South-West Marine Bioregional Plan Bioregional Profile
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The South-west Marine Bioregional Plan Bioregional Profile A Description of the Ecosystems, Conservation Values and Uses of the South-west Marine Region Copyright: © Commonwealth of Australia 2007 Reprinted 2008 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth, available from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to: Assistant Secretary National Oceans Office Branch Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Edgar Waite Building 203 Channel Highway Kingston TAS 7050 Sourcing: Copies of this publication are available from: Community Information Unit Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Email: [email protected] Freecall: 1800 803 772 Reproduction: Information contained in this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of acknowledgement of the source and publisher, and provided no commercial usage or sale of the material occurs. Reproduction for purposes other than those given above requires written permission from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Requests for permission should be addressed to: Public Affairs, Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, John Gorton Building, GPO Box 787, Parkes, ACT, 2600. Credits: Design and production by Imaginocean Productions. Published by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Printed on 100% recycled paper (cover 70% recycled). State Library Ref: The South-west Marine Bioregional Plan: Bioregional Profile ISBN: 9780642553652 Short-headed seahorse. Photo: Michael Morris, Marine Life Society of South Australia. Contents Preface ............................................................................... v Executive Summary ..................................................................... 1 The Region’s environment and its conservation values ..................................................1 Conservation values of the South-west Marine Region ..................................................3 Marine protected areas in the South-west Marine Region ................................................4 Human activities and the marine environment .......................................................4 Next steps .................................................................................5 Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................... 7 1.1 The Bioregional Profile of the South-west Marine Region .............................................8 1.2 Supporting information ...................................................................9 Key references and further readings .................................................................9 Chapter 2 The Marine Environment of the South-west Marine Region ............................11 2.1 The bioregions of the South-west Marine Region .................................................16 2.1.1 Southwest Shelf Transition .............................................................. 17 2.1.2 Central Western Province ...............................................................22 2.1.3 Southwest Shelf Province ...............................................................26 2.1.4 Southwest Transition ..................................................................30 2.1.5 Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition ......................................................32 2.1.6 Spencer Gulf Shelf Province ..............................................................36 2.1.7 Southern Province ....................................................................40 Key references and further readings ................................................................44 Chapter 3 Conservation Values of the South-west Marine Region ...............................47 3.1 Key ecological features of the marine environment ................................................48 3.2 Nationally protected species ................................................................54 3.2.1 Protected species in the South-west Marine Region .............................................55 3.2.2 Flagship species of the South-west Marine Region ..............................................60 3.3 Protected Places ........................................................................62 3.3.1 The Great Australian Bight Marine Park ......................................................62 3.3.2 Historic shipwrecks ...................................................................63 3.4 Consideration of pressures on regional conservation values ..........................................65 Key references and further readings ................................................................66 Chapter 4 Establishing New Marine Protected Areas in the South-west Marine Region ..............69 4.1 Goals and Principles ......................................................................70 4.1.1 The goals .......................................................................... 71 4.1.2 Guiding Principles ....................................................................72 4.2 Regional specifications for identifying representative MPAs in the South-west Marine Region ..................74 4.2.1 Meeting the goals in the South-west .......................................................74 4.2.2 Applying the principles in the South-west ....................................................78 4.3 Process for establishing new Commonwealth marine reserves in the South-west Marine Region .................80 Key references and further readings ................................................................81 Chapter 5 Human Activities and the South-west Marine Region ................................ 85 5.1 The human dimension: an overview ..........................................................86 5.2 Marine activities ........................................................................90 5.2.1 Commercial fishing ....................................................................90 5.2.2 Defence activities .....................................................................95 5.2.3 Marine tourism ......................................................................96 5.2.4 Offshore aquaculture ..................................................................97 5.2.5 Offshore minerals ....................................................................98 i 5.2.6 Petroleum exploration and production ......................................................99 5.2.7 Recreational use ..................................................................... 101 5.2.8 Sea dumping .......................................................................102 5.2.9 Shipping and ports ...................................................................103 5.2.10 Submarine telecommunication cables .....................................................104 Key references and further readings ...............................................................105 Chapter 6 Developing a South-west Marine Bioregional Plan: Next Steps ........................ 109 Appendix A International Conventions and Agreements on the Marine Environment .................113 Appendix B An Overview of the Legislative Framework for Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation in Commonwealth Waters ..........................................121 Appendix C Nationally Protected Species in the South-west Marine Region ........................129 Appendix D South-west Marine Region Protected Species Group Report Cards ..................... 149 Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................192 Glossary .............................................................................193 Tables and Boxes Table 2.1 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Southwest Shelf Transition ........................21 Table 2.2 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Central Western Province .........................25 Table 2.3 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Southwest Shelf Province .........................29 Table 2.4 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Southwest Transition ............................31 Table 2.5 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition ................35 Table 2.6 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Spencer Gulf Shelf Province ........................38 Table 2.7 Key ecological features and other important areas of the Southern Province ..............................43 Table 3.1 Key ecological features of the South-west Marine Region ...........................................50 Table 3.2 Number of protected species known to occur in the Region by broad taxonomic group (as at April 2007) ..........56 Table 3.3 Important breeding, feeding and resting areas for species listed as threatened or migratory under the EPBC Act .....57 Table 3.4 Seabird rookeries on islands and coastal areas adjacent to the South-west Marine Region .....................59 Box 4.1 IUCN Categories assigned under the EPBC Act for Marine Protected Areas ...................................73 Table 4.1 Depth and area of each bioregion