Aquarium fisheries on the Great Barrier Reef and in the vast and pristine Coral Sea are acknowledged as some the lowest impact sustainable fisheries anywhere in the world.
Australian aquarium supply fisheries are subject to a modern and comprehensive regulatory and management framework. All fisheries in Australia are managed by either state or federal government fisheries management agencies; and the science that underpins management is ongoing and subject to a continuous improvement model.
Fisheries are managed in accordance with the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development and to ensure equitable access to marine resources for the three main fishing sectors: commercial; recreational; and indigenous.
Commercial fisheries are “limited entry”, which means that catching fish for sale is effectively banned, but there are a limited number of licenses that enable people to undertake the activity. In this way, fishery managers know who and what they are managing. If somebody wants to enter a fishery they have to buy an existing license at a price that is determined by normal market forces i.e. supply and demand. Entry costs are generally substantial, which ensures that participants are heavily invested in the environment that supports the industry.
There are 125 commercial fisheries in Australia, around 20 of which operate in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. These fisheries range from small developmental jellyfish fisheries through to the highly capitalised prawn and scallop trawl fisheries. The “cap and trade” system applies to all fisheries whether they are input (effort) or output (catch) controlled.
Pro-vision Reef Fisheries
Pro-vision Reef members operate within three fully managed commercial fisheries:
• Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery and Coral Fishery managed by the Queensland government under the Fisheries Act (Qld) 1994 and Fisheries Regulations (Qld) 2008.
• Coral Sea Fishery managed by the federal government under the Fisheries Management Act (Cwlth) 1991 and Fisheries Management Regulations (Cwlth) 1992.
Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery
In the Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery and the Coral Sea Fishery, fish are hand collected. Typically, a diver will herd targeted fish into a fine mesh barrier net. The fish is then gently removed from the net by hand and placed into a collection container for transfer to the vessel. Barotrauma is addressed through graduated ascent. Divers typically use surface-supplied air from hookah apparatus, which gives extended time underwater and increased mobility.
Management includes limits on the number of boats (one primary plus one other boat); and the number of collectors (up to 3) operating under a license at any one time. There is also limited access to special management areas, which are areas in proximity to major population centres. This strategy is designed to minimise localised concentration of effort.
The Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery comprises 42 licenses, around 32 of which are active in the fishery. Some companies hold multiple licenses. The fishery operates in an area of approximately 400,000 square kilometres, including the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Queensland Coral Fishery
The Queensland Coral Fishery is based on the collection of a broad range of species from the classes Anthozoa and Hydrozoa. The key components are: live coral; ornamental (non living) coral; live rock (i.e. dead coral skeletons with algae and other organisms living on them); and coral rubble (i.e. coarsely broken up coral fragments).
The key target species are generally the small and vibrant varieties of coral. Live rock is also a major component of the fishery, due to its suitability as a substrate for the smaller, brighter corals in aquarium tanks. Anemones are also part of the coral fishery and are a key target group.
The coral fishery has Total Allowable Catch of 200 tonnes with Individual Transferable Quota. The live coral component is capped at 30% of the TAC. The fishery is developmental and remains undersubscribed with the majority of the annual take being the live rock component. There are 59 endorsements for the coral fishery, the majority of which are held by businesses that are license holders in the Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery. Collection is by hand and the specimen selection is determined by market demand, which is typically brightly coloured and the size of a man’s hand.
The specimens must be in premium condition. The fishery operates exclusively within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, an area of about 350,000 square kilometres.
Renowned coral biologist, the late Dr. Vicki Harriott, assessed the sustainability of the Queensland Coral Fishery and concluded that: “The total harvest in the fishery is very small relative to the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef, and the capacity of the reef to accumulate calcium carbonate material. It does not represent a risk to the integrity of the reef system on either a reef-wide or regional scale.”
Coral Sea Fishery
The Coral Sea Fishery covers a vast area of around 870,000 square kilometres. Within that area there are two Nature Reserves covering approximately 17,000 square kilometres of coral reef habitat. There are just two aquarium permits in the fishery.
The Coral Sea forms part of the East Bioregion of Australia’s 15 million square kilometre territorial waters. Australia has committed to a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas, which will see the establishment of numerous large Commonwealth Reserves for the purposes of marine biodiversity protection. These reserves are due for implementation in the Coral Sea in 2010 and will be zoned to allow sustainable use in some areas and total protection in others.
Management Framework
The Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries maintain a significant fisheries research capacity and these scientists undertake Ecological Risk Assessments and Species Vulnerability Assessments of those fisheries. In addition the Queensland fisheries maintain Performance Management Systems, which formalises the objectives, performance indicators, performance measures and management responses that have been developed by the managers with input from fishery stakeholders, including Pro-vision Reef members.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority manages the Coral Sea Fishery and sustainability assessments are carried out by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Bureau of Rural Sciences. The assessments guide adaptive and responsive fishery management, including the data needs of the fisheries and the placement of precautionary triggers on catch and effort.
