Voices Guiding SEA-MES
Thirty years ago, CSIRO surveyed the Australian south-east marine ecosystem, capturing valuable baseline data. Today, SEA-MES—a four-voyage CSIRO initiative—has returned to it aboard Australia’s premier marine research vessel, the RV Investigator, prioritising tangible, real-world benefits, by explicitly targeting outcomes across industry, marine park and sea-country management.
Every voyage, every cast, and every data point collected by SEA-MES has resulted from consultation with key stakeholders—from fisheries managers and energy sector leaders to Traditional Owners and Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs). This ensures the research is aligned with real-world needs, generating actionable knowledge for sectors dependent on the marine ecosystem while simultaneously building critical national capability.
Here are just a few of the voices that have supported and helped the project succeed.
Rikki Taylor
- “Joining SEA-MES as a PhD student focused on sample collection, I quickly discovered the impact of collaboration in multidisciplinary projects. Working alongside experts from diverse fields we explored our marine ecosystem in a truly practical way. By my second voyage, I could contribute to fieldwork design and take on leadership responsibilities. This experience has made me a more well-rounded researcher, better equipped for marine warming challenges ahead.”
Daniel Corrie
- “The SEA-MES surveys give Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) a robust, independent understanding of south-east fish stocks and ecosystems, complementing data from commercial fishing boats. This strengthens our decision-making and adaptive management by enhancing stock assessments, ecosystem models and long-term monitoring capabilities. The surveys offer invaluable hands-on experience for the fisheries experts of the future, in collaboration with AFMA observers, and provide data-driven insights that support sustainable and resilient commercial fisheries amidst the threat of climate change.”
Toni Moate
- SEA-MES demonstrates the importance of the Marine National Facility and RV Investigator as national collaborative research infrastructure that CSIRO operates on behalf of the nation. Through access to this infrastructure, researchers can deliver comprehensive, whole-of-system studies like SEA-MES to help address the challenges we face in safeguarding the wellbeing and prosperity of Australia. We do this by: offering the opportunity for repeat access to MNF capability to support research in the national interest; delivering an advanced platform and suite of scientific equipment to enable multidisciplinary science; providing the expertise to support the planning and delivery of complex research programs.