2nd OCS Conference
Monday 22nd until Wednesday 24th of September 2008
The Australian Museum
Sydney, New South Wales
OCS Conference Sponsors for 2008
Platinum Sponsors
The Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts develops and implements national policy, programs and legislation to protect and conserve Australia's environment. The Department's Marine Division has a range of responsibilities across the Commonwealth marine jurisdiction. These include Marine Bioregional Planning, the development of networks of Marine Protected Areas and management of the existing MPA estate, domestic and international policy and programs in relation to cetaceans, invasive species, coastal policy and the coordination of marine science and information management.
An important role of the Division is the assessment of fisheries managed under Commonwealth legislation and state export fisheries in accordance with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act). These independent assessments ensure that, over time, fisheries are managed in an ecologically sustainable way.
The Marine Division coordinates the Australian Government's protection and management of threatened, migratory and marine species under the Act. Using international treaties, agreements and conventions, the Division plays a central role in the Australian Government's work with other countries to ensure that highly migratory species are protected across their range.
For more information visit http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/
WWF-Australia is part of the WWF International Network, the world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation. It has close to five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:
> conserving the world's biological diversity;
> ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and
> promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
WWF work spans the full spectrum of conservation activities - from on-ground field projects through to long-term, large-scale programs and policy formulation through to public campaigns. Our activities use the best available scientific information to address issues and critically evaluate all our endeavours to build concrete conservation solutions through a combination of field-based projects, policy initiatives, capacity-building and education work. WWF - Australia also strives to build partnerships with other organisations, governments, business and local communities to enhance WWF's effectiveness.
In Australia, WWF are working with the fishing industry, governments, businesses and various organisations to safeguard marine ecosystems from the effects of fishing, to reduce the number of overfished fisheries, and improve the management of others. We are working to achieve a fundamental shift in the way fisheries are managed. We promote a set of scientific principles that aim to balance the social and economic needs of human communities with the maintenance of diverse, functioning and healthy ecosystems.
For more information please visit our website www.wwf.org.au
Gold Sponsors
Division of Environmental and Life Sciences
The Division of Environmental and Life Sciences is one of the leading research bodies within Macquarie University. The division is highly regarded for its research achievements and seeks to maintain national and international leadership in specific research areas, as well as becoming involved in creative and innovative research collaborations in new areas.
Students travel from all around the world to undertake undergraduate courses and postgraduate research in marine science at Macquarie University. Macquarie has a large and diverse marine science community with a thriving specialty in the ecology of higher predators including sharks. Expertise is available in animal tracking, animal ecology and population genetics. Other specific areas of marine science strength at Macquarie include ecotourism impacts on marine animals, marine pollutants and their impact on invertebrates, and the development of aquaculture industries.
For more information visit www.els.mq.edu.au
SARDI Aquatic Sciences expands shark research in South Australia
Southern Australian shelf and coastal waters support a rich and diverse Chondrichthyan fauna. For example, bronze whalers cruise the beaches and reefs hunting sardines and Australian salmon, an array of benthic species patrol the cool depths of enormous submarine canyons, and white sharks glide past isolated rocky islands looking for their next seal. Unique oceanographic systems in this region also support populations of pelagic sharks including shortfin mako, common and pelagic thresher, smooth hammerhead and blue sharks. These pelagic predators inhabit the outer shelf waters of the Great Australian Bight throughout most of the year, and some move west-ward into the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean during winter. Mako and thresher sharks have recently been listed globally as Vulnerable (Threatened) species, yet there is currently minimal information available for populations in Australian waters, that can be used to assess their conservation status. The Threatened and Endangered Species Sub-Program at the South Australian Research and Development Institute's (SARDI) Aquatic Sciences division has an extensive background in the ecology of top predators, and use of bio-logging tags, and has recently developed research projects to investigate the migration pathways and residency times of pelagic sharks off southern Australia. This initiative includes the creation of a Shark Ecologist position supported by Marine Innovation South Australia (MISA) as part of a joint appointment between SARDI Aquatic Sciences and Flinders University.
SARDI Aquatic Sciences leads and conducts scientific research in the fields of marine ecology, wild fisheries, aquaculture and inland waters ecology to support the sustainable utilisation of aquatic living resources.
SARDI Aquatic Sciences is proud to support the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society Conference in Sydney, Australia in 2008.
For more information visit http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/dhtml/ss/section.php?sectID=5&tempID=1
CSIRO is delivering science and technology to explore, exploit, conserve and manage Australia's marine and coastal environment, including biodiversity, and to understand the complex relationships between ocean, land and atmosphere, particularly in relation to climate change. We aim to provide Australia with the information and tools to responsibly and effectively access the rich economic and social wealth of our vast ocean territory, while maintaining its marine biodiversity and environmental value. In partnership with industry and research groups, we focus on issues affecting both Australia and the world, and we provide a range of scientific and consulting services underpinned by research. http://www.csiro.au
Sydney Aquarium is committed to protecting Australia's unique aquatic
animals and their habitats and has established the Sydney Aquarium
Conservation Fund (SACF) for this purpose. We work with community
groups, environmental organisations and government to help save our unique and threatened wildlife.
www.sydneyaquarium.com.au
The Flinders University Marine Biology/Aquaculture Research Cluster within the School of Biological Sciences has a strong focus on enhancing understanding and promoting management and sustainable use of the aquatic environment with a primary emphasis on the South Australian coastal environment. The group currently consists of 11 researchers, 6 post doctoral fellows, 36 postgraduate students, 23 Honours students and 13 research assistants.
Expertise and research activities range from bacterioplankton, over invertebrates and fish to cetaceans. Active research areas in marine biology and aquaculture span the spectrum from coastal food webs, population and community ecology, over plankton dynamics through to seagrass and mangrove ecosystems. The mix of disciplines consists of estuarine, benthic and
microbial ecology, taxonomy, invasive species, marine macroecology, natural products and biological chemistry, coastal oceanography, plankton biology, aquatic animal health, aquaculture systems and genetics in aquaculture.