The Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories

Community Education and Forums

The Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre will be a focal point for the Department of Fisheries’ community education programs. A variety of education programs about WA’s aquatic environment are under development, and will make use of the exhibition hall and surrounding coastal environment.

These programs and activities are intended to be a fun and meaningful learning experience for school and tertiary students and the general public about ecologically sustainable behaviour, marine ecosystems and the Fish for the future philosophy. Delivery of the community education initiatives will be enhanced by the centre’s dedicated education facilities, including a laboratory/classroom.

Fisheries Marine Library

The new library will improve access for students, the public and researchers from other institutions to the State’s major collection of publications on fisheries and marine research. The collection includes the Department of Fisheries’ publications, marine science journals, books on many facets of aquatic science and fisheries management. Visitors can also gain access to the library’s aquatic, biology, aquaculture and fisheries resources CD-ROM database.

More details on the Fisheries Marine Library can be found here.

The Building

The Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories are built to accommodate scientific forums and meetings, with a large conference room and good-sized meeting rooms, plus an outside deck and excellent kitchen facilities for in-house catering.

The building complex is physically situated to be energy efficient, making best use of winter sun and summer shade to reduce heating and cooling costs. It has environmentally-friendly features, such as the use of low toxicity materials in its construction; sensor-controlled heating, cooling and lighting to help save energy; salt air filtering to reduce corrosion of equipment; and low-energy light fittings.

The Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories provide about 160 staff with modern, naturally lit offices.

Immediate landscaping in the grounds of the complex includes species of plants most likely to thrive in the coastal climate. Designed by the architects Jones Coulter Young and Sandover- Pinder, the building is designed to blend into the Hillarys Marina built-environment though its styling, colours and materials.