Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289:body:0:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L00289
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 2964–9851

Contents

Executive Summary......................................................................
Introduction............................................................................
Recovery Objective.......................................................................
Interim Recovery Objectives (2011–2021).....................................................
Biology................................................................................
Threats................................................................................
Actions................................................................................
1. Introduction........................................................................
1.1 Review of the 2005–2010 Recovery Plan...................................................
1.2 Objectives and Targets of the Conservation Management Plan...................................
Long-term recovery objective..............................................................
Interim recovery objectives (2011–2021).....................................................
Targets for interim recovery objectives.......................................................
Performance of the plan and progress toward long-term objectives..................................
2. Legal Framework.....................................................................
2.1 International Conventions and Agreements.................................................
2.2 National Legislation and Management Arrangements..........................................
Victorian legislation.....................................................................
South Australian legislation...............................................................
Western Australian legislation.............................................................
New South Wales legislation..............................................................
Queensland legislation...................................................................
Tasmanian legislation...................................................................
3. Governance.........................................................................
3.1 Coordination of the Conservation Management Plan..........................................
Australian Government..................................................................
Industry and non-government organisations..................................................
State / territory governments.............................................................
3.2 Duration and Cost of the Conservation Management Plan.......................................
4. Science.............................................................................
4.1 The Biology, Status and Environmental Parameters...........................................
Basic biology (feeding, reproduction and survivorship)...........................................
Population structure....................................................................
Abundance and population trends..........................................................
Distribution, habitat occupancy and function..................................................
4.2 Biologically Important Areas for the Southern Right Whale.....................................
4.3 Attributes to be Monitored..............................................................
5. Threats.............................................................................
5.1 Description of Threats.................................................................
A: Entanglement.......................................................................
B: Vessel disturbance....................................................................
C: Whaling............................................................................
D: Climate variability and change...........................................................
E: Noise interference....................................................................
F: Habitat modification..................................................................
G: Overharvesting of prey.................................................................
5.2 Threat Prioritisation...................................................................

6. Actions.............................................................................
6.1 Summary and Implemented Actions.......................................................
Existing management actions.............................................................
Existing research actions.................................................................
Assessing and addressing threats...........................................................
Cumulative impact......................................................................
6.2 Reporting Process.....................................................................
Monitoring the population................................................................
Monitoring progress towards Conservation Management Plan actions...............................
Data management......................................................................
7. Bibliography........................................................................

Executive Summary
Introduction
Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are currently listed as endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) because they have undergone a severe reduction in numbers as a result of commercial whaling. An initial recovery plan for southern right whales was developed for the period 2005 to 2010. A review of that plan found that despite progress on many recovery actions and evidence of some population increase in south-west Australian waters, southern right whale habitat occupancy is still constrained in comparison to historical occupancy, and current abundance is still well below estimated historic abundance. The review recommended an updated recovery plan for the southern right whale be developed to reflect new knowledge and prioritise research needed to monitor population recovery and better predict the impacts of threats such as climate change. This plan conforms to the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) 'Conservation Management Plan' format, while meeting the requirements of a recovery plan under the EPBC Act.

Recovery Objective
The long-term recovery objective is to minimise anthropogenic threats to allow the conservation status of the southern right whale to improve so that it can be removed from the threatened species list under the EPBC Act.

Interim Recovery Objectives (2011–2021)
Recognising that the long-term recovery objective is unlikely to be achieved during the life of this plan, the following interim recovery objectives have been set for