COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
DECLARATION OF AN APPROVED WILDLIFE TRADE OPERATION – Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery, March 2019
I, JOHN GIBBS, Assistant Secretary, Wildlife Trade and Biosecurity Branch, as Delegate of the Minister for the Environment, have considered in accordance with section 303FN of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) the application from the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources, public comments on the proposal as required under section 303FR and advice on the ecological sustainability of the operation. I am satisfied on those matters specified in section 303FN of the EPBC Act. I hereby declare the operations for the harvesting of specimens that are or are derived from fish or invertebrates, taken in the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery as defined in the management regime in force under the Fisheries Act 1988 (Northern Territory) and Fisheries Regulations 1993 (Northern Territory), but not including
- specimens that belong to eligible listed threatened species, as defined under section 303BC of the EPBC Act, or
- specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 303CA of the EPBC Act (Australia’s CITES list) except for Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) and Great Hammerhead (S. mokarran) sharks
to be an approved wildlife trade operation, in accordance with subsection 303FN(2) and paragraph 303FN(10)(d), for the purposes of the EPBC Act.
Unless amended or revoked, this declaration:
a) is valid until 27 March 2022 and;
b) is subject to the conditions applied under section 303FT specified in the Schedule.
Dated this 28th day of March 2019
John Gibbs
Delegate of the Minister for the Environment
A person whose interests are affected by this declaration may, within 28 days, make an application in writing to the Department of the Environment and Energy for the reasons for the decision.
An application for independent review of the decision (under section 303GJ(1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), on payment of the relevant fee by the applicant, either within 28 days of receipt of the reasons for the decision, or within 28 days of this declaration if reasons for the decision are not sought. Applications should be made to the Deputy Registrar, AAT in your Capital City. Please visit the AAT’s website at http://www.aat.gov.au/ for further information.
You may make an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) to access documents relevant to this decision. For further information, please visit http://www.environment.gov.au/foi/index.html.
Further enquiries should be directed to the Director, Wildlife Trade Assessments Section, Department of the Environment and Energy, Telephone: (02) 6274 1917 Email: sustainablefisheries@environment.gov.au.
SCHEDULE
Declaration of the Harvest Operations of the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery as an approved wildlife trade operation, March 2019
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS (section 303FT)
Relating to the harvesting of fish specimens that are, or are derived from, fish or invertebrates, other than specimens of species listed under Part 13 and Part 13A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), taken in the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery:
- Operation of the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery will be carried out in accordance with the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources fisheries management arrangements in force under the Northern Territory of Australia Fisheries Act 1988 and Northern Territory of Australia Fisheries Regulations 1993.
2. The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources to inform the Department of any intended material changes to the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery management arrangements that may affect the assessment against which Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 decisions are made.
3. The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources to produce and present reports to the Department annually as per Appendix B of the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries - 2nd Edition.
4. The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources to:
a) Provide the Department of the Environment and Energy a review of the current e-monitoring auditing protocols;
b) Ensure that these protocols are appropriate for managing the level of take by individual operators who trigger e-monitoring requirements; and
c) Provide this review within 12 months of introduction of the e-monitoring auditing protocols.
This is to ensure that individual operators' catches are being sufficiently monitored and audited, and are appropriate for managing the level of take in the fishery under the new management regime. Performance against this condition must be included in annual reports specified at Condition 3.
5. The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources to continue to improve the species-based management of hammerhead sharks in the Offshore Net and Line Fishery through:
a) Continuing to support fishers to identify accurately and record sharks at the species level to improve catch composition reporting (in particular of the hammerhead shark complex), and to ensure that catch levels of individual shark species are ecologically sustainable; and
b) Reviewing and providing catch data for Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), Great Hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) and Winghead Sharks (Eusphyra blochii) to the Department of Environment and Energy for the Threatened Species Scientific Committee’s consideration. The data should be in a form that facilitates a comparison of catch levels between the three species, and provide advice on the level of confidence in the various data collected by the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources.
Provide annual reports to the Department (as per Condition 3) on the performance of management arrangements, including actions undertaken as part of this condition, and which comprise the ‘plan of management’ for the purposes of subparagraph 179(6)(b)(ii) of the EPBC Act for Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks.