North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

I spoke to legendary Gulf fishing guide Gavin "Groover" New this arvo about the mangrove die-off.

Groover has worked the Gulf for almost 30 years. He said he has never seen anything like it.

"It all went in one go," he said.

"It probably happened around October last year as I saw all the leaves going red and yellow in November.

"Early this year I got a better look at it. No one else took a lot of notice at the time. I called a couple of scientists but they couldn't get out here at the time and it is probably a bit late now to really get a handle on what happened."

Gavin said the worst patch was about 4nm north of Karumba.

"It is affecting fishing in that particular area. I went in at high tide and there were no barra there in the dead stuff.

"And the crabbers say it has been very poor in the Gulf this year.

"I reckon the whole Gulf ecosystem has been hurt by four poor wet seasons. The fishing has been dramatically down, everything is suffering. It needs to be studied.

"But there are still healthy areas of mangroves that have fish."

In about 10 years or so when the place turns to poop, those climate naysayers might sit up and take notice . too late then

Researchers believe it may have been caused by a temporary drop in sea level ... http://www.nespnorthern.edu.au/2017/11/ ... back-gulf/

Gulf tides always have been weird ...

Matt Flynn wrote:Researchers believe it may have been caused by a temporary drop in sea level ... http://www.nespnorthern.edu.au/2017/11/ ... back-gulf/

Gulf tides always have been weird ...

So wait, we should be doing more to increase global warming and raise the sea levels?

Re temporary lowered level, the warming from El Nino may have caused it ... so says the press release

Also, sea level rises at different rates around the world, for various reasons.

Sea levels might rise faster than expected ... http://www.news.com.au/technology/envir ... 14b44c1c39

Combination of events ... https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/20 ... ed-dieback

More area of dieback reported ...

2017 Gulf of Carpentaria Update Day 2: Around Pormpuraaw
Survey Locations: Christmas Ck, Mitchell R, South Mitchell R, Nassau R.

Issues Observed: Mangrove dieback, shoreline erosion, saltpan surface erosion, storm damage, lightning strike, estuary bank erosion, vehicle damage to saltpans, cattle grazing and tracks through tidal wetlands.

Another massive mangrove dieback area was seen along several kilometeres south of Pormpuraaw. This extends the current area of known mangrove extent by hundreds of km and likely hundred of hectares. This area is predominantly experiencing foreshore dieback. The Pormpuraaw Indigenous Rangers and Traditional Owners have advised that this dieback also began around late 2015. There is obvious concern from local Traditional Owners, Property managers and residents about the dieback and its effects on fisheries and shoreline stability. There are many local stories about the dieback that will no doubt assist in gaining a better understanding of the dieback event and its impact.

Within the dieback area there is no obvious signs of seedling recruitment from the impacted species, although there are saltmarsh plants and Aegialitis growing in some dieback area which may be confused as recovery from satellite and aerial imagery.

Another key issue observed has been sheet erosion across saltpans and erosion head formation at terrestrial margins of tidal wetlands. This is particularly bad in the Nassau R estuary where, in combination with shoreline erosion, bank erosion, and mangrove ecotone shift, it seems the whole system is on the move landward. It's interesting that this system is undergoing much more obvious change compared to estuaries further North near Weipa.

Rob Coles (TropWATER) surveyed these areas for seagrass distribution back in the 80's and notes that the seagrass beds are almost in exactly the same place (patchy, but stable) as they were ~30 years ago which is good news.

These surveys are supported by Australian Department of the Environment and Energy and a collaboration between NESP hubs: Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub NESP TWQ Hub Marine Biodiversity Hub Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub and TropWATER James Cook University

ENDS

The text above was from here ... https://www.facebook.com/MangroveWatch/ ... 9747141381

Good overview here ... http://www.nespnorthern.edu.au/projects ... e-dieback/

This is serious sh.t ... if future El Nino events are as strong or stronger, and the dieback continues, much of the Gulf coastline will become unproductive.

Latest theory is moon wobble caused the low water which killed the mangroves ... https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... ntists-say

That and the heat probably ...