Port Phillip Bay - Baywide Monitoring Programs

The monitoring programs

To minimise the environmental effects to the Bay from the Channel Deepening Project, a set of rules were developed to control when, where and how dredging could be delivered. Supporting these rules is a suite of 13 baywide monitoring programs, which collect information on the bay’s health from 2008 to 2012. EPA is delivering programs to measure water quality and contaminant concentrations in fish of the lower Yarra River.

Follow this link for more information on the Baywide Monitoring Programs.

2009 Lower Yarra Fish Study

The 2009 Lower Yarra Fish Study examined if contaminant levels in fish from the lower Yarra River in 2009 had significantly changed since the last study in 2006.

The study has been completed and found that the contaminant levels in fish sampled from the Lower Yarra River were generally lower than the levels recorded in 2006. This means the current health advisory for people who catch fish from the Lower Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers does not change. The results from the 2009 study can be found here.

For further information on the study, follow the link to the Office of the Environmental Monitor's website.

This is the third fish study conducted by EPA. Similar studies were held in 2005 and 2006 and further information on these previous programs can be found here. 

The 2009 fish study tested the levels of a large range of contaminants including heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic, pesticides, hydrocarbons, dioxins and other compounds that may be found in fish caught within the lower Yarra.

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Baywide Water Quality Monitoring Program

EPA has been monitoring water quality in Port Phillip Bay for 30 years and has expanded its fixed site monitoring program for the duration of the dredging and for two years following its completion, expected in 2011. The expanded monitoring program includes monthly samples at 11 sites across the Bay and a wider range of parameters are being tested for, including lead, mercury and arsenic.

Once the monitoring data has been checked by EPA scientists, it is made available to the Port of Melbourne Corporation and to the Office of the Environmental Monitor.

The Office provides the results on its website here.

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