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

3. 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? Risk focussing on biology and forgetting economic and social responsibilities If a fishery is not economically viable additional measures to meet EBFM may not be effectively resourced or implemented.

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

5. Biological status of fisheries 2006 Status Summary Not overfished 27 Overfished/ overfishing 19 Uncertain51

6. 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

7. 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 Smaller and more mature fishing industry makes the timing right to work with industry and improve response to ESD and ownership of responses

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

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

10. 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: oImpact of climate change oPotentially less productive fisheries oInternational markets What do we need to know – balancing risk and cost of management

11. 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