EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT
Issued by the Authority of the
Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery (Closure) Direction 2018
The Direction is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
Subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) provides, inter alia, that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (the Authority) may, after such consultation as set out in subsection 41A(2), direct that fishing is not to be engaged in the fishery, or a particular part of the fishery, during a particular period or periods.
Subsection 41A(2) also provides that, before the Authority issues a Direction, it must consult with the management advisory committee for the fishery, the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Advisory Committee (ScallopMAC), about the content of the Direction unless the Direction is issued in circumstances of an emergency.
The Fishery
The Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery (the Fishery) lies in the Bass Strait above the State of Tasmania and extends from the Victoria/New South Wales border, around southern Australia to the Victoria/South Australian border, typically outside 20 nautical miles of the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines.
Management in the Fishery is through a combination of input and output controls in the form of individually transferable quotas with a Total Allowable Catch determined for each quota species for each fishing year. The main target species in the Fishery is the Commercial Scallop (Pecten fumatus). The Doughboy Scallop (Chlamys (Mimachlamys) asperrimus) is common throughout the Bass Strait however it is rarely retained. The target species is caught primarily for the domestic market.
The Harvest Strategy for the Fishery contains measures for setting a Total Allowable Catch based on closing areas of the Fishery following research surveys to determine biomass estimates. This measure aims to ensure scallop beds of sufficient size and density are maintained to provide for ongoing recruitment in the Fishery.
The Direction
The Direction closes five areas of the Fishery collectively estimated through independent scientific surveying to contain 15 707 tonnes of spawning size Commercial Scallops, while allowing for the remaining area of the Fishery to stay open to fishing. Research indicates that closing areas of scallops to fishing promotes recruitment to maintain the stock at sustainable levels.
The closures are consistent with Tier 2 of the Harvest Strategy for the Fishery, which provides for a Total Allowable Catch of at least 2000 tonnes or more to be set should scallop bed(s) containing at least 3000 tonnes of scallops of a minimum size limit of 85 millimetres and high density be located and closed to fishing. As identified under Tier 2 of the Harvest Strategy, the closures of 15 707 tonnes enables a total allowable catch to be set at 3876 tonnes.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation does not require a Regulation Impact Statement for this determination consistent with the carve out arrangement with AFMA (OBPR reference 14421) for instruments of a minor or machinery nature and which specifically refer to directing that fishing not be engaged in sub-areas of a fishery.
Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
This legislative instrument does not infringe any of the applicable rights or freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. Accordingly, in the Authority’s assessment, this legislative instrument is compatible with human rights.
Consultation
Subsection 41A(2) of the Management Act provides that, before giving a direction, the Authority must consult the ScallopMAC and consider their views. The Authority may also consider the views of other interested persons.
The Authority consulted on the proposed closures for the 2018 fishing year with the Scallop Resource Assessment Group on 20 June 2018, and with ScallopMAC on 21 June 2018. Both ScallopRAG and ScallopMAC supported the areas to be closed.
The Authority is satisfied that the Direction is consistent with the objectives of the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Plan 2002 as well as with its obligation to pursue the objectives set out in Section 3 of the Management Act in particular the objective concerned with the sustainability of fisheries resources (paragraph 3(1)(b)).
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 | Provides for the Direction to be cited as the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery (Closure) Direction 2018. |
Clause 2 | Provides that the Direction commences on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. |
Clause 3 Clause 4 | Provides that the Direction is repealed on 1 January 2019. Provides that the Direction is made pursuant to subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991. |
Clause 5 | Provides that a term used in the Direction and in the Plan or Act has the same meaning in the Determination as in the Plan or Act. |
Clause 6 | States to whom the Direction applies. |
Clause 7
| Prohibits fishing in the specified areas of the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery as detailed in Schedules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
|
Schedule 1 Describes the area of the Flinders Island Beds 1-4 closure.
Schedule 2 Describes the area of the Apollo Bay 2 Bed closure.
Schedule 3 Describes the area of the King Island 5 Small Bed closure.
Schedule 4 Describes the area of the King Island New Bed closure.
Schedule 5 Describes the area of the King Island Bluedot East Bed closure.