Marine Fish Stocking in NSW Environmental Impact Statement Vol III Prepared for: Department of Primary Industries November 2011 Marine Fish Stocking – Environmental Impact Statement Prepared for DPI Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd Trading as Cardno Ecology Lab ABN 95 001 145 035 4 Green Street Brookvale New South Wales 2100 Australia Telephone: 02 9907 4440 Facsimile: 02 9907 4446 International: +61 2 9907 4440 [email protected] www.cardno.com.au Marine Fish Stocking Vol III: Online version Public Consultation Document Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd ISBN 978 1 74256 223 0 Online Version Copyright © State of New South Wales Cover Image: Courtesy of DPI. Document Control Report Number Status Date Authors Craig Blount CB EL0809106A Final 7 November 2011 Kate Reeds KR Peggy O’Donnell POD Marcus Lincoln Smith MLS "© State of New South Wales through Department of Primary Industries 2011. This publication is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material provided that the wording is reproduced exactly, the source is acknowledged and the copyright, update address and disclaimer notice is retained.” Disclaimer: This public consultation document is for discussion and comment only and does not commit the New South Wales Government through Industry & Investment NSW or Cardno (NSW/ACT) to the views expressed or to any future action. While the publication has been prepared with care, the New South Wales Government does not accept liability for any decisions taken on the basis of this document. EL0809106A Final, November 2011 Cardno Ecology Lab Pty Ltd i Marine Fish Stocking – Environmental Impact Statement Prepared for DPI VOLUMES I Chapter A Executive Summary Chapter B Description of the Proposal Chapter C Review of Existing Information Chapter D Identification of Risks II Chapter E The Draft FMS Chapter F Alternatives Considered Chapter G Assessment of Impacts of Implementing the Draft FMS Chapter H Justification Chapter I References III Appendix 1 Director Generals Requirements Appendix 2 State Threatened Species Significance Assessments Appendix 3 Commonwealth Threatened Species Significance Assessments Appendix 4 Consultation Appendix 5 Social Case Studies Appendix 6 SERM Outputs Specialist Report A Aboriginal Issues Assessment Specialist Report B Economic Feasibility Assessment EL0809106A Final, November 2011 Cardno Ecology Lab Pty Ltd ii Marine Fish Stocking – Environmental Impact Statement Prepared for DPI Table of Contents Volume III Appendix 1 Director Generals Requirements ...................................................................................................... 462 Appendix 2 State Threatened Species Significance Assessments ..................................................................... 482 Appendix 3 Commonwealth Threatened Species Significance Assessments ..................................................... 537 Appendix 4 Consultation ..................................................................................................................................... 566 Appendix 5 Social Case Studies ......................................................................................................................... 570 Appendix 6 SERM Outputs ................................................................................................................................. 596 Specialist Report A Aboriginal Issues Assessment ............................................................................................. 612 Specialist Report B Economic Feasibility Assessment ....................................................................................... 679 EL0809106A Final, November 2011 Cardno Ecology Lab Pty Ltd iii Appendix 1 Director Generals Requirements Appendix 2 Threatened Species (State Assessment of Significance) Marine Fish Stocking – Environmental Impact Statement Prepared for DPI Appendix 2. ‘Assessment of Significance’ for threatened species, populations and communities listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act) or Fisheries Management Act 1994 (FM Act). FISH Four species of threatened fish listed under the FM Act were considered relevant to the proposal. Assessments of Significance for these species are given below. Grey Nurse Sharks Species Name: Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) Status: Critically endangered species – Schedule 4A FM Act a) In the case of a threatened species, whether the action proposed is likely to have an adverse effect on the life cycle of the species such that a viable local population of the species is likely to be placed at risk of extinction. Grey nurse sharks typically occur on shallow rocky reefs along the New South Wales (NSW) coast (Last and Stevens 1994). Young are born live