Campaigns
Marine Sanctuaries: Hawkesbury Shelf Bioregion

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The Hawkesbury Shelf (from Newcastle to Wollongong) is our next big challenge. Just 0.4% of this area is currently fully protected as sanctuary.

The Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion stretches from Newcastle to Shellharbour. It is possibly the most biologically diverse marine region in NSW - a result of the mixing of warm tropical waters with cold temperate waters, nutrients provided by freshwater inflows form its great rivers and being the location of many of NSW's most important estuaries.

Currently this area has barely any protection with only 0.4% of these waters fully protected as sanctuary. NPA~Marine is looking at ways to improve this protection to help ensure the future of its marine life.

Existing marine protected areas

In the Hawkesbury Shelf, there are:

· 10 small Aquatic Reserves (1,930 ha),
· 13 National Parks with marine extensions (4,420 ha) and
· 9 Inter-tidal Protected Areas.

This small area of NSW MPAs (6,190 ha) makes up only 3% of the NSW marine jurisdiction of the bioregion. Yet only 0.4% or 758 ha is established as IUCN 1ª marine sanctuaries. The Hawkesbury sanctuaries are:

· Boudi National Park marine extension (236 ha),
· Ship Rock (1.6 ha),
· Cabbage Tree Bay (20 ha) and
· Towra Point (500 ha) Aquatic Reserves

New marine protected areas

The Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion needs a sanctuary network that can protect its diverse marine life. NPA~Marine is calling on the NSW Government to fulfil many of its earlier commitments by creating a marine park for this bioregion with sanctuary zonings over the marine park's most important marine habitats.

Such a marine park could help protect:

- Threatened and protected fish including:
o black cod,
o great white shark,
o grey nurse shark,
o Bleeker's devil fish,
o elegant wrasse,
o estuary cod,
o Queensland groper and
o weedy sea dragon

- Areas with a high diversity and abundance of shorebirds

- Little Penguin Critical Habitat

- Important seagrass, mangrove and saltmarsh areas

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