 Although many of these species are also found on the continental shelf, they are never found as concentrated or lush as they are on the seamounts.The seamounts have been the site of commercial trawling for orange roughy for decades.In 1994, the Australian Geological Survey Organization mapped the south Tasmanian seafloor, including the Tasmanian Seamounts; shortly thereafter, Environment Australia (now the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) released a report stating that the Tasmanian Seamount fauna was highly diverse, inadequately studied, and vulnerable to overfishing, and recommended that an oceanic reserve be created on the site.