Mr Donnelly joined Australia's largest aquarium specimen supplier, Cairns Marine, in mid-2006 after coordinating business networks for economic development in the marine and engineering industries in Far North Queensland. He compiled the aquarium supply industry’s landmark Stewardship Action Plan, including a response plan to events linked to climate change; and a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, which includes strengthening the Ecological Risk Assessment for aquarium fisheries on the Great Barrier Reef to incorporate indirect effects on habitats that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.