Holding a national forum for fisheries managers (across a range of levels) from all jurisdictions has been identified as a way of increasing the skills and understanding of the Australian fisheries managers' community and improving communications between the various jurisdictions on management matters.

The workshop will also provide an opportunity to further develop (and road-test) the outputs of AFMF's Fisheries Management Sub-Committee on the AFMF task of 'Developing Cost Effective and Efficient Management of Small Scale Fisheries'.

Whale entanglements are a key performance indicator (KPI) for the WRL fishery in Commonwealth
assessments. Entanglements in 2012 (13 in WRL gear) exceeded this KPI. The KPI breach resulted in
the Commonwealth removing the WRL fishery from the List of Exempt Native Species which is a five
year export approval without conditions and issuing a two year Wildlife Trade Order (WTO) with
conditions and recommendations relating to whale entanglement. This included a condition: "by 31
March 2014, complete a robust evaluation of longer term operational management measures to
reduce the risk of whale entanglements, which could include the removal of some restrictions on
western rock lobsters, spatial and seasonal closures and potential gear modifications". If this condition
isn't met, the WTO may be revoked and therefore the
fishery will not be able to export. The WRL is almost exclusively an export fishery with an estimated
annual GVP of $200 million.
The reason for increased entanglements is a combination of whale population growth (10% p/a) and
an increase in winter fishing resulting from a relaxation of input controls after a move to quota. A
closed season, removing winter fishing would somewhat elevate this issue, although at an economic
cost to the industry as it would no longer be able to attain the high beach prices paid in winter. This
would result in a conservative loss of about $50 million p/a in GVP. Therefore to meet the SEWPaC
conditions, and still allow winter fishing, entanglement mitigation measures are needed.

Declines in the gross value of production (GVP) from commercial fishers in Western Australia and increased interest from the commercial sector in diversifying activities to adapt to seasonal variability in supply and demand has prompted the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) to set the goal of introducing ten new fisheries by 2020. However, poor public perception of commercial fishing, low probability of establishing fisheries of considerable scale, and lack of efficient policy strategies hinders new development. To enhance the future of the industry, there is a very strong need to readdress current approaches to fisheries development, promote innovation and strengthen community ties. Western Australia has already taken the strategic policy decision to aim for independent third-party assessment (by the MSC) of all its fisheries, simplify its regulatory environment through expected outcomes from the MER project (Minimum Effective Regulation), and review and modernize its Fisheries Management Act. The proposed project adds further impetus to securing a future industry by initiating a research driven co-management approach to fishery development and diversification. By designing a conceptual pathway, compiling relevant biological, environmental and socioeconomic information, and applying these to test-case fisheries, the project will present a robust feasibility study into decision-tree, risk-based alternatives to creating and managing new fisheries.