2015-09-15 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            15 SEPTEMBER 2015


The proposed reforms seek to deliver:
   for commercial fishers, a more stable, transparent and strategic operating environment,
     based on more secure harvesting rights and greater individual flexibility around how those
     rights are used;
   for recreational fishers, greater recognition for anglers in the fisheries management process
     including setting aside for the first time an explicit share of the key target species for the
     exclusive enjoyment of recreational anglers, as well as a setting up a common currency
     framework which allows for ongoing, market-based adjustment of sectoral shares over time;
   for customary fishers, greater recognition of traditional use rights and the establishment of a
     framework that can accommodate determinations outside of the Fisheries Act (e.g. Native
     Title) where they arise;
   for future generations and the environment, the maintenance of stock sizes of key species
     at levels thicker than that capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in order to
     reduce levels of risk and maintain the resilience Queensland’s aquatic environment.

Some key recommendations relate to:

   Separating the Queensland fisheries decision making process into strategic decision
     making which should be undertaken by politicians on behalf of the community; and technical
     decision making which should be made by subject matter experts in coordination with
     stakeholders affected by the decision.

   Establishment of Fishery Councils (FCs) as the primary source of technical advice of
     measures to achieve Government policy for their relevant fisheries.

   Categorisation of fish stocks into three ‘tiers’ which would then determine the level of
     management activity applied to each stock:
     -     Tier 1 stocks are the key target species for one or more sectors are of the highest
           importance socially and economically.
     -     Tier 2 stocks are not primary target species, but require some form of active
           management to maintain fishing mortality within acceptable levels of risk.
     -     Tier 3 stocks are not typically actively targeted and risk assessments show need little
           active management other than catch reporting.

   Harvest strategies for all fisheries aimed at meeting Tier 1, 2 and 3 stock management
     objectives including targets, limits and threshold reference points for Tier 1 stocks, and pre-
     agreed decision rules in the event that reference points are reached.

   Monitoring, information collection and assessment to establish:
     -    a credible system to independently verify the commercial catch and effort logbooks;
     -    registration of buyers of commercial fish in Queensland and an obligation to periodically
          report their purchases;
     -    recreational sector catch monitoring capable of delivering information needed to
          support harvest strategies and ecological risk assessments; and
     -    future stock assessment driven by information needs of harvest strategies, with
          priorities overseen by the Fishery Councils.

   More about the establishment of Fishery Councils. The Review Team propose that a
     single layer of stakeholder-based Fishery Councils (FCs) be created to act as the primary
     source of technical advice on the management of individual fisheries.




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