In 2017, the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub committed to developing field manuals for selected marine sampling platforms to ensure that data collected at different times and places across Australia are directly comparable. Ultimately, 136 individuals from 53 organisations contributed to the Field Manuals for Marine Sampling in Australian Waters released in 2018 (Version 1) and 2020 (Version 2). These field manuals are underpinned by a highly collaborative and iterative process, involving extensive community consultation and review and can thus be considered best practices. In this report, we aim to compile the outcomes of these marine sampling best practices. These outcomes are then integrated into an impact assessment based on the CSIRO Impact Framework. Due to the short period in which the best practices have existed, impact cannot yet be fully assessed, but we lay the foundations to facilitate such an assessment in the future. Overall, the marine sampling best practices are spreading nationally and internationally, as evidenced by uptake and adoption, including by industry (e.g. Woodside) and developing countries (e.g. St Lucia). Australia and the Unites States represent countries with the most downloads, and highest uptake seems to be for the survey design, benthic BRUV, pelagic BRUV, and multibeam manuals. In addition, the best practices have received community endorsement, with recommendations from key national and international organisations (e.g. Parks Australia, Global Ocean Observing System (for the BRUV manual), National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority). We anticipate several social, economic, and environmental impacts of the best practices to be measurable in 5-10 years after the release of the best practices (i.e. after 2025). For any single survey, the impact of these best practices may be small, but there is much stronger impact when considering a national perspective, as combined multiple datasets from multiple surveys allow us to see the bigger spatial and temporal picture. In this case, standardised datasets can be combined without the fear of confounding between method-of-observation and ecological signal. Thus, a series of compatible surveys are needed before they can be usefully combined, and the true impact of these best practices will not be felt for years, or maybe even decades. Ultimately, the measures of outcome and impact described in this report will help strengthen the links between marine observing communities and policymaking communities by ensuring that timely and fit-for-purpose information is generated for evidence-based decisions. <b>Citation:</b> Przeslawski R, Foster S, Gibbons B, Langlois T, Monk J (2021). Impact and Outcomes of Marine Sampling Best Practices. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia.

Australia has one of the world’s largest marine estates, but without some common and agreed standards, information collected may not be comparable with other areas or sectors. Due to the large geographic area, diverse flora and fauna, and range of environmental conditions represented by the Australian Marine estate, a single method of sampling is neither practical nor desirable (Bouchet et al. 2018, Przeslawski et al. 2018). For this reason, we present a standard approach for each of seven key marine benthic sampling platforms that were identified based on frequency of use in previous open water sampling and monitoring programs: Multibeam sonar (MBES), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), benthic Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs), towed video, grabs and box cores, sleds and trawls, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). n addition, we provide a field manual for pelagic BRUVs as a concept sampling method in pelagic ecosystems due to its similarity to benthic BRUVs. This field manual package aims to provide a standardised national methodology for the acquisition of marine data from a prioritised set of frequently-used sampling platforms (below diver depths) so that data are directly comparable in time and through space. This will then facilitate national monitoring programs in Australian open waters and contribute to the design of an ongoing monitoring program for AMPs. The long-term goal is to produce a set of manuals that is applicable to a broad range of users and to be prescriptive enough that all data are collected without unnecessary technical variation. Using an inclusive and collaborative approach, over 115 individuals from 50 organisations contributed to versions 1 and 2 of the field manual package, Version 1 of the field manual package was released in February 2018, and Version 2 was released two years later in June 2020. All original chapters were updated in Version 2 with stakeholder feedback, corrections, and updates where applicable. The chapter ‘Seafloor Mapping Field Manual for Multibeam Sonar’ was substantially changed in Version 2 to amalgamate it with the Australian Multibeam Guidelines which were released in June 2018 by AusSeabed, a nationally seabed mapping coordination program. The unified multibeam manual in Version 2 addresses stakeholder concerns about maintaining two separate SOPs for multibeam sonar. In addition, a new manual on ROVs was developed for the Version 2 package. The ROV was chosen based on findings from a report titled Scoping of new field manuals for marine sampling in Australian waters. One of the most notable changes for Version 2 was the development of an online portal for the field manuals (https://marine-sampling-field-manual.github.io). While Version 1 was released as static pdfs through the NESP Marine Hub website, Version 2 was released through GitHub. <b>Citation:</b> Przeslawski R, Foster S [Eds.]. (2020). Field Manuals for Marine Sampling to Monitor Australian Waters, Version 2. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia and CSIRO. http:dx.doi.org/10.11636/9781925848755