EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the
Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 2 2016
Subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) provides, inter alia, that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (the Authority) may direct that fishing is not to be engaged in in the fishery, or a particular part of the fishery, during a particular period or periods.
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 2 2016 (the Direction) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
The Fishery
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (the fishery) covers the area of waters from approximately 80 nautical miles off the coast near Fraser Island in Queensland, south around Tasmania and west to Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. The area of the fishery encompasses almost half of the waters within the Australian Fishing Zone. The fishery operates in both Commonwealth and state waters under complex jurisdictional arrangements, due to different Offshore Constitutional Settlement arrangements with each state.
The fishery is managed under the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 (the Plan), in force under s17 of the Management Act, mainly through output controls in the form of Total Allowable Catch limits set under the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and the specific fishery Harvest Strategy Framework. Input controls used include a limit on the number of boats that operate in each sector, as well as gear restrictions such as limits on mesh size and the amount of fishing gear that may be used.
Closures serve to place restrictions on effort to protect spawning grounds, minimise impact on deepwater species, facilitate the recovery of certain species and protect threatened and endangered species. In this instance, the closure contained within the Direction is to allow a survey of the spawning population of orange roughy in the eastern Orange Roughy Management Area (ORMA) to proceed without interruption from commercial fishing. The survey will be used to inform a stock assessment that is used to monitor recovery and rebuilding of eastern zone orange roughy.
Background to the Direction
Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) is a quota species under the Plan, and is assessed as a number of different stocks within the fishery. Targeted fishing for orange roughy ceased in 2006 and the eastern, southern and western zone stocks of orange roughy were placed under a stock conservation program. A stock assessment of the eastern zone stock was accepted by the Slope Resource Assessment Group (SlopeRAG) in October 2014. It showed the eastern orange roughy stock had rebuilt to 26 per cent of its unfished biomass and was at a level that supported recommencement of targeted fishing.
The species is currently managed under a separate Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for each specific zone. At its meeting in March 2016, the Authority’s Commission determined a TAC of 500 tonnes for the eastern zone for the 2016-17 fishing season.
Regular orange roughy eastern zone stock assessments are required in order to monitor the rebuilding of the stock. Surveys of the spawning population are required to provide an index of abundance to inform these assessments.
Orange roughy fishing is subject to special management arrangements in areas of orange roughy aggregations. These are called Orange Roughy Management Areas (ORMAs). There are two ORMAs in the fishery; one south of Tasmania near Pedra Branca Island and the other east of Tasmania off St Helen’s. The closure contained within the Direction applies to the eastern ORMA only.
The Direction
The Direction closes the eastern ORMA from 1 July 2016 to 31 July 2016 to all methods of fishing and applies to all holders of fishing concessions in the fishery.
Consultation
Subsection 41A(2) of the Management Act provides that, before giving a direction, the Authority must consult the Management Advisory Committee and consider their views.
In accordance with subsection 41A(2) of the Management Act, the Authority has consulted with the South East Management Advisory Committee on the contents of the Direction.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation advised that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for the Direction (OBPR ID: 20929).
Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
The Authority assesses under section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 that this legislative instrument is compatible with human rights. The Authority’s Statement of Compatibility is attached as a supporting document.
Terms of the Direction
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 provides for the Direction to be cited as Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 2 2016.
Clause 2 provides that the Direction commences on 1 July 2016.
Clause 3 provides that the Direction is repealed on 1 August 2016, unless earlier repealed.
Clause 4 provides that terms used in the Direction that are defined in the Management Plan, have the same meanings they have in the Management Plan.
Clause 5 specifies the persons to whom the Direction applies.
Clause 6 directs that fishing is not to be engaged in by all fishing methods in the area of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery as described in Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 describes the area of the fishery closed to fishing by all fishing methods.