Final report
More than 100 key datasets relevant to coastal habitat management and for monitoring the condition and trend of fisheries habitats in Queensland have been integrated into the Coastal Habitat Resources Information System (CHRIS) during this establishment phase.
Design of this geographic information system (GIS) framework has benefited from extensive consultation with habitat and fisheries managers with legislative responsibilities and interests in the coastal zone as well as GIS professionals from Queensland and Commonwealth Government agencies.
With a focus on pilot areas of the Moreton Bay region and the Wet Tropics coast in this establishment phase, CHRIS brings together mapping data from a variety of sources on coastal wetland vegetation, habitat disturbance, protected areas, and fisheries closures together with available coastal bathymetry and commercial and recreational fisheries catch and effort information. Spatial data available includes baseline habitat datasets not previously available in digital form and created during the project. Data sets are accessible in a standard GIS format (shapefiles) and associated metadata is available in Blue Pages format. Many relevant coastal datasets for which other agencies are custodians have been brought together in CHRIS. Researchers have enhanced access to basic data, facilitating modelling of interactions between fisheries productivity and habitat.