The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups – Epipelagic fish species". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL SPECIES/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Australia’s coastal small pelagic fishes (<50 cm) include species such as Australian Sardines, Maray, Blue and Sandy Sprats, Australian anchovy, scads, Jack Mackerel, hardyheads, silversides, Blue mackerel, Australian Herring and Redbait. Tropical and temperate assemblages are comprised of different species and there are also regional differences in species composition (Hobday et al. 2009). This assessment refers only to temperate species in the East, South-east and South-west regions. Blue Mackerel, Common Jack Mackerel, Redbait and Australian Sardine (off eastern Australia only) are targeted by the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery. The SPF is managed in two Zones: East spanning half of the East and eastern South-east regions and the West spanning the South west and western half of South-east). State fisheries primarily target Australian Sardine but may also take Australian Anchovy, Blue Mackerel, sprats and Maray. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is based on data and analyses published in the peer review literature, stock assessment reports and minutes of the meetings of the Small Pelagic Fishery Scientific Panel. Details of specific data sets used to generate the assessment have not been provided. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Additional fishery catch data, more recent stock assessments.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups - inner shelf reef fish species". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL SPECIES/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Bony and cartilaginous fish assemblages found on coastal rocky and coral reefs <25 m depth, around the Australian continent. This includes all species (most not exploited). DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Reef Life Survey visual census data were used for the current status assessment, with extensive spatial coverage of sites around the continent. Temporal trend information came from a combination of RLS, LTTRMP and AIMS long-term GBR monitoring datasets at 16 particular locations (MPA locations include the broader region and sites inside and outside sanctuary zones): NSW: Batemans Marine Park, Jervis Bay Marine Park, Sydney, Lord Howe Island, Port Stephens VIC: Beware Reef, Port Phillip Heads SA: Encounter Bay (Fleurieu Peninsula) WA: Rottnest Island, Jurien Marine Park, Ningaloo Marine Park QLD: Capricorn-Bunker, Southern GBR, Central GBR, Northern GBR TAS: Maria Island 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Poor Assessment trend: Deteriorating Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Poor Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Unclear what the 2011 assessment was based on.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of physical, biogeochemical and biological processes – Marine connectivity based on physical processes". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL PROCESS FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Marine biological connectivity around Australia is driven by physical processes such as winds, waves, tides and currents, that operate across a wide range of time and space scales. These water movements carry and disperse dissolved substances (nutrients and chemical pollutants) and particulates (sediments, marine debris and planktonic organisms) that are critical to the functioning of marine ecosystems. High connectivity can have positive or negative influences on ecosystem components depending on the circumstances, as can low connectivity (i.e. high retention). For example, transport of eggs and larvae from spawning grounds to nursery areas may be critical to successful breeding, but may also contribute to the spread of harmful species. Over Australia’s mid- and inner- continental shelves circulation and connectivity patterns tend to be dominated by wind and tidal influences, while the offshore environment is strongly influenced by major currents systems including the poleward flowing Leeuwin Current (LC) in the west and its extension along the southern Australian coast to Tasmania, and the East Australia Current (EAC) in the east. The strength of these currents varies with decadal forcing cycles, such as ENSO, SAM, and IOD, and in some locations there is also evidence of long-term connectivity change consistent with climate change. For example, increased southward flow of the EAC (Ridgway 2007) has been associated with major southward range extensions for almost 100 species (Frusher et al 2014; Sunday et al 2015). This represents a major increase in connectivity between northern and southern biological populations along the eastern seaboard. In contrast, this southern extension may have reduced connectivity in the south-to-north direction. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Published papers. CSIRO creates and maintains models used to study dispersal (Bluelink – BRAN product). IMOS holds data on ocean current strength, individual researchers hold data on species of interest. Report Cards have started to explicitly include connectivity as an indicator - http://ghhp.org.au/report-cards/2015/environmental. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Poor Assessment trend: Deteriorating Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are not directly comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Connectivity – spatial/physical disjunctions Assessment grade: Very good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade & trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus • 2011 • Connectivity – biological, migration, flyways Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Deteriorating Confidence grade & trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus • 2011 • Connectivity – recruitment, settlement Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade & trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus • 2011 • Connectivity – genome structures, genetic adaptation Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade & trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Unclear how the 2011 assessment was done.