Scientists in Tasmania are celebrating a successful breeding season of the critically endangered spotted handfish, which has received a helping hand from a local ceramic artist.

Divers have confirmed the rare species, found only in the River Derwent, have laid hundreds of eggs around tiny ceramic poles, inserted into the seabed a few months ago.

The species' natural breeding habitats — stalked ascidians, also known as 'sea squirts' — have been decimated by the invasive North Pacific Sea Star.

Made from fine white porcelain and baked in a kiln at 1,280 degrees Celsius the ceramic artificial spawning habitats (ASH) mimic the natural breeding habitat of the handfish and are the creation of Hobart artist Jane Bamford.

"Spotted handfish normally spawn around a stalked ascidian, it basically lays an egg mass of 80 to 100 eggs around the base, so that's what I based the design on," Ms Bamford said.

"I made 3,000 and I made them in two pieces, this disc and the stem … it took me about four months."

Hobart ceramic artist Jane Bumford with the ceramic creation helping the rare species breed. ( ABC News: Annah Fromberg )

Ms Bamford who is a keen snorkeler and Coastcare member said the project aligned perfectly with her interest in design, art and science.

"The making of the work is really quite repetitive, but I never got sick of it because I'm passionate about clay and I'm passionate about the marine environment," she said.

Divers inserted them into the seabed a few months ago, at five known locations of the spotted handfish.

The team from CSIRO placed the ceramic poles in the known locations of the rare fish earlier this year. ( Supplied: Laura Smith )

The species spawns in September and researcher Alex Hormann has been monitoring the progress. He is thrilled with the early results.

"Every handfish lays between 80 to 120 eggs and we saw nine nests down there just today," he said.

"I came up with a big smile I was super excited throughout the whole dive."

The ceramic poles were handcrafted and kiln-fired. ( ABC News: Annah Fromberg )

It was the first evidence of the handfish spawning on artificial stems in the wild.

The species is under threat from the North Pacific Sea Star. ( ABC News )

Mr Hormann said parents stay to guard the eggs, which will hatch in around five weeks time.

"It's nice to see that all the hard work we've done planting the ASH is producing some positive results. We hope it at least stabilises the population, if not bolsters them," he said.

It is estimated there are about 2,000 spotted handfish left in the wild.

The project follows on from a successful trial with captive spotted handfish in a tank simulating the Derwent environment last September.