Recreational use of a rocky intertidal reef in Victoria: implications for ecological research and management

Abstract

Rocky intertidal reefs are an increasingly popular setting for recreational activities in Australia. As a result, managers need to better understand and quantify the visitation levels and recreational use of these areas to ensure the protection of intertidal marine communities. We surveyed the recreational use of a rocky intertidal reef at Sorrento, a popular summer holiday destination in Victoria. The section of the reef with greatest visitor access received the most visitors; regardless of whether it was school holidays or weekends during the school term. The most popular and potentially threatening activities included walking over beds of the fucoid alga, Hormosira banksii, followed by collecting biota and fossicking. Most activities were passive in nature and we theorise that many visitors are unaware of their contribution to local environmental impacts. We suggest that public education is an ideal management strategy to increase visitors' environmental awareness and teach visitors about low-impact behaviours. By performing recreational use surveys in conjunction with site specific ecological surveys of the impacts of recreational use, management agencies will be able to devise more effective strategies which will better protect rocky intertidal reef habitats in the future.

Keywords:

• environmental awareness
• Hormosira banksii
• management
• recreational use
• trampling