Abalone Fishing Block 27: High-Resolution Acoustic Seafloor Habitat Maps, Tasmania 2021

50-centimeter resolution multibeam acoustic imagery maps the fine-scale distribution of abalone habitat and urchin barrens off Tasmania's east coast. This data provides a snapshot of 2021 seafloor habitats, substrate types, and kelp coverage for Fishing Block 27. The Australian Ocean Data Network published the dataset to assist strategic decision-making for urchin control and abalone management.

Use Cases

• Mapping the spatial distribution of urchin barrens based on the described acoustic water column technique.
• Classifying seafloor substrate types (e.g., Pavement Reef, Sand) using the 50cm resolution substrate maps.
• Modeling kelp coverage and vegetation likelihood from the provided classification data products.
• Generating seabed terrain models (slope, curvature, rugosity) from the bathymetry derivatives for habitat analysis.

Strengths

• 50-centimeter spatial resolution for both bathymetry and substrate classification provides fine-scale detail.
• Includes multiple derived data products like seabed slope, curvature, and vegetation likelihood classification.
• Covers a specific, managed geographic area (Fishing Block 27) with a clear 2021 temporal snapshot.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for some analytical methods.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing only on specific Tasmanian fishing blocks.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Collected via multibeam acoustic imagery surveys.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 19:49:53.049487; freshness should be verified.

Geography

East coast of Tasmania, specifically Abalone Fishing Block 27.