The Tasmanian commercial fishery for blacklip abalone (Haliotis rubra) and greenlip abalone (H. laevigata) contributes a significant component of the total Australian abalone catch, with annual landings of around 2590 tonnes in 2003. The catch consists primarily of blacklip abalone (around...

By overgrazing seaweeds and sessile invertebrates, essentially back to bare rock, the advent of the long‐spined sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii in eastern Tasmanian waters poses a significant threat to the integrity, productivity and biodiversity of shallow (<40 m) rocky reef systems and the...