Abalone Fishing Block 23: High-Resolution Acoustic Seafloor Habitat Maps of Tasmania

High-resolution 50cm multibeam acoustic imagery maps fine-scale abalone habitat and urchin barrens on the east coast of Tasmania. The Australian Ocean Data Network provides this snapshot of 2021 seafloor substrate types, kelp coverage, and bathymetry derivatives for strategic fisheries management. Data products include substrate classification, bathymetry, and water column vegetation likelihood for fishing block 23.

Use Cases

• Map the spatial distribution of key abalone habitat based on detailed substrate type classifications.
• Predict and monitor urchin barren extent using high-resolution acoustic water column data.
• Model seabed terrain for habitat suitability studies based on bathymetry derivatives like slope and rugosity.
• Assess kelp coverage and vegetation likelihood for coastal ecosystem health monitoring.

Strengths

• Provides 50cm resolution bathymetry and substrate maps, indicating high spatial detail.
• Includes multiple derived data products such as seabed slope, curvature, and rugosity.
• Captures a specific temporal snapshot of seafloor habitats for the year 2021.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data scale (row count) is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au

Collection Method

Collected via multibeam acoustic imagery mapping project.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 19:57:33.187614; freshness should be verified.

Geography

East coast of Tasmania, specifically fishing block 23.