Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289:body:0:p11
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 32660–36126

the south-west Australian population is complete.

    Target 3.2: genetic delineation of the south-east Australian population is complete.

    Target 3.3: a research project investigating use of feeding and non-coastal habitat areas, including migratory movements, for south-east and south-west populations is completed.

Interim objective 4:
    Target 4.1: domestic and international legislation and non-binding agreements that support the recovery of the species are maintained and, where possible, improved by 2021.

Interim objective 5:
    Target 5.1: robust and adaptive management regimes leading to a reduction in anthropogenically-induced southern right whale mortality in Australian waters are in place.

    Target 5.2: management decisions are supported by high quality information and high priority research targets identified in this plan are achieved or underway by 2021.

A full understanding of the characteristics of the south-east and south-west populations is required to facilitate robust recovery planning, including the setting of population recovery targets. As the south-west population is larger and better studied than the south-east, it is feasible to set abundance and spatial occupancy recovery targets for the south-west population within the life of this plan. This is not possible for the south-east population due to its small size and highly variable visitation rates making population abundance, trends and habitat occupancy patterns difficult to assess. Relative numbers of whales and apparent trends will be taken as indicators of population status and trajectory during that period, and more robust abundance measures will be implemented over the longer term. Consequently, targets relating to habitat occupancy must be assessed separately for south-east and south-west Australia.

Performance of the plan and progress toward long-term objectives
At the completion of this conservation management plan, recovery progress will be assessed and given one of the performance ratings below. The performance rating attained will show how successful the plan has been in meeting interim recovery objectives, and will give an indication of the degree of progress towards long-term recovery objectives during 2011–2021. Knowledge of certain aspects of southern right whale recovery, such as spatial recovery patterns and population structure, is incomplete. Where a target is apparently not met, explanations that may be unrelated to human activities (e.g. a natural spatial shift to another location; a relative increase in abundance elsewhere) will be explored before the target is considered to have not been met.

Table 2: Performance measures for the Southern Right Whale Conservation Management Plan

Performance rating for the 2011–2021 Plan  Description                                                                                                      Targets                                                            Progress towards long-term recovery objectives

Successful                                 Population/s recovering as well as possible; ability to more accurately measure recovery in the future enhanced  All targets met                                                    Excellent
Moderately successful                      Population/s increasing; ability to more accurately measure recovery in the future enhanced                      At a minimum targets 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.1 and 5.1 are