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 Revocation 2017
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction Revocation 2017 (the Direction) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
Subsection 41A(2) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 provides, that the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) may, after such consultation as set out in s 41A(2), direct that fishing not be engaged in in the fishery, or a particular part of the fishery, during a particular period or periods specified in the direction.
Subsection 41A(3) provides that AFMA may, at any time, by a further direction in writing, vary or revoke a direction given under subsection 41A(2).
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.
Management in the fishery is 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.
The Direction
This Direction revokes temporal and spatial closure arrangements that were imposed to minimise dolphin mortalities in the Coorong area of the fishery adjacent to South Australia. This provides for the application of management arrangements to minimise dolphin mortalities to be implemented across the whole fishery by concession conditions.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation advised that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for this Direction consistent with the agreement in place to cover all regulatory changes deemed to be of a minor or machinery nature.
Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
AFMA assesses under section 9 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 that this legislative instrument is compatible with human rights. AFMA’s Statement of Compatibility is attached to this explanatory statement.
Consultation
The Authority has undertaken consultation regarding marine mammal mortality with industry, environment groups, scientists, CMMWG and SEMAC. It has also undertaken public consultation on the proposed arrangements.
If an instrument is varied or revoked under subsection 41A(3) the requirements in subsections 41A(2) relating to consultation and 41A(2A) requiring a copy of the direction to be sent to each relevant holder of a fishing concession, scientific permit or foreign master fishing licence, do not apply. Therefore, the rule-maker considers the consultation to be appropriate.
Details of the Direction are set out below:
Clause 1 Provides for the Direction to be cited as the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction Revocation 2017.
Clause 2 Provides that the Direction commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Clause 3 Provides that the Direction revokes the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Closures) Direction (No. 1) 2014 with effect from the commencement of the Direction.