Changes in rock lobster, demersal fish, and sessile benthic organisms in the Tasman Fracture Marine Park: comparisons between 2015 and 2021

The Tasman Fracture Marine Park (TFMP) is the southernmost Australian Marine Park that includes a no-take national park zone (NPZ). It is the only park within the South-east Marine Park Network (South-east Network) that has a NPZ on the continental shelf -a zone which prohibits all fishing activities. In 2014/15 initial baselines for rocky reef demersal fishes, rock lobster and sessile benthic invertebrates were established within the NPZ and contrasted with those observed in similar habitat in adjacent areas open to fishing (Monk et al., 2016). In the current study, we repeat these surveys to obtain an indication of temporal variability in these communities and assess the extent of any protection-related changes within the NPZ relative to adjacent fished reference area. This new survey involved a slight alteration to the sample design to improve the balance of reefs sampled at comparable depths inside/outside the NPZ on the basis of recently acquired additional mapping data.