25-569: Chapman River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia . The river arises on the Victoria Plateau east of Northampton . It flows in a southerly direction, passing through the town of Nabawa in the Shire of Chapman Valley , and continuing south to about the latitude of Geraldton . It then descends to the coastal plain, turning to the west-north-west and disgorging into
50-596: A permanent population of about 54,000 people, more than half of those in Geraldton. The western portion of this region was known earlier as "The Murchison" based on the river of the same name , and the similarly named Goldfield. The Mid West region has a diversified economy that varies with the geography and climate. Near the coast, annual rainfall of between 400 and 500 millimetres (16 and 20 in) allows intensive agriculture. Further inland, annual rainfall decreases to less than 250 millimetres (10 in), and here
75-612: Is considered typical. The average accepted form of measurement, that of the carapace , is from 80 to 100 millimetres (3.1 to 3.9 in) in length. The range of the species is along the coast of Western Australia , from Hamelin Bay to the North West Cape , and at islands such as the Houtman Abrolhos . The larvae of the species develop in the meadows of seagrasses of Western Australia , migrating out from these toward
100-553: Is known to have been caught since the settlement of Swan River Colony , in 1829, and expanded as the larger populations were discovered in remote locations of the state. The industry came to be centred at the Houtman Abrolhos, at the edge of the continental shelf, where the mature crays occur in large populations. A cannery was established at the islands to export the seasonal catch in the 1930s. The early industry claimed to harvest up to fourteen species, however, research into
125-638: Is managed as part of the Chapman Regional Wildlife Corridor Project, and much of it is afforded some protection by the declaration of regional parks within the zone, such as Spalding Park. The Chapman River was named on 7 April 1839 by the explorer George Grey while on his second disastrous expedition along the Western Australian coast, and was probably named after John Chapman , later a British Conservative Member of Parliament but then deputy chairman of
150-464: Is one of the nine regions of Western Australia . It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia , about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to 450 kilometres (280 mi) east of Wiluna in the Gibson Desert . It has a total area of 285,497 square kilometres (110,231 sq mi), and
175-525: Is the regional hub, having road and railway facilities leading to the port. Formerly Geraldton was connected by a private railway to Perth, and the government railway system connected via Mullewa. In February 2021, the creation of five new conservation parks within the traditional lands of the Badimia people in the Mount Magnet area, covering over 114,000 ha (280,000 acres), was announced by
200-560: The Government of Western Australia , to be jointly managed between the traditional owners and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions ' Parks and Wildlife Service. The allocated land includes portions of two former pastoral leases , Lakeside and Burnerbinmah, as well as Crown land at Kirkalocka and White Wells. There are many significant Aboriginal sites of significance as well as other historic sites within
225-603: The Indian Ocean at Bluff Point in Champion Bay . Tributaries of the river include Chapman River East, Skelton Gully, Una Brook and Rushy Gully. Most of the Chapman River's 1,160 km² catchment consists of cleared agricultural land. This land is heavily fertilised and subject to soil erosion , so the river carries high concentrations of nitrogen , phosphorus and chlorophyll a . This, together with
250-624: The Western Australian Company . Chapman was a business partner of Grey's friend Sir William Hutt (Chairman of the Western Australian Company and brother of John Hutt , second Governor of Western Australia ), after whom Grey had named the nearby Hutt River , two days previously. 28°43′43″S 114°37′11″E / 28.72861°S 114.61972°E / -28.72861; 114.61972 Mid West (Western Australia) The Mid West region
275-564: The Mid West in 2013 was AU$ 6,000,000,000 (AU$ 6bn). On 25 August 2015 The Hon. Terry Redman , MLA, Minister for Regional Development, launched the "Mid West Regional Blueprint"; an aspirational growth and development plan created by the Mid West Development Commission for the region. The Blueprint proposes strategies against five priority pillars to drive or reduce barriers to, regional growth and development in
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#1732798461126300-637: The Mid West. The Blueprint strategies are intended to focus on the region's key strengths and the identification of regional opportunities, providing a guide for regional development to 2050. Due to its relative isolation from radio-frequency interference , the Mid West region was selected to host one of two primary radiotelescope locations of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. When fully operational in 2024, this AU$ 2bn project will be 50 times more sensitive than any existing radio interferometer instrument; it will generate more data than
325-814: The SKA telescope to the MRO support facility in Geraldton and to the Pawsley Supercomputing Centre in Perth, Western Australia. Located at Yatharagga, 40 km from Mingenew (100 km SE of Geraldton), the WA Space Centre is an $ 8,000,000 114 ha satellite park owned and operated by Space Australia, a subsidiary company of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). The park is located in one of several Radio Quiet Zones in
