COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
DECLARATION OF AN APPROVED WILDLIFE TRADE OPERATION
I, PAUL MURPHY, 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 PQ Aquatics, 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 harvest of Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (weedy seadragon), Hippocampus breviceps (short-head seahorse) and Hippocampus abdominalis (eastern potbelly seahorse), from Victorian waters, by PQ Aquatics in accordance with relevant state permits, to be an approved wildlife trade operation, in accordance with subsection 303FN(2) and paragraph 303FN(10)(b) for the purposes of the EPBC Act.
Unless amended or revoked, this declaration:
a) is valid until 14 December 2018 and;
b) is subject to the conditions applied under section 303FT specified in the Schedule.
Dated this 15th day of December 2015
………….…….……… Paul Murphy ………………………
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 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 (currently $861 or reduced fee where applicable due to financial hardship) 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, Sustainable Fisheries Section, Department of the Environment, Telephone: (02) 6274 1917 Email: sustainablefisheries@environment.gov.au.
SCHEDULE
Declaration of the Harvest Operations of PQ Aquatics operation as an approved wildlife trade operation, December 2015
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS (section 303FT)
Relating to the harvesting of fish specimens that are, or are derived from, fish or invertebrates, taken by the PQ Aquatics operation:
- Export of syngnathid species is restricted to specimens held or taken under permits issued by the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, and offspring of these specimens.
2. PQ Aquatics to inform the Department of the Environment of any intended material changes:
- to the conditions on permits issued by the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, and/or
- to the operating arrangements of the facility
or other changes to management arrangements for the operation that may affect the assessment against which Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) decisions are made.
3. By December of each year annual reports are to be provided by PQ Aquatics to the Department of the Environment and should include:
- total harvest, including species, location, quantities, size, reproductive state and sex of individuals collected
- results of spawning, mating and rearing trials and the number of mortalities that have occurred
- quantities and numbers of specimens for each species sold or held as stocks.
4. Wild caught and cultured syngnathids are not to be returned to the wild.