The Reef Guardian Fisher initiative aims to highlight and promote stewardship initiatives being undertaken by fishers operating in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park that are delivering significant environmental benefits. The program also aims to foster the sharing of information and the adoption of practices that will ensure the environmental sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by improving its health and resilience, whilst helping to improve the economic sustainability of the industry.

An independent assessment of the effectiveness of current management arrangements for the Great Barrier Reef was undertaken as part of the Outlook Report. That assessment identified that there have been significant improvements made in reducing the impacts of fishing in the Great Barrier Reef, such as by-catch reduction devices, effort controls, and the introduction of total allowable catches, revised possession and size limits, and increasingly the adoption of tag and release fishing. The Outlook Report, however, also identifies that although progress is being made towards best practice fisheries management, some risks remain. The key risks identified that are related to fishing are:

• Removal of top-order predators (such as sharks)
• Incidental catch of protected species and other species of conservation concern
• Death of bycatch (non-targeted or discarded) species, and
• Illegal fishing or collecting
  

More information about the GBRMPA's position on fishing can be found in the The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009 and Position Paper on Ecologically Sustainable Fishing.

There are many fishers operating in ways that minimise their impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Through the Reef Guardians Program, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is seeking to recognise the practices of those fishers and foster sustainable fishing practices and environmental stewardship throughout the fishing sector.

The Reef Guardian stewardship concept was created to drive community level involvement and to encourage and recognise good environmental performance. It is a voluntary program that aims to showcase the positive environmental actions that coastal communities and industries both in the Great Barrier Reef catchment and in the Marine Park are already undertaking. It is also a tool for behaviour change that can ultimately improve the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.

Reef Guardian programs have been active and very successful in schools and councils and additional funding has recently been secured to support the development of Reef Guardian programs for fishing and farming.

Related information

• Reef Guardian Schools
• Reef Guardian Councils
• Reef Guardian Farmers