Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01314:reg:2013:p17
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01314
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2013 (pt 17/24)
Character Range: 64735–68103

have been prepared under section 176 of the EPBC Act for the South-west, North-west, North and Temperate East marine regions in Commonwealth waters around Australia. Each Marine Bioregional Plan describes the marine environment and conservation values of the region, identifies and characterises the pressures affecting these conservation values and identifies regional priorities and outlines strategies to address them. As part of the marine bioregional planning process, the Australian sea lion has been identified as a regional priority for the South-west Marine Region. In addition, Schedule 2 of the South-west Marine Bioregional Plan includes guidance for people planning to undertake actions which have the potential to impact on Australian sea lions within the region. Further information on Commonwealth marine bioregional planning is available at: www.environment.gov.au/coasts/marineplans/index.html

DSEWPaC, as the Australian Government department responsible for administering the EPBC Act,
maintains a suite of interactive tools that allow users to search, find and generate reports on information
and data describing matters of national environmental significance, including the Australian sea lion.
The Conservation Values Atlas linked to each Commonwealth Marine Bioregional Plan shows the
location and spatial extent of conservation values (where sufficient information exists) and is available at: www.environment.gov.au/coasts/marineplans/cva/index.html. Further information about the
Australian sea lion is available on the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) at: www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl This database includes links to conservation value
report cards which were developed to support the information provided in each Marine Bioregional Plan.

As part of the Commonwealth marine bioregional planning process, Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) have been identified for a number of species, including the Australian sea lion. BIAs are areas that are particularly important for the conservation of protected species and where aggregations of individuals display biologically important behaviour such as breeding, foraging, resting or migration.

The presence of the observed behaviour is assumed to indicate that the habitat required for the behaviour is also present. BIAs have been identified using expert scientific knowledge about species' distribution, abundance and behaviour in the region, and BIA maps and descriptions for the Australian sea lion are available in the conservation values atlas at: www.environment.gov.au/coasts/marineplans/cva/index.html

9.1.2 Commonwealth marine reserves

Marine reserves (also known as marine protected areas or marine parks) are parts of the ocean that are managed primarily for the conservation of their ecosystems, habitats and the marine life they support.
Forty new Commonwealth marine reserves were declared around Australia in November 2012. They have added to and integrated existing marine reserves, to form the Commonwealth component of Australia's National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas, comprising of five regional networks of Commonwealth Marine Reserves (South-east; South-west; North-west; North and Temperate east) and the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Considered together, the new Commonwealth marine reserves networks