10. DFWA to continue to work with other jurisdictions to develop and implement effective strategies and response measures to reduce the extent of illegal take of Abalone in Western Australia. The WA Department of Fisheries participates in various joint operational arrangements to maximise efforts to detect the illegal harvest of abalone, including with the WA Police, Australian Customs and the National Fisheries Compliance Committee (NFCC). A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is also being developed with all states and territories for the purpose of further and improved joint operational activities within the various compliance agencies, to investigate the tracking of illegal fishing activities. An MOU is also in place with the Department of Primary Industry and Resources South Australia to cross authorise selected Fisheries Officers across the neighbouring jurisdictions. In addition to membership on the NFCC, authorities from all abalone producing states have formed an NFCC intelligence sub-committee. This subcommittee meets annually to review compliance and intelligence strategies across the jurisdictions and facilitate cross-jurisdictional operations. The WA Department of Fisheries is continuing to participate in these cross-jurisdictional operations on an ongoing basis, to ensure the development and implementation of strategies and response measures to reduce illegal take of abalone in WA. The Department considers that this recommendation has been met.
Part 16 Section 391 Minister must consider precautionary principle in making decisions The Department’s assessment of the WA Abalone Managed Fishery (1) The Minister must take account of the precautionary principle in making a decision under section 303DC and/or section 303FN, to the extent he or she can do so consistently with the other provisions of this Act. Having regard to the precautionary management measures in in the fishery, summarised in Table 1, the Department considers that the precautionary principle has been accounted for in the preparation of advice in relation to a decision under section 303DC. (2) The precautionary principle is that lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing a measure to prevent degradation of the environment there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage.
4: WA Abalone Managed Fishery Assessment – Summary of Issues and Recommendations September 2014 Issue Recommendation General Management Export decisions relate to the arrangements in force 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. Recommendation 1: Operation of the fishery will be carried out in accordance with the management regime under the Western Australian Fish Resources Management Act 1994 and the Western Australian Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995. Recommendation 2: The WA Department of Fisheries to inform the Department of the Environment of any intended material changes to the Western Australian Abalone Managed Fishery management arrangements that may affect the assessment against 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 for the performance of the fishery and progress in implementing the recommendations in this report and other managerial commitments to be monitored and assessed throughout the life of the declaration. Recommendation 3: The WA Department of Fisheries 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’.