Boags Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a 537 km
2 marine protected area
A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...
within
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n waters located off the coast of
north-west Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
in
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...
. The reserve was established in 2007,
and is the smallest reserve of the
South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network
Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to th ...
.
The reserve is a sample of the bottom-dwelling creatures that live in the sea-floor sediments and muds of Bass Strait, such as
crustaceans
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...
,
polychaete worms, and
molluscs
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
. It is an important foraging area for a variety of
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s that nest on the nearby islands, particularly the
Hunter Island Group which includes
Three Hummock Island.
Protection
The entirety of the Boags marine reserve area is
IUCN protected area category
IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The enlisting of such areas is part ...
VI and zoned as 'Multiple Use'.
[
]
See also
* Commonwealth marine reserves
* Protected areas of Australia
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capita ...
Notes
References
External links
Boags Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network website
{{Protected areas managed by the Australian Government , state=collapsed
South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network
Protected areas established in 2007
Protected areas of Bass Strait