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A steel sculpture of a skate on top of a sandstone block.

Maugean Skate recovery – Healthy Harbour project

  • Context: Regional
  • 2023-2028

This project delivers urgent recovery actions required to reduce the Maugean Skate’s (Zearaja maugeana) extinction risk.

CCA’s Healthy Harbour project team collaborates with the Strahan and West Coast community to improve public understanding and support for the species, and to decrease concern about the impacts of proposed recovery actions.  

In addition, the project supports the captive management of skates living at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in Hobart. IMAS scientists and international captive breeding experts have established an ex-situ population of skates which is the first step towards a captive breeding program. Skates bred in captivity may be re-introduced to Macquarie Harbour after environmental remediation work has taken place.  

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This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Cradle Coast NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

Urgent recovery actions for Maugean Skate

Urgent recovery actions are being implemented to reduce the species’ imminent risk of extinction, guided by the National Recovery Team for the Maugean Skate, chaired by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas).

Cradle Coast NRM’s current Maugean Skate project builds on our Maugean Skate Awareness Project, which ended in March 2023. The $2.15 million funding for this emergency intervention was announced by the Australian Government Minister for Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek MP on Threatened Species Day, 7 September 2023.

Two urgent recovery actions are being delivered by Cradle Coast NRM in partnership with the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) with support from NRE Tas, West Coast Council, the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (DCCEEW), and other Recovery Team stakeholders.

These recovery actions aim to:

  • Establish and maintain an emergency insurance population of Maugean skates outside Macquarie Harbour by developing a captive breeding program. This element will be delivered by IMAS at the IMAS Taroona facility.
  • Build on community support for conserving the Maugean Skate by engaging with the Strahan and West Coast communities, and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community to collaboratively design and implement key recovery actions.

The community engagement element will be delivered by Cradle Coast NRM via the Our Healthy Harbour Project (2024-2025), building partnerships and effective communication with Strahan and West Coast residents, including the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. A range of consultation and engagement activities are planned to improve the health of Macquarie Harbour, and connect people with their local environment through art, natural history and citizen science.

Upcoming Initiatives 

Our team are currently hard at work developing a dedicated Maugean Skate website. The website will include detailed information on the species, Macquarie Harbour, and recovery actions. 

 

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