| A report card for each environmental value in Cockburn Sound has been prepared every year since 2001. The 2001 report cards were part of the Draft Environmental Management Plan and the 2002 report cards appeared in the Interim Environmental Management Plan for Cockburn Sound and its Catchment.
The Cockburn Sound report cards have been developed to provide information on the health of Cockburn Sound marine environment to stakeholders and the community.
Benchmarks, known as Environmental Quality Criteria have been developed for Cockburn Sound and can be used to determine whether the Environmental Values for Cockburn Sound are being protected. The environmental values for Cockburn Sound are:
- Ecosystem Health
- Seafood safe for eating
- Aquaculture
- Recreation and aesthetics
- Industrial water supply.
The Cockburn Sound report cards are derived by comparing monitoring data with the environmental quality criteria following the process defined in the Environmental Quality Criteria Reference Document.
Monitoring data in Cockburn Sound is collected by several groups including the Department of Environment, Kwinana Industries Council, Department of Defence, Department of Industry and Resources (Australian Marine Complex), Department of Health, Fremantle Port Authority, Department of Fisheries and WA Mussel Producers Association. The physical, chemical and biological monitoring data collected by these groups has been used to derive the report cards in 2003.
|