EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Overcatch and Undercatch) Determination 2021
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Overcatch and Undercatch) Determination 2021 (the Instrument) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
Subsection 17(5) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that a plan of management made under the Act is to set out, amongst other things, the objectives of the plan of management and measures by which the objectives are to be attained.
Paragraph 17(6)(aa) of the Act provides that a plan of management made under the Act may provide for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to determine the fishing capacity permitted for the fishery or a part of the fishery in respect of a particular period or periods.
Subsection 24(1) of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 (the Management Plan) provides that AFMA must determine amounts and percentages for sections 22, 22A and 23 for each quota species for the fishing year, no later than 31 March, immediately before the commencement of the fishing year. These provisions concern the calculation of undercatch and overcatch.
Prior to making this Instrument, AFMA met the requirements of paragraphs 24(3)(a) to (c) of the Management Plan. Further detail as to how these requirements were met is outlined in detail below.
Purpose
The Instrument determines the amounts and percentages for each quota species in relation to undercatch and overcatch for the 2021 fishing year. Undercatch and overcatch provides for ‘carry over’ or ‘carry under’ of quota between fishing seasons thereby allowing fishers the flexibility to catch a certain amount of fish over or under their quota, and debit or credit this to or from their next season’s fishing quota.
Background
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 made under Part 5 of the Act. Those arrangements vary the application of the Offshore Constitutional Settlement with respect to fisheries jurisdiction.
Management in the Fishery is mainly through output controls in the form of TAC limits set under the Act, pursuant to the Management Plan, and in accordance with the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and the specific Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) Harvest Strategy Framework (HSF). Input controls are also used, which include a limit on the number of boats that operate in each sector of the Fishery, as well as gear restrictions such as limits on mesh size and the amount of fishing gear that may be used.
Consultation
Subsection 24(3) of the Management Plan provides that, in determining an amount or percentage for a quota species for a fishing year, AFMA must consult with any relevant management advisory committee (MAC) and have regard to any view expressed in that consultation (paragraph 24(3)(a)); take into account advice from the relevant resource assessment group (RAG) about the stock status of a quota species (paragraph 24(3)(b)); and must take into account the precautionary principle (paragraph 24(3)(c)). AFMA may also consider the views (if any) of any interested person (paragraph 24(3)(d)).
AFMA has established RAGs and MACs to assist AFMA in the performance of its functions. Notably, the functions of MACs established by AFMA include the function of being a liaison body between AFMA and persons engaged in a fishery (pursuant to paragraph 57(2)(a) of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991 (Administration Act).
Prior to making this Instrument, AFMA consulted with the Great Australian Bight Resource Assessment Group (GABRAG), the Shark Resource Assessment Group (SharkRAG), the South East Resource Assessment Group (SERAG), and the SESSF Resource Assessment Group (SESSFRAG).
First, a series of species stock assessments were considered and advised upon for the SESSF quota species listed in the Instrument at RAG meetings. The stock assessments are based on the HSF and provide for a recommended biological catch (RBC). The RBC provides the best scientific advice on what the total mortality should be for each species or stock, taking into account fishing and natural mortality and any ecological implications of harvesting the species.
Once the RAGs provided advice on RBCs for the Fishery quota species, AFMA translated the RBCs into proposed TACs. The TAC represents the recommended Commonwealth commercial catch for each species or stock, taking into account the expected mortality from incidental catch, discards, and landings in other jurisdictions from the RBC, and applying decision rules contained in the HSF.
Advice from the RAGs was then considered by the South East Management Advisory Committee (SEMAC) and the Great Australian Bight Management Advisory Committee (GABMAC). SEMAC and GABMAC both supported determining the TACs for the Fishery quota species as well as undercatch and overcatch percentages and determined amounts, which provide for ‘carry over’ or ‘carry under’ of quota between fishing seasons.
Recommendations from the relevant meetings of the RAGs and MACs, and species summaries were provided to the AFMA Commission in making the Instrument.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation advised on 30 June 2014 that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required for Instruments of a minor, recurrent or machinery nature, specifically including determinations of fishing capacity (OBPR ID No. 14421).
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.
Details of the Instrument are set out below:
Section 1 Provides for the Instrument to be cited as the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Overcatch and Undercatch) Determination 2021.
Section 2 Provides that the Instrument commences on 1 May 2021.
Section 3 Provides that the Instrument ceases on 1 May 2022.
Section 4 Provides that the authority to make the Instrument is paragraph 17(6)(aa) of the Act, pursuant to subsection 24(1) of the Management Plan.
Section 5 Defines relevant terms for the purpose of the Instrument.
Subsection (1) provides that the Act is the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and the Management Plan is the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003.
Subsection (2) provides that terms that are defined in the Management Plan have the same meaning in the instrument as they do in the Management Plan.
Section 6 This section determines the percentage of overcatch for the purpose of sections 22 and 22A of the Management Plan, the percentage of undercatch for the purpose of section 23 of the Management Plan, and determines the determined amount for the purpose of section 22A of the Management Plan, for each quota species across the entire area of the fishery for the 2021 fishing year, commencing on 1 May 2021 and ending on 30 April 2022.
Attachment A
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Overcatch and Undercatch) Determination 2021
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
Subsection 17(5) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that a plan of management made under the Act is to set out, amongst other things, the objectives of the plan of management and measures by which the objectives are to be attained.
Paragraph 17(6)(aa) of the Act provides that a plan of management made under the Act may provide for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to determine the fishing capacity permitted for the fishery or a part of the fishery in respect of a particular period or periods.
Subsection 24(1) of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 (the Management Plan) provides that AFMA must, no later than 31 March immediately before the commencement of a fishing year, determine amounts and percentages for sections 22, 22A and 23 for each quota species for the fishing year. These provisions concern the calculation of undercatch and overcatch.
Subsection 24(3) of the Management Plan provides that, in determining an amount or percentage for a quota species for a fishing year, AFMA must consult with any relevant management advisory committee and have regard to any view expressed in that consultation (paragraph 24(3)(a)); take into account advice from the relevant resource assessment group about the stock status of a quota species (paragraph 24(3)(b)); and must take into account the precautionary principle (paragraph 24(3)(c)). AFMA may also consider the views (if any) of any interested person (paragraph 24(3)(d)).
The Instrument determines the amounts and percentages for each quota species in relation to undercatch and overcatch for the 2021 fishing year. Undercatch and overcatch provides for ‘carry over’ or ‘carry under’ of quota between fishing seasons thereby allowing fishers the flexibility to catch a certain amount of fish over or under their quota, and debit or credit this to or from the next fishing year’s fishing quota.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.