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.

Western Australian Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery, October 2022

I, ADAM SINCOCK, Principal Director, Wildlife Trade Office, as Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water:

a)      revoke the accreditation of the management regime for Western Australian Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery dated 20 December 2013 and

b)      being satisfied that:

i)        the management regime for the Western Australian Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery in force under the:

·         Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA)

·         Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)

·         Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery Management Plan 2018

·         or under the authority of an Exemption granted in accordance with Section 7 of the Western Australian Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA),

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 Western Australian Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery in force under the:

·         Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA)

·         Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)

·         Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery Management Plan 2018

·         or under the authority of an Exemption granted in accordance with Section 7 of the Western Australian Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA),

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 Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development must:

a)    by 1 December 2024, undertake and deliver a fishery independent survey of the commercially fished area of Hippocampus subelongatus to produce biomass data, identify key harvest locations and identify any risks of localised depletion

b)    by 1 July 2025, identify and publish any required changes to the management arrangements for Hippocampus subelongatus, including harvest limits, based on the data collected from the fishery independent survey.

Dated this 27th day of October 2022

..………………. Adam Sincock ………….……..

Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water