The current Harvest Strategy Framework has no formal process for deciding whether the Tier harvest strategy applied to a stock is appropriate or not, there is thus no formal process for deciding when to use a lower Tier. Even worse, when a Tier4 assessment is deemed inappropriate in the SESSF there is no lower Tier available for use. There is thus a need to establish guidelines for identifying when a Tier method is inappropriate for a stock, and also a need to develop an array of alternative harvest strategies for use as a Tier5 when Tier4 is deemed inappropriate. As there is such a wide range of potential Tier 5 procedures, many with the same data requirements, testing is required to allow an informed decision about which are best to implement - particularly in the SESSF context.

Section 6 of the DAFF public discussion paper for the review of the Commonwealth fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy (see FRDC project 2012/225) investigates questions of uncertainty about assessment approaches, the level of data required to maintain species within a given Tier and when to switch between Tiers. The proposed project directly addresses known issues in the SESSF that relate to this question, and timing of the review allows this project to tailor analyses to specifically address review recommendations and advice.

A parallel and complementary project (FRDC 2012/202) provides a study of the trade-off among ecological and economic risks associated with harvesting, the benefits of harvesting and the costs associated with management. This is concerned with strategic considerations over all Tiers, whereas the current project looks more specifically at data requirements within SESSF Tiers, and alternative Tier procedures for data poor species in the SESSF.

This project is needed to address concerns expressed by stakeholder groups and the broader Australian community during the recent "super-trawler debate" that the current assessment and management framework for the SPF may have technical deficiencies and not be consistent with world's best practice.

This project is also needed because these concerns have the potential to undermine stakeholder and community confidence in other Australian fisheries for small pelagic fishes, such as the SASF.

A technical workshop is needed because it will provide an efficient and transparent process by which to benchmark the research and management frameworks of Australia's fisheries for small pelagic species against world's best practice and to identify opportunities for improving current approaches.

A stakeholder forum is needed to provide key stakeholders and the broader community with the opportunity and information required to objectively assess how Australia's fisheries for small pelagic species compare to other fisheries worldwide. This forum is a critical first step towards re-establishing stakeholder and public confidence in the assessment and management framework for the SPF. It is also needed to help maintain a social license to operate for other Australian fisheries for small pelagic species, such as the SASF.

Issues that have been identified as matters of particular stakeholder and public concern and that need to be addressed in both the technical workshop and stakeholder forum include:
1) options for increasing the reliability of estimates of spawning biomass obtained using the Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM);
2) opportunities to further reduce operational interactions with threatened, endangered and protected species;
3) potential for improving current approaches to assessment and mitigation of potential trophic effects on other components of the ecosystem;
4) innovative methods for reducing possible impacts of localised depletion on predatory species and other (especially recreational) fisheries that target small pelagic fishes.