This dataset contains species distribution, abundance and identity data of benthic invertebrates from Batemans Bay, NSW. Epifauna samples from the inter-tidal and subtidal rocky coasts around the bay were sampled twice, in November 1990 and August 1991. The data were taken as a control site for similiar sampling in Jervis Bay. The data are part of the Jervis Bay Marine Ecological Study. NB - As the database has been lost, the only data still available are those published in the JERVIS BAY BASELINE STUDIES Final Report.

This dataset contains species distribution, abundance and identity data of benthic invertebrates from Jervis Bay, NSW. Epifauna samples from the inter-tidal and subtidal rocky coasts around the bay were sampled at 3 monthly intervals between November 1988 and August 1991. Taxa identified 51 species appearing consistently at most temporal and/or spatial scales on intertidal and subtidal reefs in Jervis Bay. The data are part of the Jervis Bay Marine Ecological Study. NB - As the database has been lost, the only data still available are those published in the JERVIS BAY BASELINE STUDIES Final Report.

Australia has gazetted an ambitious national network of Commonwealth Marine Reserves that includes the iconic Huon and Tasman Fracture reserves off Tasmania where seamounts (‘undersea mountains’) support unique deep-water coral reefs. These reefs rank among the most bio-diverse globally. Protection of deep-water coral reefs is a high-priority conservation concern nationally and internationally because deep-water corals are very fragile, easily impacted by human activities including bottom trawling, and are believed to recover very slowly. These corals may also be highly vulnerable to climate change because projected changes in water chemistry could limit the ability of corals to build calcareous skeletons. Despite these concerns, and Australia’s significant investment in marine conservation, several fundamental ecological issues remain to be evaluated. These include defining the spatial extent of deep-sea coral communities inside and outside the Tasmanian reserves, and evaluating the resilience of the communities to bottom trawling. This information is important to understanding the dynamics of deep-sea communities globally, and for developing and implementing conservation management plans. The survey aboard RV Investigator set out to determine the spatial extents of deep-sea coral communities in and adjacent to the Huon and Tasman Fracture reserves, and quantify changes in the communities by comparing samples taken in 2018 to samples taken, using similar methods, in 2007 and 1997. There was supplementary sampling on the heavily trawled St. Helens Seamount which was surveyed in 2008. This metadata record refers to the image data collected during the survey. The imagery collected for this project have been registered to the 2018 incidence of the CSIRO VARS database, where annotations have been added. The annotations collected for this project have also been linked to the Oracle data base BHIMAGE and the associated videos and still images have been archived as described in MarLIN record 14436 'Benthic Habitats Video Image Archive'.

The mobile invertebrate and fish biodiversity of the 50,000 km² area of the Torres Strait Protected Zone and adjacent shelf seabed was sampled by a 1 km tow of a 8 fthm otter trawl (single high-flying Florida Flyer) at 148 sites, representing a wide range of known physical environments, during one 1-month-long voyage on the QDPIF vessel Gwendoline May. About 1,550 species/species-equivalent OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified. The dataset comprises 11,325 site-by-species records.

The benthic invertebrate, plant and fish biodiversity of the 50,000 km² area of the Torres Strait Protected Zone and adjacent shelf seabed was sampled by a 200 m tow of a 1.5 m epibenthic sled at 166 sites, representing a wide range of known physical environments, during one 1-month-long voyage on the James Cook University vessel James Kirby. More than 1,550 species/species-equivalent OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified. The dataset comprises 8,569 site-by-species records. A pipe-dredge was attached to the sled to collect sediment samples: a 500 ml subsample was processed for particle size and carbonate by Geoscience Australia; another 500 ml subsample was sieved on 1 mm mesh and preserved in 10% Formalin - Rose Bengal solution.

The mobile invertebrate and fish biodiversity of the 200,000 km² area of the GBR shelf seabed was sampled by a 1 km tow of a 8 fthm otter trawl (single high-flying Florida Flyer) at 458 sites, representing a wide range of known physical environments, during four 1-month-long voyages on the QDPIF vessel Gwendoline May. More than 4,800 species/species-equivalent OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified. The dataset comprises 42,813 site-by-species records.

