The Board of the WRLC has identified the pressing need for both the Board itself and the general membership to have a better understanding the the non-ecological risks associated with managing their fishery. In this context risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty on the ability of the organisation to meet its objectives. The management of this risk is is via arrange of activities that the organisation intentionally undertakes to understand and reduce the effect of uncertainty. This has not been attempted before and in order to meet the objective it is necessary to create a risk management framework in accordance with AS/NZS ISO 3100/2009 Risk Management Principles and Guidelines. This is necessary because the Standard provides the starting point, a standard vocabulary and a baseline for comparisons and assessments of risk management processes. It is however also critical that judicious use of terminology and vocabulary is employed when engaging with industry and the WRLC Board recognises that if the wider industry is to be confident that its Board is acting to best practice then the industry fully understands what that means.