The scheduled review of the Commonwealth Macquarie Island Marine Park in 2023 presents the opportunity to both future-proof for future climate changes, and improve the effectiveness of the marine park through: • expanding and upgrading its extent and zoning, • continuing to accommodate the existing, well managed commercial fishery in the waters along the Macquarie Ridge to the north, west and sout. [...] The 2001-2008 Management Plan includes the following strategic objectives: 12 • To protect the conservation values of the south-eastern portion of the Macquarie Island Region including protecting: • the migratory, feeding and breeding ranges of the marine mammals and seabirds • threatened species that depend on the area; and • the unique benthic habitat • To provide an effective conservation frame. [...] The Macquarie Ridge forces the two fronts through deep openings in the ridge, the Sub-Antarctic Front to the north of Macquarie Island and the Polar Front to the South. [...] Partly as a result of the interaction of the Macquarie Ridge and the ACC the latitudinal separation of the Sub-Antarctic and Polar Fronts is smaller in the M-EEZ than in any other part of the Southern Ocean. [...] The Macquarie Ridge, particularly the area around Macquarie Island, is a source of iron, enabling elevated production around the island and ridge and downstream, to the north-east of the island and south of the Sub-Antarctic Front (Sokolov and Rintoul, 2007; Deppeler and Davidson, 2017; Pinkerton et al., 2021).
- Pages
- 80
- Published in
- Australia
