Note: Some of the material contained in this chapter is out of date and currently under review (1/7/2004)

Overview

Fishing is the predominant extractive activity in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) and includes the major commercial fisheries of prawn trawling, reef line fishing and inshore netting and crabbing, as well as smaller dive-based fisheries for tropical rock lobster, aquarium fishes, coral, sea cucumber, trochus and specimen shells. Recreational fishing is an important activity with 56,000 privately registered boats in coastal communities adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA). In addition, tourist charter boats take recreational fishers to many fishing locations. Traditional fisheries also occur adjacent to indigenous communities.

Under the Offshore Constitutional Settlement 1995, the Queensland Fisheries Service is responsible for the day-to-day management of fisheries. The GBRMPA is responsible for the conservation and wise use of the natural resources (including fisheries resources) of the GBRMP.

Under the Offshore Constitutional Settlement 1995 (OCS) between the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Queensland, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries’ Queensland Fisheries Service (QFS) has responsibility for the day-to-day management of all fish stocks in waters adjacent to Queensland’s east coast, except for tuna and tuna-like species and other Coral Sea fisheries managed by the Commonwealth. This administrative arrangement is subject to the provisions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975. The underlying basis for the relationship between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and QFS is to have an ecosystem-management framework within which fisheries are managed. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) contains 64 per cent of Queensland’s east coast waters, however in these areas fisheries are still managed by the QFS.

The GBRMPA does not manage fisheries but is responsible for the health of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem as a whole. The GBRMPA, within its aim to protect the natural qualities of the Great Barrier Reef whilst providing for reasonable use of the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, exercises control over fishing by virtue of the use of zones which restrict certain fishing activities in specific areas. Whilst the GBRMPA recognises that the harvesting of fishes, prawns and other living resources is an established reasonable use of the Marine Park, it acknowledges that fishing affects target species, non-target species and their habitats. Subsequently, these activities have the potential to produce ecological effects in both fished areas and the GBRMP as a whole if not conducted on an ecologically sustainable basis. The GBRMPA becomes involved in the management of fisheries when it is concerned the levels and type of fishing are having an unacceptably negative impact on the ecosystem. For example, high levels of take of particular species or of animals within a functional group, impact on by-catch and damage to habitat all impact upon biodiversity, the natural integrity and potentially, the resilience of the ecosystem.

Fisheries issues are extremely complex, involving many different stakeholders and fishing activities, potential impacts and jurisdictional arrangements.

Common to the charter of all resource management agencies are the principles of conservation, ecologically sustainable use, the protection of critical areas, equitable resource use and an integrated management approach which involves the preparation of management plans in consultation with the major users and interest groups. These principles are applied, as effectively as possible but for most of the fisheries within the Great Barrier Reef, the issues are extremely complex. Such issues include:

• declining regional catches;
• decreased average size of fish;
• increased fishing effort;
• excess capacity in the fishery;
• impacts of fishing activities on incidentally caught species, some of which are endangered;
• the impacts of fishing on the marine habitat;
• the increased significance of the recreational fishery;
• indigenous use and rights to the resource;  and
• issues associated with compliance of fisheries and marine park management regulations.

Management Arrangements

Queensland Fisheries Service

The Fisheries Act 1994 (The Act) and the Fisheries Regulation 1995 detail the legislative arrangements that apply to fisheries in Queensland and are administered by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (DPI) via the Queensland Fisheries Service (QFS). The Act describes the arrangements for developing, implementing and repealing fisheries management plans. Management plans can be applied to specific fisheries and can be much more flexible and prescriptive than fisheries regulations. In general for commercial fisheries, controls on effort and catch are achieved through limited entry (the number of fishers permitted to work in the fishery), gear type, size restrictions, species size restrictions, amounts of fish that may be taken and area and seasonal closures. Recreational fisheries are managed primarily by gear type and size restrictions, species size restrictions, area and seasonal closures, and bag limits on most popular species.

The Queensland Fisheries Service has established a system of Management Advisory Committees (MACs) for all fisheries in Queensland. The MACs are primarily expertise-based and include representation from major stakeholder groups such as recreational and commercial fishers, marine park managers, enforcement officers, research scientists, marketers and conservation groups. The MAC system endeavours to ensure all interests are considered in the management of a fishery. The MACs report directly to the Queensland Fisheries Service.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 provides for the establishment, control, care and development of the GBRMP. This Act has significant influence on the management and accessing of fish stocks, principally via the GBRMPA’s zoning plans, which regulate activities including fishing. Areas of the GBRMP are zoned in accordance with several objectives including the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef and the regulation of use so that the Great Barrier Reef is provided with appropriate protection while allowing for reasonable use of the Marine Park. The GBRMPA is also required to consider the maintenance of the outstanding natural values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Fishing is considered a reasonable use of the GBRMP if it is ecologically sustainable, meaning the long term conservation of both the fish stocks themselves, and the environment that sustains them.

The GBRMPA thus has significant responsibilities for ensuring the conservation of fish stocks and the environment that sustains them. This range of responsibilities creates the requirement for fishing in the Marine Park to be conducted according to management practices that are assuredly ecologically sustainable.

The QFS and the GBRMPA consult regularly to ensure that fisheries and Marine Park management planning arrangements are complementary and compatible. The GBRMPA also maintains its practice of consulting representatives of commercial and recreational fishing organisations and individuals in the development and review of zoning plans. In practice, a good working arrangement has been established, with close involvement of the fisheries agencies when zoning plans are being developed and involvement of GBRMPA staff in the QFS management planning process.

The EPBC Act

The Environment Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) commenced in July 1999. Under the Act, fisheries must be managed in a manner consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable fisheries management as specified in the Commonwealth Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries. The Sustainable Fisheries Section of Environment Australia is assessing the environmental performance of fisheries for assessments under Part 10 of the EPBC Act 1999, assessments relating to impacts on protected marine species (Part 13) and those required for approval of export of fisheries product (Part 13A). While some fisheries in the GBRMP have been assessed or are currently under assessment, information about other fisheries is still being explored. The GBRMPA works closely with Environment Australia in assessing fisheries, which occur wholly or partially in the GBRMP.

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