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
Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Quota Species) Total Allowable Catch (Fishing Year 2006) Determination 2005
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.
AFMA determined TACs for the SESS species (2006 SESSF TAC Determination No. 01), however the instrument used to make six deepwater species (or species groups) quota species for the purposes of the Plan was a Temporary Order. The Temporary Order has now expired and because an amendment to the Plan was not finalised in time, the deepwater species can no longer be considered quota species for the purposes of Schedule 2 of the Plan. This has required that AFMA now seek to revoke 2006 SESSF TAC Determination No. 01 and make a new Determination that does not include these deepwater species.
There are also two other errors in 2006 SESSF TAC Determination No. 01 that will be amended in the new Determination. These include a typographical error in the 2006 TAC for Eastern Orange Roughy that was recorded as 700 tonnes when it should have been recorded as 720 tonnes and a naming error for Spotted Warehou that was listed as Spotted (silver) Warehou.
The Fishery
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) extends over an area of waters from 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 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 the 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.
For 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. The instrument used to make the deepwater species quota species for the purposes of the Plan was a Temporary Order, which has now expired. Because an amendment to the Plan was not finalised in time, the deepwater species can no longer be considered quota species for the purposes of Schedule 2 of the Plan. Arrangements will be made for the future management of these species during 2006.
For 2006 ITQs have been introduced into the SESSF for Alfonsino, Deepwater Flathead, Bight Redfish and Orange Roughy GAB Esperance and Albany. Blue Warehou has also been split into east and west sectors which are implemented through management controls rather than separate ITQs for the 2006 fishing season.
In accordance with Part 1, Section 6 of the Plan, a Harvest Strategy Framework (HSF) was developed in 2005 and applied to the decision making process for setting all SESSF species TACs for the 2006 season. The HSF places all species into categories (tiers) according to the level of knowledge about biology, abundance and stock structure of the species. Tier 1 species are the most well understood and tier 4 species are the least well understood. This framework establishes clear catch limits, target and limit reference points and decision rules that guide the TAC recommendations to become more precautionary as they move down through the tiers.
The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Quota Species) Total Allowable Catch (Fishing Year 2006) Determination 2005 determines the total allowable catches in accordance with the HSF for quota species in the SESSF for the period 1 January 2006 – 31 December 2006.
In accordance with section 33 of the Act the AFMA Board may grant a scientific permit in respect of a specific boat for scientific research purposes in a specified fishery. The Board may agree to enable catches above the determined TACs for some species for the purpose of research, subject to consideration and approval of a structured research plan prepared by the relevant Research Advisory Committee.
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.
There is no need for any further consultation with respect to the new Determination. This is because there will be no change in relation to levels of total allowable catches, except for Eastern Orange Roughy, and no additional requirements placed on operators as a result of the new determination. In the case of Eastern Orange Roughy, the new Determination will implement the correct TAC as per the consultation already undertaken.
Regulation Impact Statement
The Office of Regulation Review (ORR) advised AFMA that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required for the new Determination of quota species TACs for the 2006 season. (ORR ID 7879)
Details of the Determination are set out below:
Clause 1 provides for the Determination to be cited as the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Quota Species) Total Allowable Catch (Fishing Year 2006) Determination 2005
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.
Clause 5 revokes 2006 SESSF TAC determination No. 01.