Abstract. Movement patterns were studied on a 1-ha isolated reef surrounding Arch Rock in southern Tasmania. Short-term movements were identified from diver observations, and interpretation of long-term movements involved multiple recaptures of tagged individuals. Visual observations indicated that the sex-changing labrids Notolabrus tetricus, Pictilabrus laticlavius and Pseudolabrus psittaculus were all site-attached, with females having overlapping home ranges and males being territorial. In the non-sex-changing labrid Notolabrus fucicola and in the monacanthids Penicipelta vittiger and Meuschenia australis, there was no evidence of territorial behaviour and I-h movements were in excess of the scale of the study. The long-term results indicated that all species were permanent reef residents, with most individuals of all species except M. australis always being recaptured within a home range of 100 m X 25 m or less. Only 15% of individuals of M. australis were always recaptured within this range category. The natural habitat boundary of open sand between the Arch Rock reef and adjacent reefs appeared to be an effective deterrent to emigration. The use of natural boundaries should be an important consideration in the design of marine reserves where the aim is to minimize the loss of protected species to adjacent fished areas.

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SUMMARY:The size at onset of maturity (SOM) of female Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875) was estimated at 50 sites around Tasmania, Australia, based on the presence of ovigerous setae. There was a distinct spatial cline with the largest SOM being found at northwestern sites and the smallest at southwestern sites. Variation in SOM between sites was substantial and ranged from 59 mm to 112 mm carapace length. The observed decline in SOM from north to south was the reverse of that described for the same species at similar latitudes in New Zealand, which suggests that SOM in J. edwardsii is regulated by factors in addition to temperature. The effect of density on female SOM was investigated by comparing SOM estimates from two marine reserves with adjacent fished sites; however, there was no evidence of a decline in SOM with increasing density as predicted. A model of SOM predicted by latitude and longitude is described to facilitate spatial modelling of lobster stocks. The substantial and predictable spatial variation in SOM implies that management of this fishery would be improved by incorporating spatial elements, such as regional legal minimum size limits.Keywords: Jasus edwardsii; maturity; rock lobster; reproduction; spatial management. RESUMEN: VARIACIÓN ESPACIAL EN LA TALLA DE INICIO DE MADUREZ EN HEMBRAS DE LANGOSTA, JASUS EDWARDSII, ENTASMANIA, AUSTRALIA. -En 50 sitios alrededor de Tasmania (Australia) se estimó la talla de inicio de madurez sexual (SOM) en hembras de Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875) basándose en la presencia de sedas ovígeras. La mayor SOM fue observada en la región del Noroeste y la talla menor en el Suroeste. La SOM varió entre 59 mm y 112 mm en longitud del caparazón. La disminución en la SOM desde el norte hacia sur fue inversa a la descrita previamente para la misma especie en similares latitudes en Nueva Zelanda. Esto sugeriría que la SOM en hembras de J. edwardsii es regulada por otros factores además de la temperatura. El efecto de la densidad de langostas en la SOM de hembras de J. edwardsii fue comparado usando SOM estimadas a partir de sitios con alta (reservas marinas) y baja densidad (sitios de pesca) de langostas. El incremento en la densidad no disminuyó la SOM como fue previamente predicho. Para mejorar y facilitar los modelos sobre los stocks de langostas, se describe un modelo para predecir la SOM que incorpora la latitud y la longitud como componentes espaciales. Dado que la SOM depende substancialmente y de manera predecible de las variaciones espaciales, el manejo de la pesquería de J. edwardsii podría ser mejorado con la incorporación de componentes espaciales a los planes de manejo, como por ejemplo establecer regionalmente un tamaño límite legal.Palabras clave: Jasus edwardsii, madurez, langosta, reproducción, gestión espacial.

This paper describes a two week deployment of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Sirius on the Tasman Peninsula in SE Tasmania and in the Huon Marine Protected Area (MPA) to the South West of Hobart. The objective of the deployments described in this work were to document biological assemblages associated with rocky reef systems in shelf waters beyond normal diving depths. At each location, multiple reefs were surveyed at a range of depths from approximately 50 m to 100 m depth. We illustrate how the AUV based imaging complements benthic habitat assessments to be made based on the ship-borne swath bathymetry. Over the course of the 10 days of operation, 19 dives were undertaken with the AUV covering in excess of 70 linear kilometers of survey and returning nearly 160,000 geo-referenced high resolution stereo image pairs. These are now being analysed to describe the distribution of benthic habitats in more detail.

Marine reserves are a key tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity, yet only ~2.5% of the world's oceans are protected. The integration of marine reserves into connected networks representing all habitats has been encouraged by international agreements, yet the benefits of this design has not been tested empirically. Australia has one of the largest systems of marine reserves, providing a rare opportunity to assess how connectivity influences conservation success. An Australia‐wide dataset was collected using baited remote underwater video systems deployed across a depth range from 0 to 100 m to assess the effectiveness of marine reserves for protecting teleosts subject to commercial and recreational fishing. A meta‐analytical comparison of 73 fished species within 91 marine reserves found that, on average, marine reserves had 28% greater abundance and 53% greater biomass of fished species compared to adjacent areas open to fishing. However, benefits of protection were not observed across all reserves (heterogeneity), so full subsets generalized additive modelling was used to consider factors that influence marine reserve effectiveness, including distance‐based and ecological metrics of connectivity among reserves. Our results suggest that increased connectivity and depth improve the aforementioned marine reserve benefits and that these factors should be considered to optimize such benefits over time. We provide important guidance on factors to consider when implementing marine reserves for the purpose of increasing the abundance and size of fished species, given the expected increase in coverage globally. We show that marine reserves that are highly protected (no‐take) and designed to optimize connectivity, size and depth range can provide an effective conservation strategy for fished species in temperate and tropical waters within an overarching marine biodiversity conservation framework.