The impacts of coral and shell collecting - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 151

of prolonged, cumulative coral and shell souveniring by tourists, and to the
removal of large amounts of material by commercial collectors. Coral collecting
resulted in cumulative impacts which were reported to have been severe at the
major tourist resorts of the Great Barrier Reef, including those resorts at Heron,
Green, Lady Musgrave and Lizard Islands. Those impacts were sustained over
more than fifty years and were concentrated in the most accessible parts of the
most frequently visited reefs. Despite restrictions of the removal of coral since
1932, both licensed and unlicensed collecting continued; documentary and oral
history sources describe the deterioration of coral reefs that accompanied coral
collecting. In addition to the souveniring of coral by many visitors, the coral
collecting industry - regulated by the Queensland Government - was responsible
for the removal of large amounts of the most attractive coral from at least twelve
coral reefs. As a result, coral collecting has contributed to the decline of many
coral reefs, particularly nearshore and fringing reefs.
The impacts of shell collecting in the Great Barrier Reef have also been
widespread, prolonged and cumulative. Some evidence suggests that a reduction
in the average size of some species has taken place since extensive recreational
shell collecting commenced, indicating that some species have been collected
excessively. Particular depletion of shell populations was reported at Green,
Heron, Lady Musgrave and Fairfax Islands, at Wistari Reef and at Michaelmas
Cay, although other reefs that are easily accessible from the Queensland coast
were also exploited by shell collectors, including Yule Point Reef. It is clear
that some shell collectors operated without regard for the sustainability of shell
populations, for the damage caused to coral reefs while obtaining specimens, or
for prohibitions on the removal of marine species from protected reefs. Particular
impacts were sustained by giant clams ( Tridacna gigas ) as a result of clam fishing,
the use of giant clam shells as curios and ornaments, and the destruction of
the animals by divers and bathers. As giant clams are long-lived, slow-growing
organisms, the giant clam populations in the GBRWHA have probably been
considerably depleted since European settlement. However, some rehabilitation
of those populations has been attempted as a result of successful aquaculture of
giant clams. Overall, therefore, coral and shell collecting represent significant -
yet previously neglected - causes of environmental change in many reefs of the
Great Barrier Reef.
Notes
1 OHC 13, 4 August 2003.
2 Order in Council , 1 June 1933.
3 OHC 31, 4 October 2003.
4 OHC 4, 14 January 2003.
5 See the statistics provided in SCQ , 1879, p174.
6 Out-letter Ref. 32/3263, Secretary, Provisional Administration Board, QDHM,
Brisbane to Under-Secretary, Treasury, Brisbane, 10 May 1933, PRV8340/1 Item 1,
QSA.