EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENT NO. 1
Issued by the authority of the Protected Zone Joint Authority
Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984
The Torres Strait Fisheries Management Instrument No 1 (FMI 1) is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Subsection 16(1) of the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 (the Act) provides for the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to regulate fishing through an instrument registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI). Subsection 35(1) of the Act provides for the Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) to exercise the powers of the Minister under Subsection 16(1) of the Act.
The Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (TSPF) is one of the most valuable commercial fisheries in the Torres Strait. The fishery focuses primarily on brown tiger prawns (Penaeus esculentus), blue endeavour prawns (Metapenaeus spp) and red spot king prawns (Melicertus longistylus). Prawns are taken by trawling at night. Commercial fishing occurs from 1 March to 30 November, inclusive, with a peak during March‑June.
The Torres Strait Prawn Management Plan 2009 (the Plan) was approved by the PZJA and registered on 12 February 2009. The Plan provides for a unitised allocation system representing a share of the total available effort and replaces the current system of fishing days.
Fisheries management instruments are required to support the Plan. In general they deal with prohibitions and management arrangements that are expected to change more frequently than management plans. In addition they may be used to prescribe things that by virtue of the Act cannot be prescribed in a management plan.
Fisheries Management Instrument No. 1 – Prohibition on Taking Prawns (Time Allocation, Transit Zone, and Designated Anchorages) modifies and replaces the existing arrangements contained in Fisheries Management Notice No. 72A. The new instrument includes:
- a prohibition on the taking, processing or carrying of prawns or possession of equipment capable of being used for prawn trawling in areas of the TSPF.
- a series of exemptions from these prohibitions include the holding of a licence to undertake these activities for a number of days in a year, an exemption from reporting via the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) during a period if the boat will not be used for fishing during that period, where the boat will be steaming (moving) from one place to another, where fishing apparatus will be tested or for maintenance of the VMS.
Consultation
The revised arrangements contained in FMI 1 were considered by the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery Management Advisory Committee (TSPMAC) at its December 2008 meeting. The TSPMAC is the principal advisory body for the PZJA on TSPF management issues. The TSPMAC includes members representing industry, government and scientific interests. The TSPMAC recommended that the PZJA approve FMI 1.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has advised that as the impacts of the amendments will be ‘low’, the preparation of a Regulatory Impact Statement or quantification of compliance costs is not required (OBPR ID number 10033).
Details of the Instrument
Clause 1 provides that the name of the instrument is the Torres Strait Fisheries Management Instrument No. 1.
Clause 2 provides that the instrument commences on the day after registration.
Clause 3 provides that the instrument applies in conjunction with any other notice or instrument in force in the TSPF.
Clause 4 provides that Fisheries Management Notice No. 72A, dated
11 October 2006 is revoked. The Torres Strait Fisheries Management Instrument No. 1 will maintain many of the existing arrangements contained in Fisheries Management Notice No. 72A. It will also introduce new transit zones that support spatial closures introduced in Fisheries Management Instrument No 2 (FMI 2). These new spatial closures in FMI 2, set out the designated anchorage zones around Aureed, Yorke, Dugong and Coconut Islands and defines a time and date each year when the fishery officially closes, making the carrying of prawns prohibited in the fishery area.
Clause 5(1) defines how specific words and terms used in the instrument are to be interpreted.
Clause 5(2) confirms that a word used in the instrument that is used in the Act, the Torres Strait Fisheries Regulations or the Torres Strait Prawn Management Plan 2010 has the same meaning as in the Act, Regulations or the Plan.
Clause 6 provides a description of the area of the transit zone in Schedule 1 by reference to the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66) and the anchorage zones in Schedule 1 by reference to the World Geodetic Datum 1984 (WGS84).
For convenience of the use of navigational aids, Schedule 2 also provides a description of the area of the transit zones by reference to WGS84.
Any inconsistencies in coordinates between the AGD66 and the WGS84 description will be resolved by referencing Schedule 1.
