Date:

Thursday 3 April 2008

Time:

5.30pm (followed by light refreshments)

Location:

Raffles Function Room, Southbank Hotel and Convention Centre, Palmer Street, TOWNSVILLE

Summary:

‘No-take’ marine reserves represent a global approach to coastal marine conservation and fisheries management. The increase in the number, size and reproductive potential of many marine species inside protected areas is widely appreciated. However, ‘no-take’ reserves have also been established in the belief that they contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity within their boundaries, as-well as contribute to the sustainable exploitation of species beyond their boundaries. The extent to which they can achieve either or both of these goals depends on where the offspring of protected organisms actually end up.

Professor Jones, along with colleagues and students, has been trying to unlock the secrets of larval fish dispersal, looking at the connections between parents and offspring, between isolated reefs, and between green and blue zones. His research group has developed and applied new tools to trace the origins of juvenile fishes, including the chemical tagging of larvae and genetic parentage analysis. For the first time, they have been able to investigate how far juvenile coral reef fishes move away from home. The results will surprise you and they offer new insights into how networks of marine protected areas can work.

Speaker:

Professor Geoff Jones

School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, and

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Contact:

Everyone welcome. For further information and for catering purposes, please contact Sam Kent, Tel: (07) 4781 4345 or E-mail: sam.kent@jcu.edu.au