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Proposed Standards and Guidelines for Bycatch Management in Commonwealth Fisheries

Project number: 2010-046
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $179,551.00
Principal Investigator: Peter Ward
Organisation: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Project start/end date: 31 Jul 2010 - 14 Dec 2011
:

Need

Through its policy on fisheries bycatch, the Commonwealth acknowledges that ecological sustainable development must be based on a strategic approach to addressing bycatch interactions. There is a need to mitigate fishery interactions with non-target species, particularly threatened, endangered and protected (TEP) species, consistent with AFMA’s aim of promoting the sustainable use of fisheries resources by conserving marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Industry, AFMA and researchers have previously collaborated to address bycatch issues in Commonwealth fisheries, with outputs including the implementation of mitigation devices in specific fisheries, the development of bycatch action plans, bycatch workplans and the ecological risk management (ERM) process. In many cases, however, industry cannot readily demonstrate the benefits of these activities, which is critical for differentiating Australian seafood products from those of less environmentally-friendly competitors.

There is a need for an overarching approach to bycatch mitigation to ensure consistent standards across fisheries and transparent indicators of performance. Bycatch issues are often fisheries specific, but the development of mitigation strategies in individual fisheries needs to address the same core elements, e.g. stakeholder consultation, performance testing, monitoring and compliance. Standards are required to ensure that each of these core elements are adequately addressed in response to the emergence of a bycatch issue.

Standards will also assist the fishing industry in fostering positive public perception and meeting legislative requirements, e.g. strategic assessments under the EPBC Act . Standards are particularly important to fisheries seeking to move to co-management where there is a need for greater transparency and accountability.

Objectives

1. Develop standards for mitigating bycatch in Commonwealth fisheries, including an accompanying set of guidelines for establishing technical criteria for assessing the performance, ongoing monitoring and review of bycatch mitigation measures.
2. Test the proposed standards and guidelines on a bycatch issue in a key Commonwealth fishery.
People
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2003-059
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Developing and implementing measures of economic efficiency in Commonwealth fisheries

Given the problems with open access resources and the effectiveness of modern fishing technology, there are few fisheries, if any, which will not be both biologically over-exploited and unprofitable unless they are managed effectively. For a fishery to be economically efficient requires setting...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2015-200
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Guidelines on a tiered, risk-based approach to bycatch management

The 2018 Commonwealth Fisheries Bycatch Policy (Bycatch Policy) establishes the requirement for bycatch management in Commonwealth-managed fisheries. The Guidelines for the Implementation of the Commonwealth Fisheries Bycatch Policy aim to provide assistance to Australian Government entities...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Adoption
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 1983-045
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Economic study of the north New South Wales and southern Queensland prawn fisheries

The East Coast Prawn Fishery extends along the east coast of Australia from Torres Straight in the north to Barrenjoey Point in New South Wales. A limited entry policy was recently introduced to the fishery and a task force comprising industry and government representatives is currently deliberating...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Adoption
Adoption
Industry
Adoption
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