The effects of dredge-spoil dumping on a shallow water soft-sediment community in the Solitary Islands Marine Park, NSW, Australia.

In December 1999, 28,000 m3 of sediment was dredged from two sites within the harbour at Coffs Harbour, NSW. Dredging was carried out using a trailing suction hopper-dredge which transported the spoil to a shallow (6 m) site within the adjacent Solitary Islands Marine Park for disposal. Evaluation of the effects of the dredge-spoil dumping at the receiving site was conducted by taking replicated van Veen grab samples at the disposal site and at two control sites, before, immediately after, and three months after dumping. The results indicated that dredge-spoil dumping had no detectable effect on either the structure of the invertebrate community or the physical characteristics of sediment at the receiving site. Although there were some significant faunistic differences between samples from the disposal site and the control sites immediately following dumping, these were related to pre-existing differences between sites rather than to the effects of dredge-spoil disposal. Four principal factors are likely to have contributed to the lack of impact: (i) dredged material had similar sedimentary characteristics to those at the receiving site; (ii) dredged material was free from contaminants; (iii) the disposal method systematically distributed a number of shallow layers of sediment over the disposal site and thus motile macrofauna had the opportunity to migrate upwards between passes of the barge; and (iv) the disposal site was in a high energy environment where the resident biota are likely to be adapted to dynamic sedimentary conditions. The lack of detectable effects suggests that the disposal strategy was one which minimized impacts within an area which has high conservation value and should thus be adopted as a model for future works within the region.