EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Managing Director
of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority
Fisheries Management Act 1991
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003
SESSF TAC D1
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (quota species) Total Allowable Catches (2007 Fishing Year) Determination
Subsection 17(5) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that a plan of management made under the Management Act may provide for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to give particular determinations for the purposes of attaining the objectives of the plan of management.
Subsection 17(6aa) of the Act provides that a plan of management may determine or provide for AFMA to determine the fishing capacity measured, by that method or those methods permitted for the fishery or a part of the fishery in respect of a particular period or periods.
Section 11 of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Management Plan 2003 (the Plan) provides that AFMA must before 5 December of the year preceding each fishing year, determine a total allowable catch (TAC) for each quota species for the fishing year. In determining a TAC for a quota species or a quota species in a particular area of the fishery AFMA must have regard to reference points for the species determined under section 9 of the Plan. A determination of a TAC must specify the TAC expressed in whole weight or a specified other weight and must specify the particular parts of the fishery to which the TAC applies.
Section 12 of the Plan provides that, before AFMA determines a TAC for a quota species for a fishing year, it must consult and consider the views of each relevant management advisory committee. It must take into account advice from the relevant fishery assessment group about the stock status of a quota species and may consider the views of any other interested person. It must also take into account all fishing mortality from all sectors within the fishery and overlapping or adjacent fisheries, the ecological implications of harvesting the TAC, the distribution and population structure of the species and the precautionary principle.
The Fishery
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) covers the area of waters from around 80nm off the coast near Fraser Island Queensland to Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia. The area of this fishery covers nearly half of the waters within the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) of mainland Australia and Tasmania. The SESSF has complex jurisdictional arrangements, because of different Offshore Constitutional Settlements (OCS) with all Australian States.
The SESSF is an amalgamation of four previously separately managed fisheries; the South East Trawl (SET), South East Non Trawl (SENT), Southern Shark Fishery (SSF) and the Great Australian Bight Trawl (GABT). The fishery is managed using a mixture of input and output controls. There is a limit on the number of boats that operate in each sector as well as limits on mesh size and the amount of fishing gear that can be used. Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) were introduced into the SETF in 1992 for 16 scalefish species. In the SENTF, ITQs were introduced for 3 key species in 1998, with the remaining SETF scalefish species in 2002. ITQs for School and Gummy Shark were introduced to SSF, SETF and GABTF in 2001, ITQs for Elephant Fish family and Saw Shark were introduced in 2002 to the SETF, SSF and GABTF. ITQs for all the shark species were introduced in the SENTF in 2003. In 2005, ITQs were introduced into the SESSF for the deepwater species, Smooth Dory – Cascade Plateau, Smooth Dory – all of SESS except Cascade Plateau, Oreos (mixed basket of warty, spiky, rough and black oreo), Deepwater Sharks (east and west sectors) and Ribaldo Cod. For 2006 ITQs have been introduced into the SESSF for Alfonsino, Deepwater Flathead, Bight Redfish and Orange Roughy GAB Esperance and Albany.
In December 2005 AFMA commenced managing deepwater species (oreos and deepwater sharks) under a specified non-quota Species Temporary Order, with the intention of adding them to schedule 2 of the Plan in 2006. A second temporary Order of the same substance was determined on 07 June 2006 to commence on 21 June 2006 for a period of 6 months to further allow for this management to continue. It is AFMAs intention to amend the Plan to place these species on the quota list in schedule 2 of the Plan, in order for AFMA to continue managing them under the current permit arrangements.
Until such time as the Plan can be amended, AFMA will manage these species under a transitional arrangement provided by the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan Temporary Order 2006 (No. 2). This temporary order places deepwater species (oreos and deepwater sharks) in schedule 2 of the plan until the statutory process for the plan amendments is completed.
Pursuant to section 43(9) of the FMA if an order is inconsistent with a provision of a plan of management the order overrides the provision and to that extent, the provision has no effect. Therefore, all quota species are listed in this temporary order to ensure consistency with the Plan. These Plan amendments will be in place by 15 December 2006. This Temporary Order, however, is to give effect to the full list of quota species as listed in schedule 2 of the plan to be amended, in the event the amendment process is delayed.
Consultation
The AFMA consultation process began with Resource Assessment Groups (RAGs) where scientific members presented industry and management members and observers with relevant species stock assessments for comment. This year, stock assessments within the HSF included a recommended biological catch (RBC) which takes into account all fishing and natural mortality for the species and the ecological implications of
harvesting the TAC. Management Advisory Committee’s (MACs) of the South East Trawl
(SETMAC), Great Australian Bight (GABMAC) and Gillnet, Hook and Trap (GHATMAC) considered the advice of their RAGs individually then presented their arguments for each
species TAC at a combined JointMAC meeting. From this meeting AFMA management and MAC TAC recommendations were sent to the board along with all comments expressed at JointMAC.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Regulation Review (ORR) advised AFMA that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for the Determination of quota species TACs for the 2007 season. (ORR ID 8769)
Details of the Determination are set out below:
Clause 1 provides for the Determination to be cited as Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (quota species) Total Allowable Catches (2007 Fishing Year) Determination.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Determination.
Clause 3 defines terms used in the Determination.
Clause 4 sets out the period of application of this Determination and the determined
amounts.