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of habitats and communities - water column, inner shelf (0 - 25 m)". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Based on biomass the major communities found in the water column are phytoplankton>bacteria>zooplankton>fish (Marchant 2002). The water column is the habitat and the major determinants of quality for most pelagic organisms can be considered to be temperature (T), salinity (S), light, nutrients, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and food availability. The inner shelf waters around Australia are generally warm, mostly saline, well illuminated, low in nutrients, and phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish abundance. The inner shelf is also the pelagic marine habitat most exposed to human induced pressures and has local habitats that range from heavily disturbed to pristine. The capability of this habitat to support the existing flora and fauna can be considered to be under threat (e.g. Game et al. 2009) from: inputs from the terrestrial environment (e.g. sediments in runoff or due to increased erosion, nutrients, wastes), harvesting of biota, invasive species, infrastructure development (e.g. impoundments, harbours, hardening), mariculture, mining, oil and gas extraction, climate change (warming, falling DO, decreasing pH). There are many areas of local habitat degradation, with the most impacted areas tending to be embayments and estuaries with significant population pressures and limited exchange (e.g. Alyazichi et al., 2015; Mckinley et al., 2011). In spite of improvements in the management of these types of pressures the magnitude of the growth in mineral exports, agriculture exports and population growth would suggest that development impacts will have risen. At the same time across many jurisdictions improvements in sewage treatment and disposal mean that potentially dangerous pathogens are increasingly rare. For example in 2015 96% of NSW open beaches with high rates of recreational use were rated good or very good (NSW EPA, 2015). At a larger geographic scale our shelf waters are experiencing increasing impacts from global pressures such as warming. Shelf waters from Port Hedland to Cape Howe have risen ~ 1°C from 1993 to 2013 (Foster et al., 2014), and portions of the SW region were 3°C warmer during February 2011 than normal (Pearce and Feng 2013). There is evidence that dissolved oxygen has declined (Thompson et al. 2009) and will continue to decline due to warming (Talley et al., 2016). This is likely to lead to more losses of marine fauna due to low oxygen; such as the unprecedented event during 2015 in Cockburn Sound (Pattiaratchi 2016). Recent blooms of toxic phytoplankton in regions where they never bloomed before (Campbell et al., 2013) and the SE shellfish that have suffered badly from disease outbreaks (Hooper et al., 2007; Lewis et al., 2012). There is evidence of widespread responses to climate related pressures across the major types of biota, phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish (e.g. Johnson et al. 2011, Thompson et al. 2016) as well as our coral reefs under increased stress from rising temperatures and declining pH (Mongin et al., 2016). DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Data are computed from the level 3 (L3) daily global products using one merging method following Maritorena and Siegel, (2005). Details can be found at http://www.globcolour.info/products_description.html Phytoplankton and zooplankton data are from Australia’s National Reference Stations operated by the Integrated Marine Observing System. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of ecological communities/habitats – offshore banks, shoals, islands". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL HABITAT/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Assemblages of plants and animals found on offshore banks, and shoals around islands, in the 0-25 m depth range. This largely relates to reefs in the Coral Sea, Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, and the offshore reefs in the north and north-west. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Reef Life Survey data were used for the current status assessment, with extensive spatial coverage of sites on most offshore banks, shoals and Island around the continent where the seabed rises to within 20 m of the surface. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high-quality evidence or high level of consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT The 2016 assessment is based on an updated and expanded dataset.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Effectiveness of marine management of climate variability and climate change". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESSURE BEING MANAGED, AND ITS IMPACT Anthropogenic ocean warming, superimposed on natural climate variations – in particular El Niño–Southern Oscillation and decadal variability – and ocean acidification pose risks to Australia’s coral reef ecosystems, giant kelp and other habitats. In response, there have been significant shifts in the ranges of various invertebrates and fish. Recent reviews of climate change impacts and adaptation on Australia’s commercial marine fisheries and marine ecosystems discuss the implications for marine management. On the Great Barrier Reef, rising summer sea temperatures and steadily increasing ocean acidity increase the risk of mass coral bleaching. The cumulative impacts of economic activities – port dredging and runoff of sediment, nutrients and fertiliser from agriculture, for example – cause coral reefs to become stressed and more prone to the effects of climate change. More broadly around Australia, ocean warming and changes in currents are affecting fisheries and aquaculture. World-leading research on these risks is ongoing through Australian universities and research institutes and in consequence the understanding of physical processes is high. Understanding of the economic and cultural significance of the marine environment for Australia is lower, but considerable value is attributed to coastal regions in temperate and tropical Australia. Understanding of the management strategies required to combat the risks is lower still due at least in part to its complexity. Research is ongoing, but a greater investment in developing, implementing and monitoring strategies, monitoring and understanding change, and systematic acquisition and storage of data, is required. