EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENT
Issued by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, through the Commission established under s10B of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Management Plan 2005
ETBF Direction No. 08/02
Daylight Fishing Closure
The Direction is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Subsection 17(5A) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) provides that a plan of management made under the Management Act may provide for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to give particular directions for the purposes of attaining the objectives of the plan of management. The subsection also requires that the directions be made after the consultations (if any) that are set out in the plan of management.
Subsection 12(1) of the Plan provides that AFMA may direct that fishing is not to be engaged in the fishery, or a part of the fishery, during a particular period or periods. Subsection 12(4) of the Plan provides that AFMA can give such a Direction without consultation or notice in an emergency.
Section 6 of the Plan specifies the objectives of the Plan, including to ensure that the exploitation of the resources of the fishery and the carrying on of any related activities are conducted in a manner consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development and the exercise of the precautionary principle, and, in particular, the need to have regard to the impact of fishing activities on bycatch species and the long term sustainability of the marine environment.
The Fishery
The fishery includes waters within the Australian fishing zone between Cape York Peninsular and the border of Victoria and South Australia. The fishery is for tuna and billfish species caught by longline and minor line fishing.
ETBF Direction No. 08/02 establishes a closure to daylight setting of longlines in a specified area of the fishery, the boundaries of which are prescribed. Setting is defined as releasing a longline into the sea. The Direction prohibits the releasing of a longline into the sea during daylight hours until 30 April 2009. The Direction will not restrict the setting of longlines between nautical dusk and nautical dawn.
This daylight closure has been introduced as an emergency response to a significant increase in the capture of threatened albatross species in the area. Longline fishing is considered a Key Threatening Process for seabirds. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 has established a Threat Abatement Plan for seabird bycatch, which sets a limit of 0.05 bird captures per 1000 hooks that are set.
The daylight closure will provide additional protection during this period of higher albatross interactions.
A similar Direction was in force between 28 July 2008 and 31 August 2008, in the area of the fishery south of latitude 33°S, north of 36°S and west of 156°E, following the capture by longline vessels operating in the fishery of a number of endangered albatross.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation has agreed the proposed action would have a low impact on business, and would appear to impose no or low compliance costs. As a result, no further analysis (in the form of a Business Cost Calculator Report or Regulation Impact Statement) was required (ID 9750).
Consultation
The risk of breaching the limit catch rate of threatened seabirds requires AFMA to take emergency action to provide additional protection. As such, a brief on this issue was provided to the Eastern Tuna Management Advisory Committee (ETMAC) informing them of the closure. The closure will be reviewed at a seabird mitigation workshop to be held in Canberra on 23 September 2008. The meeting will be attended by a range of stakeholders including representatives from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), industry, fishery observers and AFMA staff.
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 Clause 1 provides for the Direction to be cited as ETBF Direction No. 08/02.
Clause 2 Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Direction.
Clause 3 Clause 3 states to whom the Direction applies.
Clause 4 Clause 4 specifies the period in which the Direction will apply.
Clause 5 Clause 5 defines certain terms used in the Direction and provides that terms used in the Direction that are defined for the purposes of the Plan (such as ‘area of the fishery’ and ‘Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery’) have the same meanings as they have in the Plan.
The clause includes a further note, that terms used in the Direction that are defined in the Management Act have the same meaning in the Direction
Clause 6 Clause 6 prohibits setting of longlines in the given area the fishery.
Clause 7 Clause 7 provides for an exemption to clause 6 if setting is undertaken at night between nautical dusk (sunset) and nautical dawn (sunrise).
ETBFD 08/02