Both fisheries management agencies produce annual status reports, and together with the Ecological Risk and Species Vulnerability Assessments for the Fishery Sustainability Assessment reports that are submitted by the fishery manager to the federal environment department. The fisheries management agencies must demonstrate that their fishery management regimes comply with the objectives of ecologically sustainable development as defined in Australia’s landmark environmental legislation, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act).
EPBC Act
The EPBC Act provides the continuous improvement framework for the management and environmental performance of all Australian fisheries. It is the tool used to apply a third party accreditation to our fisheries. Failure to meet the conditions of accreditation effects export approval, which will make or break the commercial viability of a fishery on the basis of its environmental performance.
One of the key objectives of the EPBC Act is to promote ecologically sustainable development through the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources. Specifically the EPBC Act aims to:
• conserve Australia’s biodiversity;
• protect biodiversity internationally by controlling the international movement of wildlife;
• provide a streamlined environmental assessment and approvals process where matters of national environmental significance are involved;
• protect our world and national heritage; and
• promote ecologically sustainable development.
The EPBC Act is administered by the federal Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. The Minister overseeing the Environment portfolio draws his ministerial responsibilities from the EPBC Act and that Minister also acts as the CITES Management Authority. The CITES Scientific Authority is a senior member of the departmental staff.
Fishery Sustainability Assessment reports are submitted by the fishery managers according to predetermined cycle. Fishery management and performance is subject to Strategic Assessment under Part 10 of the EPBC Act. Strategic Assessments measure management performance against the “Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Fisheries”, which are based on the principles that guide the Marine Stewardship Council. The guidelines cover a number of individual objectives broadly relating to impacts to target species; bycatch and byproduct species; endangered, threatened and protected species; ecologically threatened communities; and the marine ecosystem generally.
Assessments relate to impacts on protected marine species under Part 13 of the EPBC Act; and for the purpose of export approval under Part 13A. Strategic Assessment of a commercial fishery as a Wildlife Trade Operation enables product from those fisheries to be exported. This level of accreditation carries a series of conditions and recommendations that the fishery manager must satisfy within a stipulated period, which is usually three years but may be less. Even when a fishery is granted a higher level of accreditation, the fishery manager must still satisfy stipulated conditions but generally within a longer timeframe.
The EPBC Act is a significant item of legislation that has brought fisheries management in Australia to a very high level and one that will continuously improve. The Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is one of the largest bureaucracies in Australian government and these factors give our fisheries robust defensibility in questions of sustainability. This framework separates the Australian aquarium supply industry from others involved in the supply of marine life for aquaria.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
The World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef is managed by a federal government statutory authority called the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The goal of GBRMPA is to “provide for the long-term protection, ecologically sustainable use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef through the care and development of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park”.
Participants in the East Coast Dive-Based Fisheries (or Harvest Fisheries) are required to obtain a permit for operations within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. All aquarium fish and coral collection is undertaken under the permit, which comes in addition to the fisheries management arrangements.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was zoned under the Representative Areas Program commencing 1st July 2004. Under that program, 33% of the Marine Park was assigned to no-take zones and a range of restrictions apply to other zones. No-take zones account for a minimum of 20% of each of 70 identified bioregions (important breeding and nursery areas such as seagrass beds, mangrove communities, deepwater shoals and coral reefs). Licensed specimen collection is allowed under permit in some Conservation Park zones; and all Habitat Protection and General Use Zones.
The management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has won numerous awards, including the coveted Banksia Award for environmental management. One of the key tools used is the development of an Outlook Report, which is a summary of the past and present condition of the environmental, economic and social values of the Great Barrier Reef and presents its possible future.
This first Outlook Report highlights that the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most diverse and remarkable ecosystems in the world and remains one of the most healthy coral reef ecosystems. Climate change, continued declining water quality from catchment runoff, loss of coastal habitats from coastal development and a small number of impacts from fishing are identified as the priority issues reducing the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.
Pro-vision Reef members have been involved in the management of Marine Park through participation with the Fisheries Reef Advisory Committee, which provides expert input to the Fisheries Critical Issues Group at GBRMPA.
Officers for the GBRMPA were very supportive of the development of the Pro-vision Reef Stewardship Action Plan, which is expected to serve as a template for other fisheries on the Great Barrier Reef and for aquarium fisheries in other parts of the world. See the feature on the Home Page for more information.
The documents below support the management of our fisheries and illustrate the comprehensive body of work that goes into ensuring that our fisheries are the best managed aquarium fisheries anywhere in the world.
