Meeting sustainability expectations: translating and aligning objectives, reporting and evaluation of the performance of Australian fisheries
The Australian fishing industry is under increasing scrutiny due to campaigns that communicate that stocks are overfished and poorly managed (AMCS 2011). This contributes to calls for MPAs, resistance to consumption of some seafood, and a general erosion of community support for fishing industries (Hilborn & Kearny 2012). FRDC is addressing these issues through a suite of initiatives, including the SAFS and NHSP projects. The project proposed here examines the consistency and transparency of fisheries governance. The need is to ensure that the Australian community’s expectations for the management of its fisheries are adequately reflected and accounted for throughout governance processes, from the objectives of legislation through to reporting and evaluating performance and status of fisheries.
This project was developed to directly address the following needs as identified in the National R,D&E Strategy 2010:
- provide greater clarity in management objectives,
- develop governance models for better accountability; and
- develop performance indicators, including social, ecological and economic.
The project will also contribute to the following priority areas:
- integrating social, environmental and economic considerations into fisheries management strategies; and
- identifying and understanding community aquatic values and how these can be integrated into fisheries management .
This project will meet these needs by generating knowledge about ways to improve the design of:
1. legislative objectives for fisheries resources and management objectives for specific fisheries, and thereby achieve greater alignment with the Australian community’s expectations for management of fisheries resources; and
2. management objectives for specific fisheries so they can be operationalized to achieve greater articulation with reporting and evaluation of performance and status.
In addition, the project will contribute to the development of common reporting frameworks and formal classifications for social, economic, ecological and management performance and status of key Australian fisheries.
Final report
This report presents findings of a research project which examined the extent to which the stated objectives being pursued to guide the management of Australia’s fisheries are aligned with community expectations for sustainability. And, further to this, the extent to which the design of objectives can effectively support agencies in achieving this.
A team of researchers and policy staff from IMAS, PIRSA and ABARES has examined the policies, legislation, management documents, operational plans and strategies, and performance reports for a selection of Australia’s important fisheries. This report outlines the results of this analysis, implications for policy and management, and the resources developed to support better future objective design.