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is based on published literature – a list is provided in the attached Expert Assessment. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • Understanding of pressure: Understanding of climate variability and its management is reasonably high and improving with government funding for well-established and internationally-respected institutions. • Planning associated with management of pressure: In-depth planning for icons such as the Great Barrier Reef continues, and commercial fisheries are aware of the need to plan around climate variability. Elsewhere efforts are more patchy. • Input for informing management of pressure: Short-term funding cycles are a continuing threat to effective management for long-term goals and sustainability. • Processes associated with developing, monitoring, and updating management: Management tools and approaches exist and in some cases are applied; stronger regulation is required for long-term environmental health. • Outputs from management framework in place: Conflicting interests between economic development and the environment are leading to a gradual long-term environmental declines, which current management is not addressing. • Outcomes of management framework in place: Further policy and management controls are required to address declining environmental health and emerging risks of climate change. CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Not specified. Review of additional literature has been conducted since 2011 SoE Assessment.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups – mesopelagic fish species". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL SPECIES/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Mesopeolagic fish species (200 to 1000 m depths) of the Australian region are thought to be in very good condition as there is limited direct impact by human activities (e.g. no targeted commercial fishing, and limited seismic surveys). Therefore factors affecting the mesopelagic fishes and their habitats will most likely be due to overall changes in environmental conditions associated with climate change and variability influencing factors such as primary production, ocean acidification and changing oxygen levels (Hobday and Pecl, 2014). This estimate of mesopelagic fish status and trend is uncertain due to the low amount of monitoring that is done, but monitoring has increased since the last assessment in 2011. Monitoring of mesopelagic fishes has recently been included in Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) through a bio-acoustics sub-facility in 2010 with one focus being the Tasman Sea (www.imos.org.au). Mesopelagic fishes are very diverse in Australian waters where in a recent field guide of the southern Tasman Sea 143 species in 43 families were identified (Flynn and Pogonoski, 2012). Using the IMOS bioacoustics Tasman Sea transect along 40oS there has been no detectable change in the annual acoustic index of mesopelagic fish biomass off the east coast of Tasmania between 2004 and 2013 (Kloser et al pers comms, www.imos.org.au). This region has a diverse range of fishes that have complex depth distributions and trophic interactions (Flynn and Kloser, 2012). Ecosystem models and observational studies of mesopelagic fishes highlight their importance to ecosystem structure and function where they transfer energy to higher order predators such as commercial fish species in Australian waters (Fulton et al., 2005; Lehodey et al., 2010; Young et al., 2011). This is particularly important for Australia’s continental slope commercial species and other top predators for ecosystem based management (Smith et al., 2011). The importance of mesopelagic fishes to ecosystem services has been shown yet their biomass and production is uncertain with several recent net and acoustic estimates differing by 2 orders of magnitude in Tasman Sea Australian waters (Kloser et al., 2009; Irigoien et al., 2014). This difference is based on using different sampling gear and methods to interpret the data. The outlook for mesopelagic fish in the Australian region is very good given the low direct impact of human activities (e.g. fishing) and increased monitoring through the IMOS bioacoustics program. Spatial and temporal shifts in mesopelagic fishes are expected to occur due to climate change and variability which will influence the distribution of their predators (Ridgway et al., 2008; Hobday and Pecl, 2014). To understand shifts in higher order predators and their ecological and human impact monitoring and ecosystem modelling of mesopelagic fish status and future trends is necessary. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Data from the IMOS bio-acoustics sub-facility, data from surveys along a transect line in the Tasman Sea repeated across 2004-2013. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Very good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are comparable

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of habitats and communities - water column, outer shelf (25 m - 250 m)". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT The water column is the primary habitat for pelagic communities that are mainly phytoplankton, bacteria, zooplankton and higher predators (in the ratios of ~300:75:10:1, respectively: Marchant 2002) and their biomass declines exponentially with depth (Rex et al., 2006). The major determinants of habitat quality for most pelagic organisms can be considered to be temperature (T), salinity (S), light, nutrients, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and food availability. The continental shelf waters around Australia are generally warm, saline, well illuminated, low in nutrients, and abundances of phytoplankton (Fig. 1), zooplankton (Fig. 2) and fish. Relative to the seasonal variability for the majority of the water column on the outer shelf there have been modest long term changes to these components of the habitat and its communities. Overall its current status should be considered good. The major potential threats that could reduce the existing flora and fauna can be considered to be: inputs from the terrestrial