sea turtles caught in prawn trawls in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF). There are 316 records of five species. The records are from research voyages, scientific observers on commercial prawn trawlers and crew member observers on commercial prawn trawlers. More specifically, the data sources were as follows: (a) CSIRO and collaborative research voyages on RV Southern Surveyor; (b) crew member observers on NPF commercial vessels, 2003-2005 (FRDC project 2002/035, collaboration between CSIRO and AFMA, funding by FRDC); (c) scientific observers on NPF commercial vessels (FRDC project 2000/173, collaboration between CSIRO and the Australian Maritime College (AMC), funding by FRDC); (d) crew members and scientific observers on NPF commercial vessels (FRDC project 1998/202, collaboration between BRS, CSIRO, AFMA, funding by FRDC and NORMAC); (e) crew member observers and scientific observers on NPF commercial vessels and RV Southern Surveyor (FRDC project 1996/257, collaboration between CSIRO, DPIQ and AMC, funding by FRDC).

Whaler collection records have been collated for use in conservation assessments. This MarLIN record refers specifically to a customised dataset that was created for delivery to the Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEW). The dataset comprises distribution records of the freshwater speartooth shark, Glyphis sp. A, and the northern river shark, Glyphis sp. C, in northern Australia.

Sea snake collection records were compiled for use in two research projects: (a) Risk assessment and mitigation for sea snakes caught in the Northern Prawn Fishery (Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project 2005/051), and (b) Scientific support for regional marine planning and marine protected area design in the North Marine Region (A Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEW) project). This metadata record refers specifically to the customised dataset that was created for delivery to DEW. The sea snake dataset is a compilation of collection records from CSIRO and other agencies. There are 11023 records of 41 species. The CSIRO data sources included the following: (a) Bycatch monitoring (FRDC 2002/035); (b) Bycatch sustainability (FRDC 96/257); (c) CSIRO red snapper project (ACIAR); (d) CSIRO scientific observer program, GOC, 1996-98; (e) CSIRO scientific observer program, GOC, 2000-01; (f) CSIRO scientific observer program, JBG, 2003; (g) Crew member observer program, GOC, 2003-05; (h) Effects of trawl design (FRDC 93/179); (i) GBR effects of trawling; (j) NPF pre-season monitoring; (k) Tropical fish (FIRDC 88/77); (l) Tropical prawn ecology 1992-1995; and (m) Tropical prawn project (Redfield). The non-CSIRO data sources were (a) Australian Museum, (b) Bureau of Rural Sciences, (c) NT Fisheries scientific observers, (d) Northern Territory Museum, (e) QDPI scientific observers, (f) Queensland Museum, and (g) Western Australian Museum.