Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633:body:0:p38
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 108269–115954

1. Continue or improve existing legislative management actions as identified in Section 2 of this Plan.
2. Maintain the currency of management advice and actions
Recovery Targets addressed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Threats to be mitigated
3-1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               A, B, C, D, E, F
Description
Australia should maintain its position on promoting high levels of protection for blue whales domestically and in all relevant international agreements including the IWC, CITES, CMS, fisheries-related agreements, and the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM).
All management advice should be informed by current information on their spatial and temporal distribution, Biologically Important Areas and current and developing threats.
Within the life of this plan
Measure of success: Australia continues to develop and implement appropriate domestic legislation to protect blue whales and actively promote the protection of blue whales outside of Australian waters through involvement in the IWC and other fora.
Risks: Recent changes to domestic environmental assessment processes may result in a reduced level of communication between relevant management agencies. This can be mitigated by periodic meetings and maintaining the currency of policy guidance documents such as Policy Statement 2.1 for the interaction between offshore seismic exploration and whales.
Likelihood of success: Moderate to high.

Action Area A.2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Priority
Assessing and addressing anthropogenic noise                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Pygmy                    Very high
Antarctic                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          High
Action
Improved management and understanding of what impacts anthropogenic noise may have on  blue whales by:
    1) Investigating the baseline acoustic behaviour of blue whales;
     2) Assessing the effect of  anthropogenic noise on blue whale behaviour;
    3) Anthropogenic noise in biologically important areas will be managed such that any blue whale continues to utilise the area without injury, and is not displaced from a foraging area;
    4) EPBC Act Policy Statement 2.1 – Interaction between offshore seismic exploration and whales is applied to all seismic surveys; and
    5) Ensuring behavioural impacts are considered when developing and updating policy documents on the management of cetaceans and anthropogenic noise.
Recovery Targets addressed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Threats to be mitigated
2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 C, D, E
Description
 Little is known about noise impacts on blue whales, but it is recognised that mid and low frequency noise can travel through water over long distances and are within the hearing sensitivity range of blue whales. Noise has the potential to cause injury/death, permanent and temporary hearing impairment, masking, and changes in whale behaviour, habitat use, shifts in habitat occupancy and/or migratory pathways. These effects, either in isolation or in combination, can potentially impair population recovery or effect habitat occupancy. Acoustic noise can be generated by vessels, industrial and seismic noise. To address noise from shipping, vessel movements in blue whale aggregation areas need to be quantified, with particular emphasis on regions that are characterised by high shipping traffic.