Temporal and spatial variation of plankton abundance in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia 1975–1977

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Abstract
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large (.apprx. 3.7 .times. 105 km2) shallow (< 70 m) embayment in tropical northern Australia lying between 11 and 17.5.degree. S latitude. Although it contains a multispecies penaeid prawn fishery which is Australia''s largest and most valuable fishery, its hydrology and planktology are largely unknown. As a background to a study of the larval ecology of penaeid stocks, 10 Gulf-wide survey cruises, sampling the plankton and hydrography, were undertaken over 20 mo. from Aug. 1975 to May 1977. Though comparisons with other studies are difficult because of variations in sampling techniques and biomass estimation methods, the plankton biomass in the Gulf of Carpentaria appears to be high by comparison with other areas around Australia. The mean estimate over all stations and all cruises of 77 mg/m3 dry wt (1880 mg/m2) compares with the very high abundances found only in seasonal upwelling areas south of Java and of the northwest shelf of Australia. Further, the Gulf of Carpentaria standing stocks of plankton compare with other coastal areas supporting important fisheries off the west coast of North America, the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and some European waters. Because of its depth, relatively high temperature and primary production rates, secondary production rates also are assumed to be high but as yet are unmeasured.

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