Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L01285:reg:3:p16
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L01285
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 16/26)
Character Range: 113308–116313

that touch the sea floor are the only type of gillnet permitted in Commonwealth fisheries (AFMA 2022a). These nets are usually set in waters less than 100 metres deep, and are used by commercial operators and recreational fishers. Although most states in Australia have declared the use of recreational gillnetting illegal, it is still permitted in Western Australia and Tasmania (Lyle et al. 2014). In Australia, the impact of gillnetting on albatrosses and petrels is only recently emerging in Commonwealth-managed fisheries where electronic monitoring records are available (see AFMA Protected Species Interaction Reports). The impact of recreational gillnetting on albatrosses and petrels is unlikely to be significant as nets are set in nearshore waters where these birds do not usually occur.

The significance of albatross and petrel bycatch by global smaller driftnet and fixed gillnet fisheries is unknown, and of concern. Few seabird bycatch reduction methods have been developed for gillnet fisheries, although increasing the visibility of the net reduces seabird bycatch for some species (Bull 2007). Further studies are required to identify and determine the efficacy of mitigation technologies and techniques, and potential management options to reduce the impacts of gillnet bycatch.
Deliberate take
Threats from intentional killing of adults and juveniles.

Although it is an offence under the EPBC Act and related state legislation, threatened albatrosses and petrels are sometimes intentionally shot for sport by recreational fishers or to reduce scavenging from commercial fishing vessels both inside and outside of Australian waters (Blakers et al. 1984, Tomkins 1985, Adams 1992). The prevalence of such practices and the extent to which they persist is unknown.
Beyond Australia's jurisdiction, there are reports of incidental and intentional take of albatrosses for purposes of sport, food, and use as bait (Phillips et al. 2016), in artisanal and commercial longline, gillnet, and jigging fisheries in waters off South America (Stagi et al. 1998, Awkerman et al. 2006, Alfaro-Shigueto et al. 2016), and southern Africa (Adams 1992).
There are also reports of bill mutilation of albatrosses and petrels in the southwest Atlantic Ocean associated with the removal of hooks from bycaught birds (Gianuca et al. 2020). These mutilation practices cause morbidity and eventual death of affected birds, and are occurring despite the widespread availability of guidelines for the safe removal of hooks from bycaught seabirds (ACAP 2019b).
Marine pollution
Threats from marine pollution, contamination and debris, including plastics and microplastics.

Fuel and oil spills
Bulk fuel and/or oil spills are caused through a variety of factors, such as groundings, explosions, collisions or the blowing out of wellheads near drilling sites. Oil spills can have catastrophic impacts on seabird populations. One of the most widely publicised spills was caused by the grounding of the Exxon