environment (sediments, nutrients, carbon), development, warming, declining [DO], decreasing pH and fishing. While there are areas of local habitat degradation (e.g. near ports and harbours) the overall impacts of local pressures tend to be low as Australia is a large area with a relatively sparse human population. There is increasing evidence our shelf waters are experiencing change due to the global pressures; some of which are deleterious. Shelf waters from Port Hedland to Cape Howe have risen ~ 1°C from 1993 to 2013 (Foster et al., 2014), and portions of the SW region were 3°C warmer during February 2011 than normal (Pearce and Feng 2013). There is evidence that dissolved oxygen has declined (Thompson et al. 2009) and continues to decline due to warming (Talley et al., 2016) plus concerns over acidification continue to grow (Mongin et al., 2016). Already there is clear evidence of community responses by phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish to these climatic pressures (e.g. Johnson et al. 2011). DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT Data are computed from the level 3 (L3) daily global products using one merging method following Maritorena and Siegel, (2005). Details can be found at http://www.globcolour.info/products_description.html Zooplankton data are from Australia’s National Reference Stations operated by the Integrated Marine Observing System. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Unclear Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT This assessment uses observations from a greater range of spatial and temporal scales allowing a much better assessment of current state and trends to be made. There is also a statistical analysis of temporal change in zooplankton biomass.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of ecological communities – algal beds". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Algal beds are generally thought of as algae associated with hard substratum such as rocky reefs that provides a strong point of attachment for algae to grow and maintain position. The majority of Australia’s algal beds are found in temperate waters and are in many cases replaced as the major habitat forming benthic organisms by corals in more tropical environments where intense grazing by herbivorous fishes contains algal biomass, particularly in clear offshore waters. The changeover from temperate algal covered reefs to coral dominated reefs is a gradual transition, but, as a broad generalisation, is considered to be in the vicinity of the Abrohlos Islands in Western Australia and Brisbane in Queensland, and is driven by the northern limit of the canopy forming kelp, Ecklonia radiata. Throughout this range, algal beds are found from the intertidal zone down to approximately 30 m depth where light availability limits growth. Despite this, lower limits may be much reduced in turbid or coloured water, or substantially exceed this in clear offshore water. Algal beds are composed of many constituent species with more than 1500 species of red, brown and green algae known from temperate and tropical Australia. Despite this, the overall canopy forming species are dominated by a far smaller subset of species, including Ecklonia radiata (the common kelp) which tends to be the dominant habitat former and most conspicuous species on temperate reefs, particularly on moderate to high energy coasts where it can form an extensive monospecific canopy above other algae. Given this ecological dominance which is consistent at continental scales, the overall health and extent of Ecklonia is considered to be a suitable indicator of the state of algal beds in general. Despite this, Ecklonia is typically replaced as a dominant species by Sargassum and Cystophora species in sheltered waters such as the Tasmanian north coast and upper reaches of South Australian gulfs, and may replace other species that are under stress (such as Macrocystis pyrifera in Tasmania, the giant kelp or Scytothalia dorycarpa in Western Australia). Hence understanding the condition of algal beds can often require a region-specific knowledge of trends in key species in addition to Ecklonia. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is predominantly based on data and analyses published in peer review papers. Data has been used from IMOS, The Reef Life Survey, and various state based ecological monitoring programs associated with the establishment of coastal MPAs. Details of specific data sets used to generate the assessment have not been provided. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable to deteriorating Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Very good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Uncertain.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups – seabirds". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF TAXONOMIC GROUP FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT There are presently 57 species of seabirds known to breed in and around Australia and the external territories of Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Island, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and the Coral Sea islands. These 57 species are comprised of penguins (1 species), albatrosses (1 species), petrels, shearwaters and storm-petrels (19 species), boobies, tropicbirds, frigatebirds, cormorants and pelican (16 species) and gulls, tern, and noddies (20 species). Another 130 species of seabirds have been recorded in Australia, either as non-breeding or vagrant. Shorebirds are not considered here, nor are issues associated with nesting or onshore breeding colonies as these are assessed under the Coasts chapter. Species breeding on subantarctic islands and the Antarctic continent are assessed under the Antarctic chapter. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment was based on data and analyses published in the peer reviewed literature and agency reports. Details on the specific data products used in this assessment have not been provided. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Unclear Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Unclear how the 2011 assessment was carried out and on what data. There is very little data on trends in populations available and so the trend cannot be regarded as stable but rather unclear.