The impacts of coral and shell collecting - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 141

140ºE
10ºS

GREAT

Cooktown 3

Mackay Reef

Batt Reef
Hastings Reef

Scott Reef

Pixie Reef

BARRIER

Cairns 3

Thetford Reef

Sudbury Reef

Pandora Reef

Townsville 3

Lagoon Kay Reef

N

Esk Island

Proserpine 3 Proserpine

REEF

Gould Reef

Mackay 3

QUEENSLAND

Tryon Islet reef

Rockhampton 3
Gladstone 3

Bundaberg 3

Coral collecting locations

0 KILOMETRES 500

140ºE
28ºS

155ºE
28ºS

BRISBANE 3

Figure 9.6 Coral collecting areas in the Great Barrier Reef, 1962-1969. Source: Author,
compiled from archival files found in Folder 1964, PRV14712/1 Item 788 Box 190, QSA

the Cairns area. Although archival files held at the QSA contain details of the
boundaries and lessees of the nineteen coral collecting areas, they do not reveal
the criteria by which the coral areas were selected or whether any monitoring of
commercial collecting activities occurred.
Some additional evidence provides more detail about the coral collecting
industry. Applications for coral collecting licences were made to the Queensland
Government and were accompanied by sketch maps of the proposed areas.
In addition to the nineteen areas reconstructed using the QSA files, other