COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Revocation of Accreditation of a Plan, Regime or Policy for the purposes of Part 13.

Accreditation of a Plan, Regime or Policy for the purposes of Part 13.

Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, August 2022

I, DECLAN O’CONNOR-COX, Assistant Secretary, Environment Protection Reform Branch, as Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water:

a)      revoke the accreditation of the management regime for the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery dated 26 August 2014, and

b)      being satisfied that:

i)        the management regime for the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery in force under the:

·         Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth)

·         Fisheries Regulations 2019 (Cth)

·         Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Management Plan 2010,

requires persons engaged in fishing under the management regime to take all reasonable steps to ensure that members of listed threatened species, listed migratory species, cetaceans and listed marine species are not killed or injured as a result of the fishing, and

ii)      the fishery to which the management regime relates does not, or is not likely to, adversely affect:

a)      the survival or recovery in nature of any listed threatened species, or

b)      the conservation status of a listed migratory species, cetacean, or listed marine species or a population of that species,

accredit the management regime for the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery in force under the:

·         Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth)

·         Fisheries Regulations 2019 (Cth)

·         Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Management Plan 2010,

under sections 208A, 222A, 245 and 265 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for the purposes of Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively of Part 13 of the EPBC Act.

This accreditation is subject to the following conditions under section 303AA of the EPBC Act:

Part 13 Condition A

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must continue to identify, trial, and where appropriate, implement methods to improve the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery’s mitigation of interactions with protected species, including identifying and adopting opportunities from relevant research projects and broader international initiatives.

Part 13 Condition B

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority to continue efforts to determine the extent of the impact of fishing in the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery on marine turtle species.

Dated this    17        day of        August       2022

DECLAN O’CONNOR-COX

..……………………….……..

Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water