Physical and chemical parameters at five Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) growing areas in Tasmania - Pittwater, Pipeclay Lagoon, Little Swanport, Georges Bay and Simpsons Bay - were measured as part of a study to determine the carrying capacity of the areas for oyster farming. The data represented by this record, was collected in Simpsons Bay. This has provided valuable environmental data for these areas. The hydrodynamic regimes at each area except Simpsons Bay were studied, including high and low water volumes, flushing rates, flow rates and depth contours. Temperature, salinity and concentrations of nitrates, phosphates, silicates and chlorophyll a were measured monthly at several sites in each area. The change in these parameters over different time scales also was examined at two sites in Pittwater and indicated temporal and spatial variability in the environmental parameters measured.

This data was curated and processed towards the development of a PhD manuscript entitled "High resolution bathymetry reveals the geomorphology and geological structure of the abyssal seafloor southwest of Tasmania" as part of an HDR candidature. The core dataset is multibeam bathymetry data from CSIRO/MNF RV Investigator voyages (IN2015_E02, IN2015_V01, IN2016_V02, IN2017_C01, IN2017_T02, IN2017_V01, IN2017_V02, IN2018_V02, IN2018_V04, IN2018_V05, IN2018_V06, IN2018_V07, IN2019_T01, IN2019_V01, IN2019_V02, IN2020_V08, IN2020_V09, IN2020_V10, IN2021_V01, IN2021_V02, IN2022_V03, IN2023_V01, IN2023_V02, IN2023_V03, IN2023_V04, IN2024_T01, IN2024_V02) and augmented with multibeam bathymetry data from the "50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018" (Parums, R., and Spinoccia, M. (2018). 50m Multibeam Dataset of Australia 2018. doi: 10.26186/5c63832e3ed8e). These datasets were combined, cleaned and gridded as a single compiled 50 m bathymetric grid covering an area of ~170,000 km². From this core dataset, various derivatives (e.g. slope, curvature, aspect) were extracted and used to produce a structural geological and geomorphological characterisation of the abyssal seafloor study area ~500 km SW of Tasmania. This was achieved with the use of semi-automated characterisation techniques, including BRESS and GA-SaMMT. ***EMBARGO NOTE*** Data is embargoed until 31st November 2026 and will be made available following this date.

This seagrass habitat map was produced by the ACEAS Seagrass working group as part of the seagrass habitat risk modelling effort. The map identified seagrass presence based on 1) on the NISB (National Intertidal-Subtidal Benthic) Habitat Map created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2) UNEP WCMC Seagrass map 2005, 3) publications/reports.

This record provides an overview of the scope and research data outputs of the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub project "Recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Recent assessment have suggested that Australian marine recreational fishers (MRF) are moving further offshore in pursuit of fishing opportunities, which places them in areas managed by the Australian Government. As recreational fishers are key stakeholders in marine management, of MRF effort, catch, motivations and values are required to effectively inform administration of Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) and fisheries. In 2018 the use of exiting MRF state-wide assessment was trialled in WA and NSW to quantify fishing within the Hunter and Ningaloo AMPs. In 2019 this work will be extended to analyse state charter-boat MRF datasets with a particular emphasis on our selected AMPs and the Perth Canyon AMP. Planned Outputs • State of knowledge and gap analysis of recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters (spatial data) • On ground motivation and targets by active fishers of AMP [report]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub small-scale study - "A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- The population of Southern Right Whales (SRW) in the Southern Hemisphere has been recovering slowly from near extinction due to its decimation from whaling before its ban in the mid-1970’s. The population that visits the Australian coast each year to breed is estimated to have increased by about 4–5% per year in the past two decades, bringing the total population to approximately 3,500 whales. As the population increases, the whales extend their breeding areas into previously occupied suitable habitat. As the species recovers, there is increasing evidence of expansion of aggregation areas. Consequently, there is a need to update known established aggregation areas and Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) and update relevant Marine Parks management plans based on new evidence. Flinders Bay and Geographe Bay off south-western Western Australia were likely to have been important calving areas before commercial whaling began. Much of this habitat is popular for recreational boating and other marine activities. This project collated and completed photo-ID matching of southern right whale images collected between 2010 to 2020 in the southwest of Australia, and uploaded these to the Australasian Right Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue (ARWPIC). The photo-ID matching outcomes provide evidence that Flinders Bay and Geographe Bay now fit the criteria to be recognised nationally as Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for Southern Right Whales. Outputs • Photo-identifications of individual whales in southwestern Australia for 1991-2021 (photo-matches contributed to ARWPIC) • Final Project Report, including evidence and recommendations for updating aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia according to the Commonwealth criteria [written]

The goal of the program was developing comprehensive inventories and maps of the distribution and abundance of physical and biological seabed habitats, seagrasses and benthic assemblages to provide baseline environmental mapping and a description of ecological patterns. The benthic habitat mapping was performed by utilising R/Python and Maxent software within the species distribution modelling domain. We correlated the probability of occurrence of individual benthic habitat classes with the environmental predictors developed form the multibeam hydroacoustic dataset. The data is presented as a maximum likelihood map incorporating all five prediction classes: (1- Macroalgae; 2- Filter Feeders; 3- Seagrass; 4- Hard Corals; 5- Bare seafloor). An updated version of this data are available (2022) Revised predictive benthic habitat map for Darwin Harbour. Report prepared for Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Darwin, 127 pp.