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. 3 2010
Purpose
The purpose of this Direction is to protect Australian sea lions from the impact of gillnet fishing methods.
This Direction sets out permanent closure boundaries to direct that fishing with gillnet methods is not to be engaged in in certain areas of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF). The intent of the closures is to significantly reduce the impact of gillnet fishing on Australian sea lions and enable the recovery of species, including all sub-populations.
Legislation
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.
Under Subsection 56(3) AFMA is required to give at least seven days’ notice prior to the Direction taking effect. A Temporary Order has been made removing the specified seven day notice period before a Direction takes effect but does not affect the obligation to provide written notice of this Direction to all fishing concession holders.
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan
The 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 gillnet sector of the SESSF extends from the New South Wales – Victoria border, south around Tasmania to the South Australia - Western Australian border.
An objective of the Plan is to ensure that the exploitation of resources and related activities in the SESSF are conducted in a manner consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development and the exercise of the precautionary principle. Management strategies are to take into account the impact of fishing activities on non-target species, thus ensuring the long-term sustainability of the marine environment.
Background
Australian sea lions are a protected species and listed as ‘Vulnerable’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). They are also classified as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Pinniped Specialist Group. Sea lions are at risk from gillnet fishing methods in the SESSF as they forage on or close to the sea bed and at depths and distances where gillnets are commonly set. Most interactions result in sea lion death due to entanglement and drowning.
The SESSF and its operations were declared an approved Wildlife Trade Operation (WTO) for the purposes of section 303FN of the EPBC Act on 21 December 2006. On 19 February 2010, the Minister for Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts declared further conditions applying to the SESSF, specifically, Condition 6 responding to the threat to Australian sea lions in SESSF.
Condition 6 states that AFMA must, in accord with the precautionary principle, implement, by 30 June 2010, management measures, including fisheries closures, that will lead to a significant reduction of the impact of fishing activity on Australian sea lions and enable the recovery of sub-populations.
In response to both the fishery’s management objectives and to the WTO condition, AFMA has developed the Australian sea lion management strategy which was approved by the AFMA Commission in its session of 22 June 2010. Under the strategy, AFMA will implement long-term management measures including formal fisheries closures (covering approximately 6,300km2) around all Australian sea lion colonies, increased independent monitoring of fishing activity and adaptive management arrangements for further closures to respond to further sea lion interactions. This Direction will implement the Australian sea lion management strategy.
The spatial closures in the strategy are tiered with base level closures and then additional protection is afforded to each Australian sea lion colony depending on the colony’s size and risk associated with interactions with gillnet methods.
Consultation
AFMA has undertaken extensive consultation during the development of the Australian sea lion management strategy. This consultation has included operators from the South Australian gillnet sector, the Commonwealth Fisheries Association, environmental groups, South Australian state fishery management, research and environmental agencies, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Bureau of Rural Sciences and the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
AFMA’s South East Management Advisory Committee (SEMAC) and SharkRAG have also been consulted during the development of the strategy. SEMAC was consulted on the management strategy in January, April, May and June 2010. Based on SharkRAG advice, SEMAC supported a closure strategy to protect the most at risk colonies, although conservation and gillnet members differed on the extent of the closures.
AFMA received a range of submissions regarding the spatial closures contained in the strategy. Fishing industry members were generally supportive of the smaller closures (those contained in Schedules 1 to 4 of the Direction) and opposed to the larger closures (contained in Schedule 5 and 6 of the Direction). Environmental groups advised that they did not consider the spatial closures large enough to protect Australian sea lions.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation has advised that the amendments do not require further analysis in the form of a Business Cost Calculator Report or Regulation Impact Statement (Reference ID 11535).
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 provides for the Direction to be cited as SESSF (Closures) Direction No. 3 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 with gillnet methods is not to be engaged in in areas of the fishery as detailed in Schedules 1 to 6.
Schedule 1 describes the area of the Kangaroo Island gillnet strip closure.
Schedule 2 describes the area of the Head of the Great Australian Bight gillnet strip closure.
Schedule 3 describes the area of the 4nm radius Australian sea lion gillnet closures.
Schedule 4 describes the area of the 6nm radius Australian sea lion gillnet closures.
Schedule 5 describes the area of the 8nm radius Australian sea lion gillnet closures.
Schedule 6 describes the area of the 10nm radius Australian sea lion gillnet closures.