Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

 

 

 

I, BELINDA JAGO, Branch Head, Ocean and Wildlife, as Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water, have considered in accordance with section 303FN of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) the application from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, public comments on the proposal as required under section 303FR and advice on the ecological sustainability of the operation. I am satisfied on those matters specified in section 303FN of the EPBC Act. I hereby declare the operations for the harvesting of specimens that are or are derived from fish or invertebrates, taken in the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery as defined in the management regime in force under the:

but not including:

(a)    specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 209 of the EPBC Act (Australia’s List of Migratory Species), or

(b)   specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 248 of the EPBC Act (Australia’s List of Marine Species), or

(c)    specimens that belong to eligible listed threatened species, as defined under section 303BC of the EPBC Act, or

(d)   specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 303CA of the EPBC Act (Australia’s CITES List), except for Silvertip shark (Carcharhinus albmimarginatus), Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), Copper shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus), Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), Common blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus), Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), Sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus), Australian blacktip shark (Carcharhinus tilstoni), Blue shark (Prionace glauca), Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) and Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena)

to be an approved wildlife trade operation, in accordance with subsection 303FN(2) and paragraph 303FN(10)(d), for the purposes of the EPBC Act.

 


Unless amended or revoked, this declaration:

a)              is valid until 12 February 2025 and;

b)             is subject to the conditions applied under section 303FT specified in the Schedule.

 

 

Dated this 15th day of November 2023

 

Belinda Jago

………….…….…………………………………

Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Water

 

Notes:                                                                                                                                                                          

1.               Under the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975, a person whose interests are affected by this decision may apply for a statement of reasons and for independent review of the decision. An application for a statement of reasons may be made in writing to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water within 28 days of the date of the declaration. An application for independent review may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on payment of the relevant fee within 28 days of the date of the declaration, or if reasons are sought, within 28 days of receipt of reasons. Further information may be obtained from the Director, Sustainable Fisheries Section, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Email: sustainablefisheries@dcceew.gov.au.

 

2.               Australia’s obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are met through Part 13A of the EPBC Act. Specimens of species listed in Appendix II of Australia’s CITES list under section 303CA of the EPBC Act may only be exported, under a CITES export permit issued under the EPBC Act, if Australia’s CITES Scientific Authority has issued a non-detriment finding for that species. Further information, including a list of species for which non detriment findings have been issued and the fisheries from which they may be sourced, is available from https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/wildlife-trade/cites.

 

 


Schedule 1

 

Declaration of the harvest operations of the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery as an approved wildlife trade operation, November 2023

 

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS (section 303FT)

 

Relating to the harvesting of fish specimens that are, or are derived from, fish or invertebrates, other than specimens of species listed under Part 13 and Part 13A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), taken in the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery:

 

Condition 1
Operation of the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery must be carried out in accordance with the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 in force under the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth) and the Fisheries Management Regulations 2019 (Cth).

Condition 2
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must inform the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water of any intended material changes to the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery management arrangements that may affect the assessment against which Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 decisions are made.

Condition 3
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must inform the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water of any intended changes to fisheries legislation that may affect the legislative instruments relevant to this approval.

Condition 4
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must produce and present reports on the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, including progress against all Part 13A conditions, to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water by 30 June annually, as per Appendix B of the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries – 2nd Edition.

Condition 5
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must:

a)           ensure that management measures are in place to meet the objectives of rebuilding strategies and management strategies, for species listed as conservation dependent under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

b)           by 12 August 2024, investigate and develop alternative methods that will provide an index of abundance (relative or absolute), to determine the status of conservation dependent stocks

c)           develop a research plan under the Orange Roughy Rebuilding Strategy which identifies options for monitoring stock status for all orange roughy stocks within the area of the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery

d)           continue to evaluate and report to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water on the effectiveness of rebuilding strategies and management strategies for conservation dependent listed species.

Condition 6
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must:

a)           continue regular reviews of ecological risk assessments in the fishery, ensuring that the cumulative impact of all Commonwealth commercial fisheries in the area is taken into account

b)           continue to implement management actions to address and mitigate risks and impacts for species that are identified as high risk, including data collection for species that are assessed as high risk because of missing information.

Condition 7
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must:

a)           by 12 August 2024, develop and implement a statistically robust, independent, quantitative and validated monitoring and data collection regime in the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. This may involve the use of electronic monitoring, onboard observers, or other means.

b)           ensure the information collected is sufficient to reliably demonstrate the accuracy of all reported catch, effort and protected species interaction data collected via logbooks. This regime needs to gather suitable data on the level of catch, discards and interactions in the fishery to inform the sustainable management of target, byproduct and bycatch species (including protected species).

Condition 8
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority must:

a)           continue to monitor catch and effort data and implement programs to improve the accuracy of identification and recording of all non-target shark species

b)           continue to refine risk assessment processes for target, byproduct and bycatch shark stocks, seeking to include all available data and to include consideration of cumulative impacts

c)           by 12 August 2024, finalise Ecological Risk Assessments for all major Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery sectors to identify high risk shark species and develop appropriate mitigation responses. These are to be reviewed annually, including fishery indicator data as a means of monitoring ongoing risk to shark species.

Condition 9

By 1 July 2024, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority must require that all catch of CITES listed species (including discards where possible) taken in the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery is recorded to a species level and that these catches are reported to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as part of the annual reporting requirement referred to in Condition 4.