A senior government bureaucrat has rejected claims made during an aquatic expert's presentation to the UNESCO team assessing threats to the Great Barrier Reef.

In Matt Landos's presentation, published on the Gladstone Fishing Research Fund's website, which financed Dr Landos's research through public and industry donations, nine issues of concern were raised regarding what he called “government oversight”.

Among the issues raised in his presentation, Dr Landos said there had been “no studies specifically relevant to assess impact of dredging”, “no baseline studies of aquatic animal health” before the dredging began and an “inadequate outbreak investigation of sick animals by untrained observers”.

Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management director general Jim Reeves said his department had conducted adequate checks.

Mr Reeves said DERM “has been investigating whether there have been any changes in the water quality in Gladstone waterways, whether any spatial pattern exists in water quality that could be explained by dredging and also whether water quality could be the cause or contribute to the cause of fish ill-health seen in Gladstone waterways”.