350-561: The current global Internet traffic and be capable of surveying the sky more than ten thousand to a million times faster than what is possible today. The radiotelescope antennae and the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) are located near Boolardy , Western Australia, approximately 315 km northeast of Geraldton, with logistics and science support provided by CSIRO from their facilities in Geraldton. High-capacity optical fibre cables connect
375-576: The deeper ocean and coral reefs such as the Abrolhos Islands. The annual catch is 8,000–15,000 tonnes . The value of production in 2003/2004 was A$ 248 million. The fishery was one of the first in the world to be certified as ecologically sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council . The western coastline contains eight species of rock lobster , but the harvest primarily targets Panulirus cygnus . The species
400-537: The description as a new species was published in 1962. The Western Australian crayfish was identified in 1916 as Panulirus penicillatus (Olivier, 1791). This was reassessed at the British Museum by Isabella Gordon in 1936 as Panulirus longipes at the request of Ludwig Glauert , a diagnosis that was conserved, despite further doubts, due to its extensive use by the state's crayfishing industry and associated legislation. The author, Ray George , recognised
425-631: The economy is dominated by mining of iron ore, gold, nickel and other mineral resources. Geraldton is an important hub for the tourism industry. The Mid West also has the highest value fishing industry in Western Australia, with Geraldton the hub of the Western Rock Lobster industry. Western Rock Lobster netted almost $ 234.5 million in revenue for WA in the 2012–13 financial year, making it Australia's most valuable single-species wild capture fishery. Gross Regional Product for
450-458: The encroachment of urban areas into the river's riparian zone , has resulted in a degraded river system with eutrophic lower reaches. The river generally does not flow in summer, but always flows in winter. From the mouth to about 1.5 km upriver, the river is estuarine . This stretch always contains some water. The mouth itself is usually closed by a sandbar , but this opens at the onset of heavy flow, and closes after flow has receded. When
475-433: The new parks. Western Rock Lobster Panulirus cygnus is a species of spiny lobster (family Palinuridae), found off the west coast of Australia . Panulirus cygnus is the basis of Australia's most valuable fishery , making up 20% of value of Australia's total fishing industry , and is identified as the western rock lobster . Panulirus cygnus was previously classified under several taxonomic arrangements,
500-401: The ocean floor, with the fifth set possessing claws in the females, and six smaller pairs are located at the mouth. The eyes are located at the ends of the stalks. They vary in colour from a brownish purple to a pale colour. The exoskeleton is segmented, and must be shed as the animal grows. The largest recorded specimen is 5.5 kilograms (12 lb), but a maximum weight of 5 kg (11 lb)
525-450: The open seas; an appropriate metaphor for the habits of the spiny lobsters that develop near the coast and migrate away from it. The specific epithet is named for an emblem of Western Australia , the black swan Cygnus atratus . The holotype was collected by George in a pool at Rottnest , at a depth of 1 metre, and preserved at the state's museum ; other specimens in their collection were reclassified as paratypes . George's taxon
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#1732798461126550-645: The region, making it an ideal location for radioastronomy. The SSC is the largest commercial operator of satellite tracking ground station facilities. The facilities include compounds operated by NASA , The European Space Agency , CSIRO , MOBLAS and VLBI, amongst others. The local government areas in the Mid West region are Carnamah , Chapman Valley , Coorow , Cue , Greater Geraldton , Irwin , Meekatharra , Mingenew , Morawa , Mount Magnet , Murchison , Northampton , Perenjori , Sandstone , Three Springs and Yalgoo . In 1 June 2021 Shire of Wiluna officially joined Goldfields-Esperance region. Geraldton
575-463: The sandbar is open, sea water enters the estuary, mildly affecting its salinity. During periods of very high rainfall, soils are washed into the river and carried out to sea. Following heavy rains in June and July 1986, it was estimated that the Chapman River washed 39,000 tons of suspended sediment into the ocean, representing the loss of some A$ 73,000 of soil nitrogen. The Chapman River's riparian zone
600-463: The similarities to other species of Panulirus in a comparative study, but proposed the anatomical characteristics were of an undescribed species. The generic name is an anagram of Palinurus , as with other genera of its nominal family Palinuridae , the spiny lobsters. The name is derived from Palinurus , mentioned in the Aeneid , whose improper burial caused his soul to drift near the coast to
625-606: Was recognised as a subspecies until the 1970s, when a revision elevated the population to the rank of species. The recognition of the species was relevant to the conservation of its related fishing industry, it is unique to the region and could not be naturally repopulated from other regions. Common names of the species include "western rock lobster", "Australian spiny lobster", "crayfish" or "crays". The common names of "lobster", "homard" and "yabbie" are also used to refer to this species, along with many other crustaceans. The species has five pairs of legs that are used to move across
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