Surveillance is essential in preventing the spread of marine pests in Australia.
All Australian jurisdictions collect data on the presence and quantity of marine pests:
- in the natural environment
- on marine infrastructure (such as wharves or pontoons)
- on vessels.
Watch this video to learn how you can assist in identifying and reporting harmful marine pests.
Transcript - Biosecurity Basics - Shared Responsibility (docx 56KB)
National marine pest surveillance strategy
The Marine Pest Sectoral Committee (MPSC) has developed the National Marine Pest Surveillance Strategy (Surveillance Strategy) to coordinate Australia’s marine pest surveillance activities. The Surveillance Strategy outlines nationally agreed priority requirements for enhancing surveillance of harmful marine pests in Australia. The Surveillance Strategy covers the period from 2021to 2026.
The MPSC has also developed the National Marine Pest Surveillance Work Plan to guide the implementation of the Surveillance Strategy.
Marine pest detection methods
Natural marine environments can pose potential challenges for marine pest surveillance, including:
- cost and limitations of traditional underwater surveillance methods
- inaccessible and hazardous conditions
- visibility and identification of some marine pest species.
The MPSC is working to improve the detection methods currently available. We encourage everyone to assist in playing a part to keep Australia’s marine biosecurity safe.
Passive marine pest surveillance
Australia has a vast coastline and we rely on the public to assist in surveillance to help protect our marine environment. We specifically rely on people who work or interact with the marine environment to assist in identifying marine pests.
Please report marine pests even if you’re unsure if it poses a threat
Click on the links below to learn more about:
• how to identify a marine pest
• marine pests in your area.
Molecular marine pest detection
We can detect the DNA of potential marine pests in the environment (eDNA) using:
- reproductive and waste material
- samples collected by alternative means, such as settlement arrays.
Molecular surveillance can significantly reduce the cost of marine pest surveillance and improve detection sensitivity.
Further work is needed to validate molecular methods.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is funding projects to validate molecular detection methods and build molecular detection capacity in Australia.
The guidelines for development and validation of assays for marine pests can help researchers improve molecular detection methods of marine pests.
The Compendium of introduced marine pest molecular studies relevant to Australia details the range of published molecular diagnostic tools that currently support marine biosecurity research and surveillance in Australia.
Visual marine pest surveillance
Scuba divers perform traditional underwater visual surveillance, however, diving activities can be expensive, impractical, or unsafe in some locations.
The department is helping to develop further visual surveillance methods. These methods include using Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), which are underwater vehicles operated by a pilot on the surface of the water.
ROVs have many benefits including:
- capturing underwater images in areas that are unsafe for divers
- cheaper and safer alternatives for visual surveillance.
The Review and Enhancement of Remotely Operated Vehicles for Marine Pest Surveillance document outlines how ROVs can be used to improve surveillance for marine pests.
Surveillance resources for priority marine pest species
Activity 1.3 of the Surveillance Strategy seeks to maintain an agreed list of priority marine pest species for surveillance.
While several priority lists exist, they do not include all priority species that are the focus of marine pest surveillance programs.
The Marine Pest Sectoral Committee (MPSC) has developed a list of national priority marine pest species for surveillance. The list contains suitable surveillance methods to detect these pests.
The list of priority marine pest species for surveillance is available to stakeholders who wish to undertake surveillance activities.
Suspected marine pest species not included on the list should still be reported.
The list is a live document which is continually updated where required.