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Perth Canyon Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Overview
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MARINE USERS
Transitional arrangements for new areas added to the Commonwealth marine reserve estate
From the declaration of Commonwealth marine reserves in November 2012 until management plans come into effect in July 2014, transitional arrangements apply.
- Under the transitional arrangements, there are NO CHANGES ON THE WATER for users of new areas added to the Commonwealth marine reserves estate.
- NOTE: There are no changes to management arrangements in the marine reserves that existed prior to the establishment of the new reserves, that is, the same restrictions on activities will continue to apply even where those reserves have been incorporated into new reserves.
| Name | Perth Canyon Commonwealth Marine Reserve |
|---|---|
| Area | 7409 km2 |
| Depth range | 120-5000 m (approx.) |
| Types of zoning |
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Major conservation values
- Globally important seasonal feeding aggregation for the threatened blue whale
- Important foraging areas for the:
- threatened soft-plumaged petrel
- migratory sperm whale
- migratory wedge-tailed shearwater
- Important migratory areas for protected humpback whales
- Examples of the ecosystems of the southernmost parts of the Central Western Province and South-west Shelf Transition (including the Central West Coast meso-scale bioregion), and the northernmost parts of the South-west Transition and Southwest Shelf Province (including the Leeuwin-Naturaliste meso-scale bioregion)
- Three key ecological feature:
- Perth Canyon and other west-coast canyons (high productivity, feeding aggregations)
- demersal slope fish communities (communities with high species diversity)
- meso-scale eddies (high productivity, feeding aggregations)