Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
individuals shown here are Frank Kelly, Inky Nicholls, Harry Bird and Tom McDonald,
aboard the Suva. Jack Clarke was also present. Source: Image No. P09768, Image Library,
Cairns Historical Society, Cairns
formation of the GBRMP, the coral fishery has been regulated and collectors now
remove around 50 tonnes of material per year from 50 authorised coral areas.
The nature of commercial coral collecting has also altered, as Oliver (1985)
has acknowledged, from a focus on the souvenir trade - in which one species,
Pocillopora damicornis
('brown-stem'), dominated the harvest - to supplying the
live aquarium industry with high-value species, including soft corals, anemones
and other Cnidarians.
Shell collecting in the Great Barrier Reef
Documentary and oral evidence suggests that the cumulative impacts of shell
collecting in the Great Barrier Reef have been considerable. In this section,
some general impacts of shell collecting are considered, before the more specific
damage that has been sustained by giant clams (
Tridacna spp.
) is described
subsequently. Shells have attracted the interest of collectors and observers in the
Great Barrier Reef since the earliest period of British exploration and settlement
in Queensland. Two reports state that James Cook observed 'giant cockles' - giant
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