Ecologically Sustainable Development to Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

Ecologically Sustainable Development to Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management • Where we were - 2000 revisited • Daryl Quinlivan – Deputy Secretary DAFF

ESD to EBFM? Where we were and where to • By 2000 all levels of Government agreed to implement ESD for all activities under their jurisdiction • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) enacted 1999 • ESD a major objective of all fisheries jurisdictions • Moving from ESD to EBFM?

Economic status of fisheries and ESD Australian Fisheries Production by Sector (2005 -06 dollars)

Biological status of fisheries 2006 Status Summary Not overfished 2 7 Overfished/ 1 overfishing 9 Uncertain 5 1

Early agendas and moves to ESD • Six key themes influencing ESD development and implementation: – Commercial fishing interests – Fisheries management agencies – Environmental agencies /NGO – Recreational fishing – Indigenous fishing – Community expectations

A common understanding to move forward • Closer alignment of agendas between stakeholders but debate on the details: – Responsibilities and resources – Performance indicators – Levels of risk • ESD the cornerstone of Fisheries management – Still criticized for not addressing social (and economic) aspects – “ecosystem” aspects

Are we there yet? 1. Come a long way in 8 years, all major fisheries strategically assessed and approved for export under the EPBC Act; 2. Continual improvement is reasonably expected; 3. Pursuing ESD becoming more of focus of fisheries management; and 4. ESD is a continuum and in a system of unknowns we will always be learning more and adapting policy to meet the changing

Governance – have we got it right? • Shared jurisdictions and our current legislative framework make pursuit of ESD challenging OCS Arrangements • Relationship between State fishery and Commonwealth Environment agencies • International fisheries • management environment • complicates effective pursuit • of ESD

Moving forward Nationally Unknowns • Progressed biology (ecosystems) but more work needed on the social, and economics aspects of the tipple bottom line • The many unknowns: o Impact of climate change o Potentially less productive fisheries o International markets • What do we need to know – balancing risk and cost of management

Moving forward Nationally Ownership • Increased ownership of ESD by fisheries managers and industry • Industry need to realise benefits of ESD responses • Consistent and clearer measurement of performance on ESD • More efficient systems and better relationships between key stakeholders