Thirty years have passed since the declaration of the first specific no-take marine reserves in Tasmania. It’s time to look back on how much progress we’ve made since then. In September 1991 four marine nature reserves were declared. Recreational and commercial fishing were prohibited within the boundaries of Ninepin Point, Tinderbox and Governor Island marine reserves and within about half of the Maria Island marine reserve, which is larger than the other three.

The late 1990s until 2004 saw another burst of progress on marine reserves. In 1998 the Tasmanian government committed to participating in a national system of representative marine protected areas, publishing its Marine Protected Areas Strategy in 2001, which still stands as a model for creating a marine reserve system. In 1999- 2000, the Macquarie Island marine nature reserve was declared, including both state and Commonwealth waters. In 2003 the Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) inquiry into the Twofold and Davey marine bioregions resulted in the 2004 declaration of the Kent Group marine reserve, no-take entirely, and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour marine reserve, with no-take and restricted-take areas.

Then from 2005-2008 the RPDC inquired into the Bruny marine bioregion, which covers waters surrounding Bruny Island, the Tasman Peninsula and south-east mainland Tasmanian coast, recommending 23 areas to be protected, including nine no-take zones.

While expanding the previously tiny marine reserves at Ninepin Point and Tinderbox, the government caved in to pressure from fishing interests and only declared 14 marine conservation areas, in all of which fishing is permitted. Sadly, that meagre effort was the last time any marine reserve has been established in Tasmania, with the result that we have the following very low levels of reservation/protection:

No-take marine reserves:
1.1% of Tasmanian state waters, excluding Macquarie Island

Total marine reserves:
2.66% of Tasmanian state waters, excluding Macquarie Island

(including Macquarie Island increases the figures to 4.62 and 6.12% respectively)

A far cry from the 10 percent required for a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system. In addition, out of the nine marine bioregions surrounding Tasmania only four contain no-take marine reserves and many habitats remain unprotected. In fact, there are five contiguous bioregions with no MPAs at all: from the west coast north of Port Davey to King Island, the entire north coast and the Furneaux Islands (bioregions of Franklin, Otway, Boags, Central Bass Strait and Flinders). See map. No Tasmanian government since 2009 has shown any sign of creating more marine reserves, and in 2014 the new Liberal government announced a moratorium on them. In the most recent election campaign, in 2021, both major parties declared their intention not to create any more marine reserves. No-take marine reserves have been shown in study after study to not only protect the biodiversity within the reserve but to act as nurseries for fish to spread to surrounding waters. Marine protected areas are highly valued as study sites, with recent studies showing both the impacts of climate change on marine environments and the value of large crayfish (in marine reserves) as predators of the introduced sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii, which has been devastating rocky reef habitat. Given the current serious conflicts between the aquaculture industry and local communities and recreational users, it is worth considering the potential use of the MPA process as a way of resolving or reducing conflict.

30 Years of Marine Reserves in Tasmania

Newsletter Archive by year

Search for articles by keyword