Huon Commonwealth Marine Reserve facts for kids

Huon Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a 9,991 km² marine protected area within Australian waters. The former Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve created in 1999 was incorporated into the Huon reserve in 2007, and is part of the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network.

Huon reserve contains a cluster of approximately 70 seamounts peaking 750 m (2,460 ft) to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above the sea floor. They appear as cone-shaped submerged mountains, which provide a range of depths for a diversity of plants and animals. The reserve is a foraging area for great white sharks and seabirds and a spawning or nursery area for important commercial fish, including ocean perch and blue warehou.

Protection

A majority of the Huon marine reserve area is IUCN protected area category VI and zoned as 'Multiple Use'. A smaller section of 'Habitat Protection Zone' in the west of the reserve protects the unique and vulnerable benthic communities of the reserve's seamounts.