Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L01040:body:0:p7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017L01040
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degradation and illegal fishing; improving habitat quality and increasing habitat protection; increasing understanding of the species biology and ecology, and its ability to recover from past threats; and promoting the giant freshwater crayfish as a flagship species for healthy catchment management. In particular, it is believed that the species has a high probability of recovery if the following three goals are achieved:
        * Habitat protection is increased in key locations;
        * Upstream land use activities are appropriately managed to prevent impacts on key downstream locations; and
        * Fishing ban enforcement activities are focussed on tackling poaching.
An accompanying Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) page provides background information on the biology, population status and threats to the giant freshwater crayfish. The SPRAT page is available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl.

2.1 Conservation Status
The giant freshwater crayfish is listed as threatened under both the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (refer to Table 1).
The giant freshwater crayfish was transferred from the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (ESP Act) to the Vulnerable list of the EPBC Act when it came into force in July 2000. For a species to be considered as Vulnerable under the ESP Act, the Minister must have been satisfied that the species was likely to become endangered within the next 25 years. Recommendations for listing species under the ESP Act were made to the Minister by the then Endangered Species Advisory Committee.
Table 2: Conservation status of the giant freshwater crayfish.
Legislation                                                           Conservation Status
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (C'th)  Vulnerable
Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (Tas)                          Vulnerable
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (International)                   Endangered

2.2 Crayfish Recovery Team
The recovery program for the giant freshwater crayfish will be coordinated by the Crayfish Recovery Team (CRT) which was formed in 2015. The membership of the CRT may include individuals with relevant expertise from DoEE and DPIPWE, as well as experts from research institutions, consultancies and individuals with relevant expertise; membership may change over time. The CRT will provide advice on the implementation of the recovery actions outlined in this recovery plan.

3 Background

3.1 Species description and distribution in Australia
The giant freshwater crayfish is the world's largest freshwater crustacean. The species has been reported to attain weights of up to 6 kg, however in recent years the majority of the larger specimens recorded weigh between 2-3 kg. The species is slow-growing and long-lived. Colour varies considerably among individuals, with adults ranging from dark brown-green to black or blue. The species is spiny and has large distinct chelae (front pincers), walking legs, carapace and abdomen ending in a tail fan. Males have larger pincers than