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Central Eastern Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Overview
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MARINE USERS
Transitional arrangements for new areas added to the Commonwealth marine reserve estate
From the declaration of Commonwealth marine reserves in November 2012 until management plans come into effect in July 2014, transitional arrangements apply.
- Under the transitional arrangements, there are NO CHANGES ON THE WATER for users of new areas added to the Commonwealth marine reserves estate.
- NOTE: There are no changes to management arrangements in the marine reserves that existed prior to the establishment of the new reserves, that is, the same restrictions on activities will continue to apply even where those reserves have been incorporated into new reserves.
The new Central Eastern Commonwealth Marine Reserve covers an area of more than 70 000km2. A management plan will be prepared for the Temperate East Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network and will cover all eight new reserves.
Transitional management arrangements apply until a management plan for the Temperate East Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network is in place.
| Name | Central Eastern Commonwealth Marine Reserve |
|---|---|
Area |
70 054 km2 |
Depth range |
120–6000 m (approx.) |
| Types of zoning |
|
Major conservation values
- Biologically important areas for the protected humpback whale, vulnerable white shark and a number of migratory seabirds
- Examples of the ecosystems of the Central Eastern Province, Central Eastern Shelf Transition, and Tasman Basin Province provincial bioregions and the Tweed-Moreton meso-scale bioregion
- Represents seafloor features including: abyssal-plain/deep ocean floor, canyon, pinnacle, slope, knoll/abyssal-hills/hills/mountains/peak, and seamount/guyot
- Includes two key ecological features:
- canyons on the eastern continental slope (part of one of three shelf-incising canyons occurring in the region is represented)
- Tasmantid seamount chain (known breeding and feeding areas for a number of open ocean species such as billfish and marine mammals)