Benchmarking Recreational Boating Pressure in the Rottnest Island Reserve, Western Australia

Abstract

Rottnest Island, off Western Australia, is a popular holiday destination with 0.5 million visitors annually, of which 150,000 arrive by private vessel. Management of these vessels is difficult as few data are available on their visitation patterns and associated recreational activities. An observational survey was conducted to provide baseline data. It clearly indicated higher vessel numbers during summer and on public holidays with some mooring areas exceeding 100% occupancy during these periods. Scuba diving and surfing were recorded at numerous locations around the island in the summer and winter months, respectively. Recreational fishing generally occurred throughout the year. The spatial and temporal patterns of boating and associated recreational usage can be used to assess the impact of management decisions and provide a benchmark for long-term monitoring.

Decadal increase in the number of recreational users is concentrated in no-take marine reserves

“…These studies show that more boats are observed at weekends and on bank holidays (e.g. National Day), during summer months and when the weather is sunny (Widmer and Underwood, 2004;Smallwood and Beckley, 2008;Dalton et al, 2010;Smallwood et al, 2011). All together these factors were found to partly explain intra-annual variations of recreational use.…”

Influence of Zoning and Habitats on the Spatial Distribution of Recreational Activities in a Multiple-Use Marine Park

“…This approach was adapted from well-known roving creel techniques often used to survey recreational fishing (Pollock, Jones, and Brown 1994), and involves researchers travelling in a vehicle to vantage (observation) points situated along a pre-determined route throughout the study area where they undertake counts and/or interviews. Such surveys have been effective at measuring recreational use occurring at small, confined spatial scales such as islands (Smallwood and Beckley 2008) and coastal embayments (Widmer and Underwood 2004). Expanding this technique to a large (∼300 km long) study area required splitting Ningaloo Marine Park coastline into three survey routes, each of which covered about 100 km of coastline and could be completed in a single day ( Figure 1).…”

Contribution of Seagrass Blue Carbon Toward Carbon Neutral Policies in a Touristic and Environmentally-Friendly Island

“…Rottnest Island is a popular tourism destination, with approximately half a million visitors per year, with 150,000 arriving by private vessel (Smallwood and Beckley, 2008). The RIA is committed to increasing the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the Island through increasing the placement of renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency and actions to promote carbon sequestration through potential revegetation programs.…”