Starved out of existence?

Dugong habitat may be under threat from expansion of the gas industry.(Photo courtesy of World Wildlife Fund).

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plants currently proposed for development at Curtis Island off Gladstone in Queensland have marine experts concerned that it will decimate food sources for dugongs, which are classed vulnerable to extinction.

Currently three LNG projects have approval from both the federal and Queensland governments, with a fourth application being lodged by Arrow Energy.

Arrow Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell and PetroChina and is one of three mining companies with Petroleum Exploration Licences for the Northern Rivers, along with Metgasco and Red Sky Energy.

There are also current proposals for a gas pipeline from Casino to Ipswich and from Ipswich to Gladstone.

Lydia Gibson, marine species manager with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia, said impacts of the proposed developments on marine wildlife had the potential to devastate dugong habitat.

“It’s the largest dredging program in Australia, with around 50 million cubic metres dredged overall, enough to bury a football stadium four kilometres deep in mud and rock,” Lydia said. “This dredging is proposed in a dugong protection area. In 2002 Rodds Bay was declared a dugong sanctuary.”

Dugongs feed almost entirely on seagrass, with one adult eating around 30kg of seagrass a day.

The recent floods and cyclones in Queensland are likely to cause a widespread dieback of seagrass beds.

“We’re deeply concerned that it’s death by a thousand cuts for dugongs, marine turtles and dolphins. What you have with this development is direct impacts on habitat with dredging and the removal of seagrass and indirect impacts with increased shipping, noise pollution and chemical pollution,” Lydia said. “We’re particularly concerned in terms of the recent floods and cyclones... we are likely to see starvation of dugongs in the next six months.”

The dredging proposal has been approved by both the Queensland and federal governments.

The WWF Australia is asking for the reasons for the approvals and is calling for a halt on commencement until the impacts of the floods and cyclones on dugong habitats can be analysed.

“We are deeply concerned,” Lydia said. “The dredging is within the Great Barrier Reef heritage area as well. We’re concerned already about these dugongs’ habitat with threats to the reef water quality. We should be working towards reducing threats to the reef and the Queensland environment, not intensifying them.”

The dugong is on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“Australian tropical waters are considered one of the species’ last strongholds, and one of the reasons the Great Barrier Reef was scheduled as a heritage area,” Lydia said. “They are very, very vulnerable to anthropogenic threats. In a best case scenario a population only ever increased 5% per year. They are mammals and take a long time to reach sexual maturity and have few young.

“They also have a biological response that affects their population. If there is a flood and seagrass dies back significantly or habitat is destroyed by human activity then females respond by having fewer young.”

However federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the restrictions imposed on the developments provided environmental protection.

“Under conditions imposed on this project, the companies are required to develop management plans outlining how they will protect each threatened species and ecological communities including dugongs,” Mr Burke said. “The companies will have to survey any area earmarked for clearance, and if nationally threatened species are found, then separate management plans must be prepared for each species detailing how impacts will be managed.

“The companies will also provide funding towards threatened and migratory species research.”

Lydia asked that people who are concerned about the effects the LNG plant in Gladstone will have on dugongs to write to Mr Burke.

“Dugongs are not doing any harm, they are feeding on seagrass,” she said. “It’s quite sad, they are so threatened. More broadly the WWF is calling for more protection from both the state and federal governments.

“Every day dugongs become entangled in fishing nets, and boat strike is significant.

“Unsustainable coastal development like this one in Gladstone add to the cumulative impacts on the species. We need to be doing everything we can to curve the unsustainable development, minimise impacts and set aside sanctuaries where we can to protect them for future generations.”