Establishing New Marine Protected Areas Chapter 4 Establishing New Marine Protected Areas in the East Marine Region Australia is committed to the development of a National Heritage and the Arts, in consultation with other Australian Representative System of Marine Protected Areas with Government agencies, has set out this approach in the Goals the primary goal to establish and manage a comprehensive, and Principles for the Establishment of the National Representative adequate and representative system of Marine Protected System of Marine Protected Areas in Commonwealth Waters. Areas to contribute to the long-term ecological viability of marine and estuarine systems, to maintain ecological The goals and principles are derived from the nationally processes and systems, and to protect Australia’s biological agreed guidelines and from the Australian Government’s diversity at all levels. In summary: implementation experience to date, to ensure proper consideration of ecological and socio-economic requirements. • each distinct provincial bioregion in Australian waters These goals and principles are set out in section 4.1 of will be represented in a Marine Protected Area network; this chapter. • the design of the network should be sufficient to achieve the conservation of all major ecosystem The Australian Government considers that measures other functions and features; and than Marine Protected Areas also play a critical role in biodiversity conservation and that the existence and • the network should properly represent the identified effectiveness of those measures should be taken into habitats and biota (the range of plants and animals account in assessing the adequacy of any Marine Protected and the places where they live) characteristic of each Area network. provincial bioregion. The Marine Protected Area network, established through In addition to Marine Protected Areas, the Government the marine bioregional planning process, will include supports the use of spatial measures in fisheries management. highly protected zones equivalent to IUCN Categories I While the two spatial management mechanisms are and II and large areas initially assigned to IUCN Category designed and used for different purposes, they can have VI (see box 4.1). This precautionary approach recognises mutually beneficial outcomes. Fisheries-specific measures, that in many areas, the Marine Protected Area network including both temporary and permanent area closures, will be developed in the absence of detailed biological are developed according to the particular goals and information. Using this staged and adaptive approach to circumstances of each fishery. Marine Protected Areas are zoning is consistent with the principles of ecological developed in Commonwealth waters for the purpose of sustainable development. A staged approach also allows general biodiversity conservation or to address threats to for continued gathering of information about specific particular species or habitats – not to manage fisheries. ecological, economic and social values in an area, and the Marine Protected Areas may lead to improved fisheries threats to those values. Where a staged approach is taken, performance and fisheries closures may achieve biodiversity the Government will identify the information gaps and benefits.The Government seeks to ensure that the design the strategy for addressing these gaps over time. of Marine Protected Areas takes into account the potential for beneficial impacts on fishery resources and that Marine The National Representative System of Marine Protected Protected Areas are selected and zoned to enhance or Areas is being developed using the national Guidelines for conserve fisheries wherever possible. Establishing the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas agreed between the Australian Government, Marine Protected Areas have long-term benefits for the the States and the Northern Territory in 1998. environment and the economy, but even where impacts can be minimised, they may affect some businesses in the Since 1998, there have been many decisions that have short- to medium-term. The Government recognises that helped formulate the Australian Government’s approach a new Marine Protected Area network may transfer some to establishing a Marine Protected Area network. These marine resources from current production to biodiversity include developing a clearer understanding of how the conservation.Therefore, before any new Marine Protected Guidelines for Establishing the National Representative System Areas are declared, it will assess the financial and economic of Marine Protected Areas will be applied by the Australian costs and benefits of each proposed regional Marine Government, drawing on the best available scientific Protected Area network and decide on the provision of information. The Department of the Environment, Water, any adjustment assistance to affected businesses. 89 • consideration of the contribution that existing spatial 4.1 Goals and principles management measures can make to the National The Australian Government is committed to develop a Representative System of Marine Protected Areas; and National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas • consideration of potential management effectiveness by 2012.The development of Marine Bioregional Plans for (e.g. feasibility of compliance). each of Australia’s five large-scale Marine Regions provides an opportunity to make substantial progress towards this 4.1.1 The goals goal. Areas suitable for inclusion in the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas will be Four goals to help maximise conservation outcomes will identified during the planning process. guide the identification of areas suitable to be included in the National Representative System of Marine Protected The network will be representative of the 41 provincial- Areas. These goals apply nationally, and they will be used scale bioregions recognised in Commonwealth waters, as to guide identification of representative Marine Protected identifiedby the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation Areas in all the Marine Regions (except the South-east of Australia Version 4.1 (IMCRA v4.0).The focus is to ensure Marine Region, where the process has been completed). that Marine Protected Areas are developed for those provincial bioregions that are currently not represented, Additionally, a number of supporting principles will assist or are under-represented, in Marine Protected Areas. in determining the location, selection (when more than one option is available to meet the goals), design and The management of Marine Protected Areas may require zoning of suitable areas. conditions to be put on the nature and extent of activities that can occur within them.This means the identification Goal 1 – each provincial bioregion occurring in the of areas suitable for inclusion in the National Representative Region should be represented at least once in the Marine System of Marine Protected Areas needs to be based upon Protected Area network. Priority will be given to provincial clear goals and principles. These goals and principles bioregions not already represented in the National recognise both the scientific information available and Representative System. the interests of ocean users whose activities may be – the Marine Protected Area network should cover impacted upon by new Marine Protected Areas. Goal 2 all depth ranges occurring in the Region or other gradients This approach seeks to draw on available science while in light penetration in waters over the continental shelf. recognising from the outset that the information base is poor for some areas. Much of each Marine Region is far Goal 3 – the Marine Protected Area network should seek to include examples of benthic/demersal biological The East Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile East Marine Bioregional Plan: The offshore, composed of very deep water, and has not been the subject of detailed study or data gathering. In these features (e.g.habitats,communities,sub-regional ecosystems, circumstances, existing detailed and peer-reviewed data particularly those with high biodiversity value, species will be supplemented with information drawn from richness and endemism) known to occur in the Region at known linkages between biodiversity and the physical a broad sub-provincial (hundreds of kilometres) scale. environment; that is, where detailed species and habitat – the Marine Protected Area network should data is lacking, surrogates for diversity (such as water Goal 4 include all features. There are 21 depth, substrate and geomorphology) will be used. types of seafloor seafloor types across the entire Exclusive Economic Zone. Key inputs to the process will include: Some provincial bioregions will be characterised by the presence of a certain subset of features, such as continental • existing scientific information underlying IMCRA v4.0 slope or seamounts. (e.g. bathymetry, geomorphic features, distribution of endemic biota); 4.1.2 Guiding principles • additional regional information on habitats, species distribution and ecology gathered during the marine Location of Marine Protected Areas bioregional planning process; 1. Marine Protected Areas will be located taking into account the occurrence and location of existing spatial • data on the location and distribution of human management arrangements (e.g. existing protected activities in the Region; areas and sectoral measures) that contribute to the • views of ocean users and stakeholders