and also occur on shallow rocky reefs, often segregated from the adults. Grey nurse sharks can be observed at day hovering or slowly swimming around high-relief reefs. It is thought that the species becomes more active at night where it hunts over rocky reef and over soft substrata for a wide range of bony fishes, rays, sharks, squids and crustaceans (Smale 2005). There is also evidence to suggest that grey nurse sharks migrate along the NSW coast (northwards in autumn/winter and southwards in summer (Pollard et al.1996, Otway and Parker 2000). The entire east coast population of grey nurse sharks has been listed as critically endangered under the EPBC Act and recent surveys estimate the population to be small (Otway and Burke 2004, Cardno Ecology Lab 2010). In such a small population the loss of only a few individuals could seriously affect the viability of the whole population. The draft Fisheries Management Strategy (FMS) does not allow stocking to be done in areas where it is likely to have significant effects on grey nurse sharks. Currently there are no aggregation sites for grey nurse sharks within estuaries but it is probable that grey nurse sharks would enter estuaries to forage on occasion. Potential impacts from the proposal are associated with trophic impacts to the individuals that range into estuaries as well as from fishing activities associated with the proposal. Although it is probable that grey nurse sharks would enter estuaries to forage there is no evidence to suggest that grey nurse sharks depend on estuarine habitat in particular. It is possible that some estuarine prey items of grey nurse sharks could be displaced by stocked species but provided that juvenile finfish or crustaceans are stocked at appropriate densities, so that stocking does not disrupt the ecological balance of estuaries, availability or competition for food and other resources, trophic impacts would potentially not occur. For each species to be stocked, modelling, that included trophic impacts and estuarine productivity, was used to choose stocking densities that would not disrupt the ecological balance of estuaries (Chapter E, Section E.6.3). The proposed stocking densities are predicted to result in stocked fish or crustaceans using a maximum of 5 % of the total productivity of an estuary in any stocking event. This level of allocation of productivity to stocked fish is precautionary (Chapter F, Section E.5.4). As more information becomes available about potential trophic impacts of stocked fish or crustaceans, the draft FMS proposes to refine the process for estimating the most appropriate stocking densities. In addition, the diverse diet of grey nurse sharks would suggest that there is a potential for stocking to increase, rather than reduce, local estuarine food sources for sharks. Fishing activities associated with the proposal are a potential risk to grey nurse sharks. It is difficult to predict whether stocking would increase fishing effort in estuaries that are stocked and if so, by how much. A substantial increase would potentially have a negative effect on grey nurse sharks as it would increase the risk of incidental hooking to individuals ranging into stocked estuaries. Under State and Commonwealth law it is illegal to catch or harm grey nurse sharks. Most estuarine recreational fishing tackle is constructed with lines of low breaking strain and without wire traces. This sort of fishing gear is unlikely to be capable of landing large bodied sharks such as grey nurse sharks. Hooked sharks would, however, be vulnerable to the effects of hooking injuries which have potential to cause harm over time (NSW Fisheries 2002). Although grey nurse sharks have EL0809106A Final, November 2011 Cardno Ecology Lab Pty Ltd App. 2-1 Marine Fish Stocking – Environmental Impact Statement Prepared for DPI Species Name: Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) potential for becoming entangled in beach protection mesh nets (Krogh and Reid 1996) there are no data to suggest that grey nurse sharks are caught by nets in estuaries (NSW Fisheries 2001) and the NSW Grey Nurse Shark Draft Recovery Plan does not consider this type of fishing a threat to the species (NSW Fisheries 2002). Crab traps would be of little concern. However, grey nurse sharks are considered to be vulnerable to entanglement in or ingestion of lost or discarded line, lures and nets (DEH 2003) and could therefore be placed at risk if the amount of lost or discarded gear increased as a consequence of the proposal (also see (g)). Apart from the potential impacts that stocking may have to grey nurse sharks ranging into estuaries, stocking also has potential to affect grey nurse sharks occurring in coastal waters ‘outside’ of estuaries. Impacts would be possible if stocked fish or crustaceans