EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SCALEFISH AND SHARK FISHERY
(Closures) DIRECTION No. 1 2010
Subsection 17 (5A) Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) may direct that fishing is not to be engaged in a fishery or a particular part of a fishery during a particular period or periods. The subsection also requires that the directions be made after consultations (if any) that are set out in the plan of management.
Subsection 17 (5B) of the Act states that a Direction made under subsection 17 (5A) in relation to a part of a fishery may identify the part concerned in any way or ways including by reference to a particular area, a particular species, or type of fish, a particular kind or quantity of fishing equipment, a particular method of fishing, or any combination of the above.
Subsection 56(1) of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 (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. Section 5 of the Plan provides objectives of the Plan, including the implementation of efficient and cost effective management of the fishery.
Subsection 56(2) of the Plan provides that, before AFMA issues a direction, it must consult and consider the views of each relevant Management Advisory Committee over the content of the direction.
Subsection 56(3) of the Plan provides that AFMA must give each fishing concession holders at least seven days notice of a direction before the direction takes effect.
Subsection 56(4) of the Plan provides that the consultation and notification requirements under Subsections 56(2) and 56(3) of the Plan do not apply if the direction is given in an emergency.
In this case the Direction not to engage in fishing is in given in an emergency.
Background
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) is managed under the Plan. It is a multi-method, multi-species fishery that lands fresh scalefish and shark for the Australian market and for export. The area of the SESSF stretches south from Fraser Island in southern Queensland, around Tasmania to Cape Leeuwin in southern Western Australia. It comprises a number of historically separate sectors which had substantial overlap in their areas of operation and species targeted.
The Seiner’s and Everard horseshoe closures detailed in this Direction are located within the Commonwealth South East Trawl, Commonwealth Scalefish Hook and Commonwealth Shark Hook sectors of the SESSF.
Since 2005, these closures have been implemented on a voluntary basis by industry between the months of September to November to protect Pink Ling stocks. In 2007 and 2008 the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS) Status Reports classified Pink Ling as subject to overfishing in the east.
After consultation with industry, in 2009 these two closures were implemented formally through the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 2 2009 for 12 months (until 30 April 2010) with the intent of reducing Pink Ling catches. After this period, the effectiveness of the closures was to be reviewed with respect to meeting this objective.
The 12 month closure direction expired on 30 April 2010 however the review of the closures in relation to Pink Ling can not be completed until June 2010.
During 2009 and 2010, these closures were identified as potentially offering protection to two species of upper-slope dogfish; Harrisson’s Dogfish and Southern Dogfish. Both of these species have undergone significant declines across their range, are high risk species in the SESSF and are being considered for listing as threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) during 2010.
AFMA has developed a management strategy for upper-slope dogfish that is being considered during the threatened species listing process. The Seiner’s and Everard horseshoe closures have been included in the strategy and were due to be implemented along with a range of additional closures by 30 June 2010. The intent is to then review them in light of the final results from CSIRO’s project and within the context of a broader network of closures being developed for implementation by 17 December 2010.
That AFMA must have closures implemented to protect upper-slope dogfish by 17 December 2010 is a condition of the SESSF Wildlife Trade Operation accreditation under the EPBC Act.
Given that the original closure direction for the Seiner’s and Everard horseshoes expired 30 April 2010 and the planned new direction was not intended to be implemented until 30 June 2010, some members of industry have been fishing and expressed intent to extensively fish in these areas during this period. As the effectiveness of these areas have not yet been fully assessed in relation to the protection of Pink Ling and upper-slope dogfish, AFMA considers the risk to these species to be unacceptable. Consequently AFMA intends to implement closures to the Seiner’s and Everard horseshoe areas as soon as possible as a precautionary measure.
Purpose
The Direction sets out closure boundaries, to be in force until 17 December 2010, to:
- Prevent fishing of Pink Ling in these areas until their effectiveness in assisting the recovery of stocks, can be re-assessed, and
2. Afford protection to Harrisson’s Dogfish and / or Southern Dogfish whilst a broader network of closures can be designed and implemented.
Consultation
AFMA consulted via a workshop in March 2009 with scientists and industry in relation to the closures for the purposes of protecting Pink Ling stocks. The effectiveness of the closures in meeting this objective is due to be reviewed in June 2010.
AFMA has consulted extensively with scientific experts, industry, CSIRO, BRS and DEWHA in developing the upper-slope dogfish management strategy through two workshop during 2009, various meetings, phone conversations and letters.
The South East Management Advisory Committee at it meeting on 29 April 2010 supported the implementation of Stage 1 closures outlined in the upper-slope dogfish management strategy that includes the Seiner’s and Everard horseshoes. The AFMA Commission at its meeting on 13 April also endorsed the implementation of Stage 1 of the upper-slope dogfish management strategy.
Consultation in to relation dogfish to date has been with the intent to implement Stage 1 of the strategy, including the Seiner’s and Everard horseshoes, by 30 June 2010. Due to the intent expressed recently by industry to exploit the two-month period in which the closures were not to apply, AFMA now considers the re-instatement of the Seiner’s and Everard horseshoe closures to be an emergency. In this regard, time has not permitted AFMA to consult with SEMAC or the broader industry about the revised date for the implementation of the closures.
Regulation Impact Statement
Due to the urgent nature of the direction AFMA has not been able to seek advice from the Office of Best Practice Regulation relating to whether a Regulation Impact Statement or quantification of compliance costs is required.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation advised that the previous direction, Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 2 2009, did not require further analysis in the form of a Business Cost Calculator Report or Regulation Impact Statement (Reference ID 10127).
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 provides for the Direction to be cited as SESSF (Closures) Direction No. 1 2010.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Direction.
Clause 3 states to whom the Direction applies.
Clause 4 states the period for which the Direction applies.
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 have the same meanings as they have in the Plan.
Clause 6 directs that fishing is not to be engaged in areas of the fishery detailed in Schedules 1 and 2.
Clause 7 provides for an exemption for persons who otherwise fish in accordance with another plan of management in force under the Act, or State or Territory law applying in the area of the fishery; and provides an exemption for persons who wish to complete scientific research in the closed areas of waters upon the receipt of a scientific permit from AFMA.
Schedule 1 - describes the area of Seiner’s Horseshoe, which will be closed to fishing from the date of commencement to 17 December 2010, except for those exempt under clause 7.
Schedule 2 - describes the area of Everard Horseshoe, which will be closed to fishing from the date of commencement to 17 December 2010, except for those exempt under clause 7.