Reef Research: Volume 7 No. 1 March 1997
Editorial
T
he ethics of manipulative research is one issue which is being discussed widely these days. It is an issue on which many people have an opinion. Sometimes it may be necessary for scientists to perform research which may be termed 'manipulative' to assess impacts of change and to gain a greater understanding. The results of this research often provide managers with much needed information for decision-making processes. However, many questions need to be answered about this type of research, such as what degree of manipulation should be permitted.

Two articles in this issue of Reef Research discuss this very topic. Dominique Benzaken presents us with a brief outline of the approach the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is taking in regard to ethics of manipulative research. As you will read, an Interim Ethics Committee has been set up to oversee the assessment of permit applications received by the Authority. Professor Howard Choat comments on ethics in the framework of coastal and reef marine science in Australia. He discusses, amongst other things, the problems that may be caused to our graduates or younger scientists by the proposed changes to legislation and procedures regarding diving and research permits. Overall, it seems that many questions are still unanswered as to what constitutes manipulative research and what level of manipulation is 'reasonable'. It is good to see that the process to find answers to these questions has begun.

Leaving the topic of ethics for a while, Steve Raaymakers writes on the current status of oil spill research and development priorities and presents an update on oiled mangrove research being conducted by Dr Norm Duke. What's Out There? reports on an impact assessment study that looks at the impact the bund wall at Heron Island has on the coral communities in the area. The study has been carried out since 1993 by the Authority and the Department of Environment. Jon Brodie presents a summary of the temporal trends of nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

Unfortunately this issue does not include a COTS COMMs article. The Authority's COTS staff have been very busy carrying out fine-scale surveys for most of this year and have been away for much of this time. Udo Engelhardt has promised a `bumper' article for the next issue, so stay tuned.
Ed.


to RR homepage back to Contents to next page
back to RR homepage | back to contents this issue | to next page


Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
PO Box 1379 TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810. Phone: (077) 500 700, Fax: (077) 726 093
E-mail: registry@gbrmpa.gov.au