Water Projects

The Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) has been steadily encroaching into Tasmanian waters since at least the late 1970s. This species moves on warming currents, and the increasing temperature of our oceans has allowed this urchin to establish in ever-increasing numbers. This ‘range-shifting’ behaviour is putting our rocky reef habitats at risk, as the urchins graze their way across the ocean floor, creating expansive barrens and destroying important habitat. NRM South has been working with industry partners to build community understanding and support for the commercial harvest of Longspined Sea Urchins in Tasmania

Situated at the northern end of Great Oyster Bay on Tasmania’s east coast, Moulting Lagoon and the nearby Apsley Marshes are important wetland areas. For the past 20 years, NRM South has supported a program of effort to improve water quality, protect and restore saltmarsh and wetland communities, and support farmers to manage environmentally significant landscapes.

Tasmania’s seafood industry uses adaptive management strategies informed by scientific research to make the industry as sustainable as possible. NRM South is working in partnership with the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council to support industry-based training, school education and habitat restoration through the Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership.

A legacy of changing land use, land clearing and livestock grazing in and around saltmarsh at Pitt Water-Orielton Lagoon has changed landscape function. Sections of saltmarsh have become stranded from tidal inundation, altering the connectivity of fish habitat and exposing waterways to increased nutrient inputs. This has knock-on effects for many of the recreationally important fish that depend on this site, including mullet, Australian salmon, and greenback flounder.

North West Bay is a popular recreational fishing area that is home to important seagrass communities. Seagrass is nursery habitat for fish and squid, and can be damaged by traditional chain mooring systems, which scour the seabed. This project is engaging recreational fishers to adopt and advocate for a transition to Environmentally Friendly Moorings

Australia’s shellfish reefs are an endangered marine ecosystem, with only 10% of native rock oyster and 1% of native flat oyster reef remaining today, based on historical reef distribution. The only known remaining native flat oyster reef is in St. Georges Bay, at St. Helens, on Tasmania’s east coast. We are restoring native flat oyster reefs in the Derwent Estuary and D’Entrecasteaux Channel, where this type of habitat was previously extensive.

Situated at the northern end of Great Oyster Bay on Tasmania’s east coast, Moulting Lagoon and the nearby Apsley Marshes are important wetland areas. They provide critical habitat for waterbirds (including migratory species), are important fish nurseries, and filter water running off the land into the sea. The land surrounding these Ramsar-listed sites is also important for agriculture and tourism, and the waterways themselves are important for aquaculture.

The Blue Carbon Ecosystem Restoration project will assist in understanding the diverse benefits of restoring a large area of stranded temperate saltmarsh community, including what happens to adjacent areas of habitat such as seagrass, or surrounding land-based vegetation and ecological communities.