Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289:body:0:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289
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Environment, VIC

NSW Parks and Wildlife Service

Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport, NT

Parks Victoria

Fisheries agencies

Museums

Natural resource management bodies/catchment management authorities in coastal regions

Shipping, oil and gas exploration and development agencies

Local government in coastal regions

3.2 Duration and Cost of the Conservation Management Plan
It is anticipated that the recovery process will take longer than the life of the plan (2011–2021), which will be reviewed after five years. A Conservation Management Plan (Recovery Plan) for the species will remain in place until such time that the population of southern right whales utilising Australian waters has improved to the point that the population no longer meets threatened status under the EPBC Act.

The cost of this plan will be met through direct and indirect funding from the Australian Government, state and territory governments, researchers, conservation groups, marine based industries and the Australian public. Key mechanisms and indicative costing to achieve priority actions are outlined in Table 3.

Table 3: Key mechanisms and indicative costing to achieve priority actions

Actions                                                             Mechanisms to Achieve Actions                                                                                                                                                                         Indicative Cost

A: Assessing and Addressing Threats
A.1: Maintain and improve existing legal and management protection       * Continue or improve existing national and state legislative and management actions to minimise anthropogenic threats                                                                           Core Government Business

A.2: Assessing and addressing anthropogenic noise                        * EPBC Act Policy Statement 2.1 – Interaction between offshore seismic exploration and whales 2008 (Seismic Guidelines) provides:                                                                Core Government Business

                                                                       –      practical standards to minimise the risk of acoustic injury to whales in the vicinity of seismic survey operations
                                                                         * a framework to minimise risk of biological consequences from acoustic disturbance from seismic survey sources to whales in biologically important habitat areas or during critical behaviours
                                                                         * guidance to proponents of, and operators conducting, seismic surveys about their legal responsibilities under the EPBC Act.

                                                                         * EPBC Act Environmental Offsets policy has measures that might compensate for environmental impacts that cannot be adequately reduced through avoidance or mitigation.

                                                                         * An industry partnership is funding a study on behavioural responses of humpback whales to seismic surveys. The results of this study will be relevant to other baleen whales.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Not less than
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          $5 million
A.3: Reducing commercial fishing entanglements                           * State government programs to disentangle whales                                                                                                                                                Core Government Business
                                                                         * State government / industry partnerships to make fishing equipment whale and dolphin friendly
                                                                         * State government / industry Codes of Practice to reduce the risk of whale entanglements in fishing gear (e.g. WA and Tasmania)
                                                                         * Australian Government Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Life
A.4: Impacts of climate variability and change                           * Australian Government climate change adaptation initiatives                                                                                                                                    Core Government Business
                                                                         * Ongoing research activity