Work has been undertaken through the marine bioregional planning program to identify, describe and map biologically important areas (BIA's) for protected species under the EPBC Act. BIA's spatially and temporally define areas where protected species display biologically important behaviours (including breeding, foraging, resting or migration), based on the best available scientific information. These areas are those parts of a marine region that are particularly important for the conservation of protected species In collecting information on BIA's the Department has explicitly aimed to collect information about known important areas and about areas that are likely to be or may be important for a protected species. This approach was taken to ensure that: the BIA's identified did not simply represent survey effort but identified areas that scientists consider are likely to be biologically important for a protected species. BIA's are accompanied by comprehensive data attributes which enable decision-makers and people proposing to undertake actions that may have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance to assess the relevance of the information to their specific circumstances. BIA's have been identified in the South-west Marine Region for the following species:
Sharks
White shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Seabirds
Australian lesser noddy (Anous tenuirorstris melanops)
Black-faced cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens)
Bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)
Caspian tern (Sterna caspia)
Common noddy (Anous stolidus)
Fairy tern (Sterna nereis)
Fleshy-footed shearwater (Puffinus carneipes)
Great-winged petrel (macroptera race) (Pterodroma macroptera macroptera)
Indian Yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri)
Little penguin (Eudyptula minor)
Little shearwater (Puffinus assimilis tunneyi)
Pacific gull (Larus pacificus)
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
Short-tailed shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris)
Soft-plumaged petrel (Pterodroma mollis)
Sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscata)
Wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)
White-faced storm petrel (Pelagodroma marina)
Pinnipeds
Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea),
Whales
Blue and pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)
Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)Restricted
Data is available under licence.
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