The Guidelines for Describing Maritime Boundaries 2006, Geosciences Australia provides good reference material on how maritime boundaries are described and where possible, should be used in conjunction with FMI 1 and this explanatory statement.
Clause 7 describes the prohibitions on taking, processing or carrying of prawns and prawn trawling equipment in the area of the fishery unless an exemption is in force. Subclause 7(4) outlines an absolute prohibition on the carrying of prawns, during the period commencing 06:00 hours local time on 15 December to 17:00 hours local time 1 March every year.
Clause 8 provides guidance on how to assess a person who will be exempt from the prohibitions mentioned in clause 7.
This person will have to be the holder of or acting on the behalf of the holder of a current TSPF boat licence.
This clause also distinguishes, for monitoring and reporting purposes, the difference between a boat having been deemed as fishing, a boat described as at anchor and not fishing, and a boat described as undergoing maintenance and a boat that has undergone maintenance.
All boat movement reporting is monitored in the TSPF by the mandatory use of the VMS.
Clause 9 describes how a holder of a TSPF boat licence may apply for an exemption from reporting via the VMS during a period if the boat will not be used for fishing during that period.
Clause 10 describes how a TSPF boat licence holder may apply to the PZJA for an exemption from reporting via the VMS during a period where the boat will be steaming (moving) from one designated place to another.
The designated places permitted for such a move only include designated anchorage areas in Schedule 3 and areas that are outside the fishery. The area of the fishery is stated in the Plan as referred to in Schedule 5. During the move the boat will not be permitted to carry out any fishing operations.
This clause also outlines the information required to be tendered to the PZJA on application and provides direction on how to configure all fishing gear on board the boat whilst in transit.
Clause 11 describes how a TSPF boat licence holder may apply to the PZJA for an exemption from reporting via the VMS during a period where the boat will be testing fishing apparatus.
This clause is designed to assist the operator to make better use of new technology in regards to fishing apparatus without incurring any impact on the fishing days allocated to that operator.
Fish are not allowed to be retained and all gear that will be tested is to be configured in such a way to ensure, where physically possible, that no fish will be able to be retained in the course of gear trialling.
This clause also sets out all the information required to be tendered to the PZJA on application as well as defining a set linear testing distance allowed for the trial. The VMS must be in working condition and switched on during trialling to ensure that monitoring can be achieved.
Clause 12 describes how a TSPF boat licence holder may apply to the PZJA for an exemption of no more than 6 hours, from reporting via the VMS during a period where the boat will be carrying out maintenance. This clause is designed to ensure the operator is not penalised for failing to meet the reporting requirements as set out in part 5.6 of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery Management Plan 2010.
This clause also sets out all the information required to be tendered to the PZJA on application as well as the configuration of all fishing gear on board the boat whilst that boat is in transit.
Clause 13 provides that a person may be exempt from the prohibition from processing and carrying prawns within the fishery, if they hold a current licence to receive fish granted under section 19 (3) of the Act.
It provides an exemption for a person who holds a Papua New Guinea (PNG) license and the boat holds a Torres Strait Protected Zone Treaty endorsement, for the purpose of commercial fishing in the Australian jurisdiction.
Clause 14 provides prohibitions on the taking of prawns and the possession of equipment capable of taking prawns in the transit zone. The transit zone is set out in Schedule 1 and is only to be used for the purposes of traversing into and out of the area of the fishery. The fishery area is described in clause 5.
All TSPF boats are prohibited from carrying fishing gear while traversing through the transit zones unless all the fishing gear is out of the water. If the gear is in the water the operator must ensure all cod ends are open and drawn to the boat so that the cod ends are visible from an aircraft or another boat and the boards are at the blocks.
This clause ensures that compliance agencies are able to positively ensure that operators abide by the conditions that govern transit zones in the TSPF.
Schedule 1 - Defines the boundary of the transit zone area of waters, by reference to the AGD 66.
Schedule 2 - Defines the boundary of the transit zone area of waters, by reference to the WGS84.
Schedule 3 - Defines the boundary of designated anchorages around Aureed, Yorke, Dugong and Coconut Islands.