17. Conclusions

1. This study has used one of the most comprehensive collections of fish distributional information for the estuarine/coastal and shelf system in existence. These have been refined and vetted by top Australian taxonomists using their own databases and knowledge.
2. Much more work still needs to be done to derive an equivalent set for the continental slope mand deep ocean. Some data exists for the slope but it is not comprehensive enough, and neither were the resources available, to process and analyse as part of this short-term project.
3. Reliability of tropical species is low by comparison to temperates even though the diversity in the tropical species is higher. Regions such as Great Barrier Reef have much less reliability than one would be led to expect (this is partly due to the data for that region not being accessible).
4. Both the delphic regionalisation by the taxonomists and the objective regionalisation point to the need to recognise that the regional demarcations are dynamic. This is partly accommodated in the regionalisation by designating core provincial boundaries and zootones which are areas of substantial overlap of species found in core regions. The concept of zootones is necessary to properly interpret the provincial structure.
5. The oceanographic regionalisation also uses one of the most comprehensive collation of quality-controlled data for the Australian EEZ and its surrounding ocean basins. The regionalisation has identified a remarkable east-west disparity in the physical environment which may be affecting the biota distribution on the two coasts.
6. Apart from the regionalisation, this project has produced a rich array of data which needs to be updated and quality controlled. It will be an invaluable source of information for numerous applications in marine resource management and conservation. Further baseline data/knowledge compilation is urgently required for the slope and deep ocean areas to extend the usefulness of the dataset. Much raw data and samples exist, but the information does not at this stage.
7. The regionalisation by itself is of little use without the information underlying the regionalisation being used effectively in conservation planning and management. There is a need here to develop a parallel set of activities with conservation managers and planners to enable best practice management of MPA's in the context of multi-use.

Next Chapter: 18. Acknowledgements