Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100:front:0:p76
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 238224–241104

rock lobster  a keystone species that plays an important role in reef systems and is an important commercial species.

Handfish have been recorded in the park in depths between 92 m and 145 m. Species identifications are yet to be confirmed but likely include the pink handfish, vulnerable Ziebell's handfish, warty handfish and the Australian handfish. At the time of the first sighting of pink handfish in 2021, this species had not been seen in the wild for over 22 years.

A collar seahorse has also been recorded from the park. This is only the third ever sighting of this species globally – the other sightings being in Lord Howe Island and New Zealand.

The small cluster of seamounts in the park are part of the key ecological feature seamounts south and east of Tasmania. Their peaks reach between 635 m and about 1,500 m below the sea surface. Seamounts shallower than 1,350 m support fragile deep-sea coral communities.

A large fish aggregation occurs on Main Matt seamount – dominant species include orange roughy, oreo dories and a diverse range of deep-sea sharks (including Plunkets dogfish, longnose velvet dogfish, freckled catshark and several species of lantern shark). An egg case nursery of the boreal skate occurs on seamount Z110, with egg cases typically found on living stony coral Solenosmilia variabilis in depths between 950 m and 1,350 m.

The largest breeding colony of the Tasmanian endemic endangered shy albatross is at Mewstone  an uninhabited offshore island that is surrounded by the Tasman Fracture
Marine Park. The shelf area of the park provides foraging grounds for shy albatross from the Mewstone colony and post-fledgling shy albatross from the breeding colony at Albatross Island.

The park also includes biologically important foraging areas for 6 other species of albatross (including the antipodean, black browed, Bullers, Campbell, Indian yellow nosed, and wandering albatrosses), sooty and short-tailed shearwaters, soft plumaged petrels, common diving petrel and Australasian gannet. There are also biologically important areas for white shark, southern right whale and pygmy blue whale. Fur seals also feed in the park.

The park contains habitats, species, and ecological communities associated with 3 provincial bioregions  the West Tasmania Transition, Tasmania Province and Tasmanian Shelf Province  and the Davey mesoscale bioregion.

The key ecological features represented in the park include:

       * shelf rocky reefs and hard substrate – includes the rariphotic reefs in the north of the park

       * seamounts, east and south of Tasmania

       * west Tasmanian canyons.

Social and economic benefits

At the time of making this plan, the main commercial fisheries operating in the park include:

       * South-east Scalefish and Shark Fishery  gillnet, hook and trap sector (Commonwealth managed)

       *