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Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve

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Overview

Summary

Proclamation date	21 March 1991
Size (current)	53,987 Ha (540 km2)
IUCN category	Ia - Strict nature reserve
Biogeographic context	IMCRA 4.0 provincial bioregion: Northwest Transition
Management plan status*	Interim management arrangements

^*A new management plan for the reserve will be developed at the completion of the bioregional planning process for the north-west marine region. Developing a management plan for the reserves at this time will provide greater efficiency and effectiveness in the management planning process, particularly in regard to stakeholder consultation. Following the declaration of any new Commonwealth reserves, stakeholders will be invited to comment on the development of the management plan for the region.

Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve (Mermaid) surrounds Mermaid Reef, which is located about 150 nautical miles (290km) north-west of Broome, Western Australia. Mermaid is located near the edge of Australia's continental slope and is surrounded by waters that extend to a depth of over 500 metres.

Mermaid Reef is the most north-easterly of three reef systems forming the Rowley Shoals. Mermaid Reef is totally submerged at high tide and therefore falls under Australian Government jurisdiction. The other two reefs of the Rowley Shoals, Clerke Reef and Imperieuse Reef, are managed by the Western Australian Government as the Rowley Shoals Marine Park.

The Rowley Shoals including Mermaid Reef have an abundance and variety of marine wildlife which is in a relatively undisturbed condition, as well as spectacular and unusual underwater topography. Mermaid Reef is listed on Australia's Commonwealth Heritage List and all three reefs of the Rowley Shoals have been registered on the Register of the National Estate.

History of Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve

It is believed that the Rowley Shoals reefs, including Mermaid Reef, have been visited by Makassan and possibly Bajo fishermen from Indonesia, from at least the mid-18th century. These early visitors apparently knew the Rowley Shoals as Pulau Pulo Dhaoh.

In later years, fishermen from Roti Island, south of Timor, also visited the Rowley Shoals, which they knew as Pulau Bawa Angin. The individual reefs were also given names, Mermaid being called Pulau Manjariti, Clerke Reef was Pulau Tengah and Imperieuse Reef was Pulau Matsohor.

Trepang (holothurians or sea cucumbers), turtle shell, trochus shell and shark fin were valuable commodities sought by fishermen in waters south of the Indonesian archipelago.

In November 1974, Australia and Indonesia entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which recognises the rights of access for traditional Indonesian fishers in a small area of Australian waters. Access to the area defined by the MoU, known as the MoU Box, was granted in recognition of Indonesia's long history of traditional fishing, and allows fishing and the collection of marine species from the reefs of the Ashmore, Seringapatam, Scott and Browse areas subject to certain regulatory requirements. The area of the MoU Box does not include the Rowley Shoals, and since 1975 visits to this area have declined.

The reefs of the Rowley Shoals were given their English names by Captain Phillip Parker King when he came upon them in 1818. They were named after Captain Rowley, the master of the HMS Imperieuse, who had reported the presence of the most southerly reef in 1800. The northernmost reef was named Mermaid after Captain King's vessel and the middle reef was named Clerke after the captain of a whaling vessel who had seen the reef while in the area between 1800 and 1809. The southernmost reef was named Imperieuse Reef after Captain Rowley's vessel.

One historic shipwreck is known at Mermaid. It is believed to be that of the English whaler Lively, a three-masted, ship-rigged vessel of approximately 250 tons. This vessel was lost when it struck the western edge of Mermaid Reef in the early years of the 19th century. As a result of this shipwreck, from about 1830 a number of early charts of the area showed a 'Coral Reef on which the Lively was lost', marked about 40 nautical miles north of Mermaid Reef. Two anchors and several iron knees believed to be from the wreck still lie on the reef flat on the western side of the reef. Trypots and a cannon remain in an underwater gully off the edge of the reef, near the anchors. None of the recovered material allows a positive identification of this wreck as being that of the Lively. For more information on shipwrecks in Australian waters visit the National Shipwrecks Database.

From the late 1970's and early 1980's, charter boats from Broome began operating tourist expeditions to Mermaid, taking advantage of the ideal diving conditions and spectacular coral formations found there. The tourism industry continues today with a few hundred tourists visiting Mermaid each year.

Special features of Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve

Mermaid Reef is the most north-easterly of the reef systems of the Rowley Shoals. All three of the reefs are similar in shape, size, orientation and distance from each other. Each has a large lagoonal area containing small sand cays or islands, narrow lagoon entrance channels on the eastern side and an outer reef edge dropping off relatively steeply into oceanic waters between 500 and 700 metres deep. Oval in shape, the reefs follow a south-west to north-east alignment along the edge of the continental shelf and lie 30 to 40 kilometres apart. The three reefs of the Rowley Shoals have been described as some of the best examples of shelf-edge reefs occurring in Australian waters.

Mermaid Reef is 14.5 kilometres long and has a maximum width of 7.6 kilometres. Its lagoon is only accessible through one navigable channel, through which tides of up to 4.5 metres ebb and flow. This passage is about 60 m wide and is lined with living coral. The lagoon has an average depth of 20 metres. Although relatively unobstructed, the lagoon contains a few patches of rubble mounds topped by live coral communities that reach almost to the surface. These are more common in the southern sector of the lagoon.

Mermaid Reef is considered the 'youngest' of the three reefs, each of which shows a different stage in the development of a shelf atoll reef. There is no permanent land at Mermaid but a large sand bank near the northern edge of the lagoon and a series of small banks to the west become exposed at low tides.

These sand banks are thought to be important resting sites for migratory birds. Nineteen species have been sighted at the Rowley Shoals and three of these are known to breed on Bedwell and Cunningham Islands in the nearby Rowley Shoals Marine Park.

The Rowley Shoals, including Mermaid Reef, are thought to be sites of enhanced biological productivity, as breaking internal waves cause mixing and the resuspension of nutrients in surface waters. The area supports a great variety of marine species in a relatively undisturbed condition. A number of species are at the limit of their distribution, and some are found nowhere else in Western Australia.

Coral

The clear waters at Mermaid allows coral communities to exist over a great range of depths, while the strong wave action on the outer coral slopes and the wide tidal range cause them to be strongly zoned. This has resulted in spectacular coral assemblages with over 216 species of hard corals and 12 genera of soft corals having been identified.

Fish

More than 390 species of fish have been identified at Mermaid, with the overall fish community being similar to other reefs in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. Surveys of the fish at Mermaid have noted a clear distinction between the assemblages of the lagoon and the outer slope. Steep changes in slope around the reef attract a range of species such as dolphins, tuna, billfish and sharks. Sharks, such as the grey reef shark, the whitetip reef shark and the silvertip whaler are relatively common at the Rowley Shoals particularly in comparison to other reefs in the north-west such as Scott and Ashmore reefs.

Other marine fauna

Molluscs (including octopus, squid, clams and marine snails), echinoderms (such as sea cucumbers, sea stars and sea urchins) and crustaceans (including crabs, lobsters and prawns) have all been recorded at Mermaid. Giant clams, which have been severely depleted at reefs to the north, are relatively common at Mermaid. While little is known of the marine fauna located in the deeper waters surrounding Mermaid Reef a survey has reported glass sponges and urchins, sea stars, sea whips and sea pens as well as black coral and feather stars.

The clear oceanic water, coral formations and abundant marine life of Mermaid Reef and the other reefs of the Rowley Shoals make them a spectacular destination for recreational diving and eco-tourism.