Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100:front:0:p80
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00100
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 248820–251798

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.

The park is a core foraging area for juvenile Tasmanian endemic endangered shy albatross from the nearby Albatross Island breeding colony. It also includes biologically important foraging areas for many seabirds, including 5 other species of albatross (including the vulnerable black browed, Campbell, Indian yellow nosed and wandering albatrosses, and Bullers albatross), white faced storm petrel, common diving petrel, little penguin and the culturally significant short-tailed shearwater (mutton birds). Biologically important areas for white shark, southern right whale and pygmy blue whale also occur in the park.

The park contains habitats, species and ecological communities associated with one provincial bioregion – the Bass Strait Shelf Province – and Central Bass Strait and Boags mesoscale bioregions.

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)

       * Tasmanian Octopus Fishery

       * Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery.

Figure S1.10 Boags Marine Park
Apollo Marine Park
Proclaimed   28 June 2007 and came into effect on 1 September 2007

Assigned zones in park Multiple Use Zone (VI) 1184 km2

Depth range   47 m–101 m

Total area   1,184 km2

Overview and summary of values

The Apollo Marine Park (Figure S1.11) is located at the western entrance to Bass Strait about 6 km south of Cape Otway. The area is subject to large south-westerly swells and strong tidal flows, and wind-driven upwelling sometimes occurs during summer. The park protects several ecosystems on the continental shelf, including mesophotic (middle-light) and rariphotic (rare‑light) reefs and sediments.

An area of mesophotic reef approximately 11 km2 occurs in the north-west corner of the park in depths between 47 m and 70 m. The deepest edge of the reef is likely to be a paleo‑shoreline. The reef supports benthic communities dominated by sponges, with some octocorals, bryozoans and encrusting macroalgae. Fish communities are dominated by velvet leatherjackets, six spine leatherjackets, jackass morwong, rosy wrasse, butterfly perch, bluethroat wrasse and gummy shark. The reef provides habitat for southern rock lobsters  an apex predator important for ecosystem function. They are more abundant at deeper mesophotic depths than the shallowest areas of the reef.

In depths of 70 m to 80 m, a ridge of low-profile rariphotic (rare-light) reef runs parallel to the paleo-shoreline separated by a 3 km wide sand dominated trough. The benthic community is largely sparse,