Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery Management Plan 1995 - 2012-13 Southern Bluefin Tuna Australia's National Catch Allocation Determination

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Authority of the Commission of

the Australian Fisheries Management Authority

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery Management Plan 1995

2012-13 Southern Bluefin Tuna Australia’s National Catch Allocation Determination

The 2012-2013 Southern Bluefin Tuna Australia’s National Catch Allocation Determination (the Determination) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments 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.

Subclause 17.2A of the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery Management Plan 1995 (the Plan) provides that, AFMA may determine the amount of Australia’s national catch allocation for one or more seasons to be an amount that does not exceed the allocation to Australia made by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).

The Determination sets Australia’s national catch allocation for Southern Bluefin Tuna at
4,528,000 kilograms for the season commencing on 1 December 2011 and which will end on 30 November 2012, and 4,698,000 kilograms for the season commencing on 1 December 2012 and which will end on 30 November 2013.

Background

The 18th meeting of the CCSBT was held from 10 - 13 October 2011 in Bali, Indonesia.  CCSBT is the international body responsible for setting the global Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the take of Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT).  Each member nation and cooperating non-member nation is allocated a proportion of the global TAC which they may take for the relevant fishing year. 

Following extensive discussions at the meeting, CCSBT adopted a Management Procedure to be the basis for setting the global TAC for 2012 and beyond. The Management Procedure is designed to rebuild SBT spawning biomass to 20% of unfished levels by 2035 with a 70% probability. It uses biological information about the stock, primarily from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation aerial survey and commercial catch rates from longline fisheries, to recommend either that an increase or decrease in the global TAC is necessary to achieve the rebuilding target. Increases and decreases in the global TAC are designed to occur every three years and limited to 3,000 tonnes, with the same global TAC being in place within each three year block. However, during the first three year period different global TACs will apply in each year, with the increases in the first and second year being limited to 1,000 tonnes and 500 tonnes respectively and the TAC for the third year to be reviewed in 2013.

At the meeting, CCSBT set the global TAC for 2012 at 10,449 tonnes, an increase of 1000 tonnes from the 2010/11 season.  CCSBT set the global TAC for 2013 at 10,949 tonnes, an increase of 1500 tonnes from the 2010/11 season. 

Australia’s SBT national quota allocation for the season commencing on 1 December 2011 was set at 4,528,000 kilograms. 

Australia’s SBT national quota allocation for the season commencing on 1 December 2012 was set at 4,698,000 kilograms. 

The AFMA Commission met on 25 October 2011 and agreed to determine Australia’s national catch allocation for the season commencing on 1 December 2011 at 4,528,000 kilograms and for the season commencing on 1 December 2012 at 4,698,000 kilograms, in line with the proportional settings made by CCSBT.   

The AFMA Commission considered that the decision was consistent with the pursuit of its objectives in section 3 of the Act and section 6 of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991 (FA Act).  

The objectives that were considered most relevant to this decision were the objective in section 3(1)(b) (the sustainability objective), and the objective in section 3(1)(c) (and the corresponding objectives in section 6 of the FA Act).  Section 3(1)(b) provides:

“ensuring that the exploitation of fisheries resources….are conducted in a manner, consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development (which include the exercise of the precautionary principle) in particular the need to have regard to the impact of fishing on non-target species and the long term sustainability of the marine environment.”

Section 3(1)(c) provides:

“maximising the net economic returns to the Australian community from management of Australian fisheries.”

The Commission considered that the most weight should be given to the sustainability objective, particularly given that determining Australia’s national allocation in line with the global TAC and National Allocation decisions of CCSBT.  The catch allocation would result in an increase in the allocation the Commission determined for the 2010/2011 season.

Consideration was also given to the matters in section 3 (2) of the Act, paragraphs (a) to (d), which AFMA is required to have regard to when carrying out its functions, concerning: not over-exploiting living resources, achieving optimum utilisation of living resources and implementing measures from International fish stock agreements and other International law.

The AFMA Commission considered advice on the stock status of SBT from the CCSBT Scientific Committee that the spawning biomass remains around 5% of the unfished spawning biomass. It also noted there had been strong recent recruitment over the past five years, which the CCSBT Scientific Committee predicts will result in an increase in spawning biomass when these age classes begin reaching the spawning age of 10 years old. The significant reduction in catches since 2006 and increased recruitment have led the CCSBT Scientific Committee to predict strong rebuilding of SBT spawning biomass.

The Commission decided that setting Australia’s national catch allocation based on a Management Procedure agreed by CCSBT pursued the Ecologically Sustainable Development objective of the Act. This decision was based on the fact that the Management Procedure has a high likelihood of rebuilding the stock to 20% of unfished biomass within an acceptable timeframe for a species with the generation span of SBT.  The AFMA Commission decided that unilaterally determining a lower national allocation than agreed by CCSBT would not have any benefits in terms of the long-term rebuilding rate of the stock.  This is because any increase in spawning biomass or recruitment as a result of lower Australian catches would be detected by the agreed Management Procedure and result in higher future allocations to other CCSBT members as the Management Procedure targets rebuilding the stock by 2035.

The Commission further considered that setting a national allocation of 4,528,000 kilograms for the season commencing 1 December 2011 pursued the objective to maximise the net economic returns to the Australian community. Most SBT is caught in purse seine nets off the South Australian coast and transferred into farm pontoons in Boston Bay, Port Lincoln where it is grown out before being harvested, mainly for export. This process adds significant economic activity to the Australian economy, particularly in the Eyre Peninsula. The 513 tonne increase in the national allocation should maximise the net economic returns to the Australian economy.

As the CCSBT Scientific Committee considers that SBT is currently at a relatively low biomass but predicts it is increasing, the AFMA Commission decided that setting a national allocation in line with the Management Procedure pursued both objectives in section 3(2)(a) and section 3(2)(b) of the Act. The national allocation set by the AFMA Commission is also consistent with the Australian allocation set by CCSBT pursuing objectives in section 3(2)(c) and section 3(2)(d) of the Act.

Consultation

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry held stakeholder forums with industry members in August 2011 to help develop the Australian negotiating position on Australia’s national catch allocation that was taken to the CCSBT meeting in October 2011.

The CCSBT Scientific Committee meeting was held between 19 and 28 July 2011 and recommended the national allocations for 2012, 2013 and 2014.  At the Southern Bluefin Tuna Management Advisory Committee (SBTMAC) meeting held in Canberra on 12 September 2011, the SBTMAC members, including representatives from industry, conservation non-government organisations (NGOs), scientists and management, noted the outcomes of the CCSBT Scientific Committee meeting. 

Representatives of the SBT fishing industry and a number of NGOs attended the CCSBT meeting in Bali in October 2011 as part of the Australian delegation to negotiate Australia’s national allocation.

AFMA consulted with industry members and interested stakeholders at each major step of the national catch allocation setting process, by providing updates on the outcomes of CCSBT and Commission decisions in relation to national catch allocations and its influence on Australia’s national catch allocation.

Regulation Impact Statement

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) advised that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for this Determination consistent with the agreement in place to cover all regulatory changes deemed to be of a minor or machinery nature. 

Details of the Determination are set out below: