Professional Documents
Culture Documents
, Sally L. Bushnell
CRC Reef Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University,
Townsville, Qld. 4811, Australia
Available online 24 March 2007
Abstract
Articial reefs are used to enhance recreational shing and diving opportunities in the marine
environment. Until recently, demand for articial reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
(GBRMP) has been low due to the high value placed on the natural ecosystem of the Great Barrier
Reef (GBR) and the abundance of shing and diving opportunities it provides. In the GBRMP,
where there are multiple stakeholder groups with diverse and often conicting values and opinions,
the deployment of articial reefs will be a complex and controversial social issue. We review the
available socio-economic literature regarding the deployment, use, and management of articial
reefs, and aim to identify and understand potential socio-economic issues and information gaps
surrounding deployment of articial reefs in the GBRMP. We also outline a strategy to guide
decision-making and maximize the socio-economic value of articial reefs should they be deployed in
the GBRMP.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) is one of the worlds largest marine
parks, extending approximately 2300 km along the north-east coast of Queensland,
Australia and encompassing an area of approximately 345,000 km
2
. The Great Barrier
Reef (GBR) ecosystem consists of diverse habitats including inter-reefal areas, lagoons,
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doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2007.01.003