Setting a course for marine mammal research in Western Australia

Abstract

Given limited funding and increasing pressures on our natural resources it is becoming ever more critical that science be directed at improving our understanding and management of priority issues. This relies on dialogue and alignment between researchers and managers to ensure that appropriate questions are asked and the answers incorporated in robust and transparent decision-making processes which should include relevant evidence-based science. We used a prioritisation framework as a tool to bring managers and scientists together to discuss and agree on current priorities for research on marine mammals in Western Australia, including posing relevant questions. Eight species were identified as high priorities for fundamental research, including three dolphin species (Australian humpback, snubfin and common dolphin), three baleen whale species (Antarctic and pygmy blue and dwarf minke whale), the Australian sea lion and the dugong. The pressures we evaluated resulted in a priority need for research to better understand and mitigate impacts across a range of species, including noise pollution from shipping and vessel activity, climate change and fishing by-catch. Scientists and managers agreed on a set of topics and associated research questions for the high-priority species that would best inform ongoing conservation and management of marine mammals in Western Australia and that would have broad applicability nationally and globally. We provide an example of how these priorities can be used to develop a research program with targeted funding. Overall, this process has demonstrated the value of bringing scientists and managers together with a tool that allows them to jointly determine priorities and research questions.