The Tasmanian Seamounts were created by the Tasman hotspot, a 4,000 km (2,000 mi) long mantle plume that is currently the active center of Mount Erebus in Antarctica.

While oceans generally contain few nutrients, the presence of seamounts increases the flowing speed of the water current.

This effect, created by the topography of the seafloor mountain, clears rocks in the area of sediments and provides food for filter feeders.

An interim three–year ban on trawling was declared to allow a study of the seamounts to be carried out in 1997 which found 242 distinct species of invertebrates.

Damage from trawling was also examined, and on the most heavily affected seamounts it had destroyed coral aggregations, removed 46% of species, and reduced net biomass by over half.