QLD Mud Crab Fishery 2007; and A description of the fishery, management arrangements in place, recent catch data for all sectors of the fishery, status of target stock including performance of the fishery against objectives, performance indicators and measures, interactions with protected species, impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem in which it operates and research and monitoring outcomes. Information should only be provided on those aspects which are relevant to the fishery and that articulate ‘changes’ since the last annual report Fisheries Queensland to continue to actively pursue the development of collaborative research with jurisdictions and agencies and ensure that management A number of collaborative research and extension projects were conducted relating to the QMCF. As an extension of a fisheries research project developed in the Northern Territory, a number of Queensland mud crab fishers worked with Although no substantial research or collaborative work has occurred within the fishery for several the Department notes that QDAF have collaborated with other jurisdictions and agencies in pursuit of complementary management and research of shared mud crab stocks. Therefore,
By the end of 2008, Fisheries Queensland to review the Performance Measurement System for the Queensland Mud Crab Fishery to ensure that it incorporates a precautionary indicator/s to monitor activation of latent effort in the Queensland Mud Crab Fishery on an annual basis. Fisheries Queensland to ensure that appropriate information is collected from the fishery to ensure that this indicator/s can be monitored effectively. The then Department of the Environment and Water Resources’ reassessment of the QMCF in October 2007 identified latent effort in the fishery as a risk to the long-term sustainability of Queensland’s crab stocks. In July 2008, QDAF implemented the Policy for the Removal of Excess Fishing Capacity in Queensland’s Line, Crab, Beam Trawl and Eel Fisheries. The implementation of this Policy during 2008–09 removed a significant number (approximately 40%) of crab (C1) fishery symbols, thus addressing some of the underlying risks associated with this recommendation. The QMCF’s Performance Measurement System was reviewed in January 2010 by QDAF representatives and experts. Workshop participants did not believe the inclusion of a specific latent effort performance measure was necessary due to the effectiveness of the Policy for the Removal of Excess Fishing Capacity in Queensland’s Line, Crab, Beam Trawl and Eel Fisheries. QDAF monitors effort trends in all of its fisheries and since 2008 there has been a drop in the number of licences responsible for mud crab catch (Table 1). The Department of the Environment considers that this recommendation has been met. The Department recommends that this recommendation continue to apply under the new export approval for this fishery (see Condition 4 and Recommendation 1, Table 4).
Section 303FR Public consultation The Department’s assessment of the QLD Mud Crab Fishery (1) Before making a declaration section 303FN, the Minister must cause to be published on the Internet a notice: setting out the proposal to make the declaration; and setting out sufficient information to enable persons and organisations to consider adequately the merits of the proposal; and inviting persons and organisations to give the Minister, within the period specified in the notice, written comments the proposal. The Department considers that consultation requirements of the EPBC Act for declaring a fishery an approved wildlife trade operation have been met. A public notice, which set out the proposal to declare the QMCF an approved wildlife trade operation and included the submission for the QMCF, was released for public comment which closed on 4 November 2014 with one public comment received. (2) A period specified in the notice must not be shorter than 20 business days after the date on which the notice was published on the Internet. A public notice, which set out the proposal to declare the QMCF a wildlife trade operation and included the submission was released for public comment on 1 October 2014 and closed on 4 November 2014, a total of 22 business days. (3) In making a decision about whether to make a declaration under section 303FN, the Minister must consider any comments about the proposal to make the declaration that were given in response to the invitation in the notice. The public comments received on the submission are included at Attachment L1 and L2 of the brief. The Department’s assessment has considered the public comments received on the submission.
4: QLD Mud Crab Assessment – Summary of Issues, Conditions and Recommendations October, 2015 Issue Condition General Management Export decisions relate to the arrangements in at the time of the decision. To ensure that these decisions remain valid and export approval continues uninterrupted, the Department of the Environment needs to be advised of any changes that are made to the management regime and make an assessment that the new arrangements are equivalent or better, in terms of ecological sustainability, than those in place at the time of the original decision. This includes operational and legislated amendments that may affect sustainability of the target species or negatively impact on byproduct, bycatch, EPBC Act protected species or the ecosystem. Condition 1: Operation of the Queensland Mud Crab Fishery (QMCF) will be carried out in accordance with management regime in force under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994 and the Queensland Fisheries Regulation 2008. Condition 2: The Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) to inform the Department of the Environment of any intended material changes to the QMCF management arrangements that may affect the assessment against which Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 decisions are made. Annual Reporting It is important that reports be produced and presented to the Department annually in order for the performance of the fishery and progress in implementing the conditions and recommendations in this report and other managerial commitments to be monitored and assessed throughout the life of the declaration. Annual reports should follow Appendix B to the 'Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries - 2nd Edition' and include a description of the fishery, management arrangements in place, research and monitoring outcomes, recent catch data for all sectors of the fishery, status of target stock, interactions with EPBC Act protected species, impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem in which it operates and progress in implementing the Department’s conditions and recommendations. Electronic copies of the guidelines are available from Condition 3: The QDAF to produce and present reports to the Department of the Environment annually as per Appendix B of the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries - 2nd Edition.