Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01763:reg:10:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01763
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 10 (pt 2/4)
Character Range: 106056–109203

wild capture marine fisheries with an export component be assessed to ensure they are being managed in an ecologically sustainable way;

    * All Commonwealth-managed fisheries are also assessed to determine the impact of actions taken under a fishery management plan on matters of national environmental significance; and

    * All Commonwealth-managed fisheries and any state-managed fisheries that operate in Commonwealth waters must also be assessed to determine the impacts of fishing operations on cetaceans, listed threatened species and ecological communities, migratory species, and listed marine species under the EPBC Act.

The assessments consider the impacts of the fishery on target and non-target species caught and the impacts of fishing on the broader marine environment. As listed threatened species, sawfish and river sharks cannot be taken in fisheries in Commonwealth or state waters. Interactions are required to be recorded in threatened species interaction logbooks in Commonwealth fisheries, the state fisheries of Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Northern Territory fisheries. Interactions with sawfish and river sharks, as well as the life status of the animal when it is captured (e.g. whether it is released alive), are considered in the assessment of fisheries operating in Commonwealth waters.
The Commonwealth Threat Abatement Plan for the Impact of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Life also has the potential to contribute to reducing the impact of marine debris on sawfish and river sharks. Although the implementation of the plan is intended to directly contribute to the protection of marine species described in the key threatening process listing, the plan will have broader benefits for marine species – such as sawfish and river sharks – impacted by marine debris. The marine debris threat abatement plan is available on the department's website at: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/tap/marine-debris.html
Other relevant management practices include management planning processes for areas which contain breeding and/or aggregation sites for these species, and the incorporation of important sites into marine reserves, both at the Commonwealth and state and territory level.
Kakadu National Park provides habitat for speartooth sharks, northern river sharks, dwarf sawfish and largetooth sawfish. The Kakadu National Park Draft Management Plan 2014, expected to come into effect before the end of 2015, is currently being used to guide the management of the National Park, with the aim of working with local traditional owners to ensure the cultural and natural resources of the coastal and marine environment and islands within the Park are recognised, protected and maintained. Further information is available on the department's website at: http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/kakadu-draft-management-plan
The three sawfish and two river shark species are also protected across their range in state waters and in the Northern Territory. Details of protection measures afforded to these species in each jurisdiction, including state marine parks that