Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100:front:0:p67
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 213741–216603

Wales  Victoria border at Cape Howe. The park contains deepwater ecosystems extending from the upper slope to the abyssal plain. The main seabed features include a dome-shaped plateau on the mid slope, 2 large box canyons and several large, tilted blocks.

The western section of the park intersects with the offshore edge of the upwelling east of Eden, which is defined as a key ecological feature, as it is an area of high productivity. The East Australian Current brings warm subtropical water from the north and forms large eddies around Cape Howe which interact with the varied seafloor terrain, causing upwelling of cooler waters. The mixing of cool and warm water creates phytoplankton blooms that support an abundance of zooplankton, fish, marine mammals and seabirds.

The park includes biologically important foraging areas for 7 species of albatross (including the endangered shy albatross; the vulnerable black browed, Campbell, Indian yellow nosed and wandering albatrosses; and the Bullers albatross), wedge-tailed shearwaters, white faced storm petrels and the pygmy blue whale.

The lower slope, in depths of 2,500 m to 3,850 m, supports a diverse invertebrate fauna, including large red spiny king crab, squat lobsters, finned octopus, sea cucumbers, sea stars, sea spiders, shrimp, crinoids and sea whips, polychaetes and bivalves.

The park contains habitats, species and ecological communities associated with the Southeast Transition provincial bioregion.

The key ecological features represented in the park include:
       * upwelling east of Eden.

Social and economic benefits

At the time of making this plan, the only commercial fishery operating in the park is the Commonwealth-managed Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery.

Figure S1.1 East Gippsland Marine Park
Beagle Marine Park
Proclaimed   28 June 2007 and came into effect on 1 September 2007

Assigned zones in park National Park Zone (II) 479 km²

    Multiple Use Zone (VI) 2,448 km²
Depth range   46 m–77 m

Total area   2,928 km2

Overview and summary of values

Beagle Marine Park (Figure S1.2), in Bass Strait off Wilson's Promontory, surrounds Tasmania's Kent Group Marine Park and the Hogan and Curtis Island groups.

The seafloor of the park was part of the Ancient Land Bridge  a landscape that once connected Lutruwita/Tasmania to the mainland and was used by First Nations people before it was submerged at the end of the last glacial period about 10,000 years ago. First Nations communities hold knowledge, oral traditions, stories and songlines that connect to the times of the land bridge that have been passed down through the generations, giving unique insights into the flooding of this Country.

In the centre of the park, spanning much of the distance between the Kent Group and Hogan Island Group, are mesophotic (middle-light) reefs that rise 2 m to 5