Evaluation of alternative strategies for management of Commonwealth fisheries in southeastern Australia
As part of a move towards EBFM, there is a clear need to identify the variety of management measures in place across fisheries within the region, and to evaluate a range of comprehensive and “integrated” management strategies that would best meet the needs of all fisheries across the full range of management objectives. The AFMA Board has recently signalled that it wants the MACs in the region to consider these issues, and particularly the implementation of a wider mix of strategies for managing fisheries, including time and area closures and gear modifications, in addition to existing output controls such as TACs. This project will assemble the information and provide the analytical tools to undertake such evaluations. A carefully evaluated set of management strategies would support the existing management process (including the MACs, AFMA management, and the National Oceans Office) in developing an operational management plan for south eastern fisheries that is tightly integrated with other uses of the marine environment in the region, including implementation of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas and of the South East Regional Marine Plan. If such a plan can be developed, it would put these fisheries and Australia at the forefront of practical implementation of EBFM. The need is to have all the issues, objectives and options on the table at the same time, to consider simultaneously the impacts of a set of management arrangements in addressing each issue and objective, and to support a process that will arrive at a comprehensive and balanced outcome considering all fishery sectors and all other legitimate stakeholders with interests in the region.