Monitoring programme to provide the Port and Council with a long-term record of environmental quality in areas potentially affected by Port activities and to provide a basis for formulating any mitigative steps that may be required in the future. Temporal coverage: 1996-2012 (on-going) Number of sites: 1996/1997: 17 sites Monitoring: 14/15 sites Port Nelson and lower Maitai Sampling Frequency: 1996/1997: baseline survey 6 yearly (2004 then 2010) Main marine environment sampled: Coastal Depth zone: Subtidal Sediment type: Soft Community association: Mud Sampling method: Sediment and macrofaunal cores, field surveys Parameters collected: Sediment, in-fauna, shellfish Measured variables: Sediment: contaminants, toxicity, trace metals, TBT, total aliphatic hydrocarbons, 72 SVOCs, 60VOCs, particle size, TOC, organic content, organotins, tins; Community: composition, chronic survival test using an estuarine amphipod; Shellfish: bioaccumulation Species/Community data: Benthic invertebrates Other data collected: Unknown Collection: ongoing Quality assurance: Yes