This record describes the biological survey data (species IDs and catch compositions) collected during the NORFANZ voyage on the Norfolk Ridge and Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, in May-June 2003. Fourteen seamount and slope sites were sampled, 10 on the Norfolk Ridge and 4 on the Lord Howe Rise. A total of 168 operations were completed, including 144 trawl-sled-dredge shots, in depths ranging from less than 100 m to over 2000 m. Gear types included bottom trawls, midwater trawl, beam trawl, epibenthic sleds, and rock and pipe dredges. The dataset contains records of 1,622 macroinvertebrate species or provisional species units in 15 phyla, and 582 fish species in 122 families, and is expected to include a significant percentage of species new to science. Species identifications received from expert taxonomists received up to 2012 have been integrated into the catch data that are archived by the CSIRO Data Centre and available through the CSIRO Marine data trawler. Specimens are all lodged in Australian and New Zealand museum collections Accompanying these survey data are photographs and, in some cases, voucher specimens which are described in separate metadata records. To date at least 21 taxonomic revisions and species descriptions used material collected in this survey.

The data were mainly collected in the Far Northern Section Cross-Shelf Closure of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Location approximately: 11-12 Degrees South Latitude, 143-144 Degrees East Longitude. The data consisted of: 1. Biological samples from prawn trawls, fish trawls, benthic dredge tows 2. Sediment samples 3. Seabird regurgitated pellets 4. Seabird counts 5. GPS Position data for trawls The study objectives were as follows: 1. A quantitative description of the physical environment, sediment characteristics, fishing effort, fish communities, epibenthic communities and prawn populations. 2. A comparison of the fish,benthic and prawn communities of areas closed to trawling with areas open to trawling. 3. An assessment of the impact of prawn trawling on benthic communities and fish communities. 4. A quantitative description of the composition of bycatch produced by prawn trawling in the Green Zone and the areas to the immediate north and south of the Zone. 5. A list of the species trawled animals other than prawns returned to the sea and whether they float or sink and quantification of the fate of the dead material. 6.Quantitative estimates of the importance of trawl discards in the diets of seabirds, the degree of dependence on such discards and the effects of discards on seabird populations.

Towed camera transects were conducted on the shelf of the Great Australian Bight (GAB) as part of the 'GAB Mapping Project' (FRDC Project No 2006/036). To further our understanding and knowledge of fishing grounds, terrain types and habitats in the GAB, this project proposed to include a camera survey, involving industry. A portable camera system developed by CSIRO during and for a previous fishing grounds mapping project in the SEF was available to be used from an industry vessel. This metadata record refers to the image data collected during the survey. The image annotations collected for this project will added to the Oracle data base BHIMAGE and the associated videos and still images have been archived as described in MarLIN record 14436 'Benthic Habitats Video Image Archive'.

Towed camera transects were conducted in the Great Australian Bight (GAB) and near St Helen's Hill seamount during the pilot survey for estimating the effectiveness of spatial closures for deepwater gulper sharks and associated fishery species. There are large gaps in ecological knowledge of gulper sharks which limit the effective design of area closures (e.g. optimising sizes and numbers) and assessment of their performance. The survey aimed to fill these gaps do this by characterising the habitats and ecosystem processes in 200-700 m depths that sustain key species, and commencing a process to determine the relevant aspects of species ecology. Primarily this will be (1) to measure the movement of fish within and to/ from a large closed area in the GAB with a tagging program, and (2) estimate the abundance of selected species in relation to habitat features (substructure within submarine canyons, escarpments and rocky banks, and adjacent water column features) with two independent, non-extractive photographic methods. This metadata record refers to the image data collected during the survey. The image annotations collected for this project will added to the Oracle data base BHIMAGE and the associated videos and still images have been archived as described in MarLIN record 14436 'Benthic Habitats Video Image Archive'.