Lakes Entrance Sand Management, Environment Protection, Sand Dredging, Tide Information, Dredging Pump Sand, Coastal Environment & Coastal Protection, Gippsland

Gippsland Ports commissioned a marine existing conditions study of Lakes Entrance Inner Channels in April 2007. This study examined the benthic communities of the Lakes Entrance region, including the nature and distribution of seagrass beds. Subsequently, there were two major flood events in the Gippsland Lakes system.

Gippsland Ports commissioned a second survey of benthic habitats in the Inner Channels area in February 2008. The objectives of this study were to:

• document changes in the habitat distributions following the floods; and
• ide suitable descriptions of existing (baseline) conditions prior to dredging associated with the Lakes Entrance sand management program.

Patches and areas of seagrass beds identified in a December 2007 georeferenced aerial photograph were ground- truthed using towed video, drop video and diver observation. The classified, georeferenced habitat observations were then plotted over the aerial photograph. Boundaries and patches were then digitally traced, with the polygons attributed and uploaded into GIS maps and layers.

The seagrass survey method for the 2008 survey was identical to that used for the 2007 survey.