The second stage of the operation of the ESD Subprogram was successful, but compared to the focus during the first subprogram period, mostly in a consolidation manner rather than from the generation of significant new tools. This was necessary because it takes time to adopt and integrate significant changes to the methods of operation of agencies and industries. The policies must be there before any real activity can occur and we found that for the broader focused, cross fishery/cross sector applications of the framework, agencies were not in a position for much of the time to apply this.

There was also the need to get a level of harmonization of policy and processes amongst agencies - especially between fishery and environment agencies before these broader frameworks can be applied in an effective manner. Such discussions are now occurring in some jurisdictions and these regional types of frameworks are therefore becoming more relevant to their operations and it is likely that they will be used with increasing frequency over the coming few years.

The projects and processes undertaken through the ESD subprogram (and related activities) have overall, been successful. It has provided the basis to demonstrate whether management has credibility with the issues of resource sustainability, functional ecosystem relationships and habitat processes such as is needed to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth's EPBC assessment. Most jurisdictions are now using the tools and frameworks developed by the subprogram or related projects.

Keywords: Ecologically Sustainable Development, Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management, Ecosystem Approaches; Risk Assessment, fisheries management, reporting frameworks, social and economic assessments.