Sea Countries of the North-West: Literature Review on Indigenous
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SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST Literature review on Indigenous connection to and uses of the North West Marine Region Prepared by Dr Dermot Smyth Smyth and Bahrdt Consultants For the National Oceans Office Branch, Marine Division, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources * July 2007 * The title of the Department was changed to Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts in late 2007. SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST © Commonwealth of Australia 2007. This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts or the Minister for Climate Change and Water. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. 2 SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Marine Bioregional Planning 4 1.2 Aims of the Literature review on Indigenous connections and uses 6 1.3 Aboriginal interests in Commonwealth waters 6 2. Overview of Indigenous Connections to and Uses of the Region 8 2.1 A place of arrivals 8 2.2 Aboriginal populations and land in the north-west 9 2.3 Sea Country and Customary Marine Tenure 10 2.4 Customary hunting, fishing and gathering 13 2.5 Aboriginal water craft of the north-west 19 2.6 Aboriginal involvement in the Pearling Industry 19 2.7 Aboriginal involvement in commercial marine resource use 21 3. Native Title on Sea Country in the North West 26 3.1 Overview of native title on Sea Country 26 3.2 Native Title Claims and Determinations in the North West Marine Region 28 3.3 Consideration of native title over sea country in Western Australia 49 4. Indigenous involvement in Natural Resource management 50 4.1 Dugong and marine turtle management 50 4.2 Saltwater Country Project 53 4.3 Kimberley Caring for Country Regional Partnership Agreement 55 4.4 Indigenous involvement in the Rangelands NRM Region 55 4.5 Indigenous Land Management Facilitators 61 4.6 Indigenous ranger groups 62 4.7 Indigenous involvement in marine parks and world heritage areas 63 5. Concluding Remarks 67 References 68 Attachment 1 Draft Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Recommendations 72 Acknowledgements Members and staff of the following organisations provided invaluable assistance and information in the preparation of this report: • Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; • Department of Environment and Conservation (WA); • Department of Fisheries (WA); • Indigenous Coordination Centre (Broome); • Kimberley Land Council Land and Sea Management Unit; • National Native Title Tribunal; • National Oceans Office Branch, Marine Division of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources; • Yadgalah Aboriginal Corporation. 3 SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Marine Bioregional Planning The Australian Government, through the Marine Division of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEW), is currently engaged in developing a Marine Bioregional Plan for the North West Marine Region, which includes Commonwealth waters off the coast of north-western Australia from the Northern Territory border to just south of Shark Bay. Commonwealth waters extend from state territorial waters (generally 3 nautical miles (5.5 kms) from the coast out to 200 nautical miles (370 kms), which is the boundary of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The North West Marine Region is one of five marine regions that are currently the subject of marine bioregional planning processes as part of the implementation of Australia’s Ocean Policy1. The aim of marine bioregional planning, which is being undertaken under provisions of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), is to provide guidance about marine environment conservation priorities, inform the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment and Water Resources when making decisions in respect of development or resource use applications in Commonwealth waters and facilitate the identification and establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Section 176 of the EPBC Act2 provides a general description of the provisions a Marine Bioregional Marine Plan which may include: • Descriptions of biodiversity, economic, social and heritage values of the region; • The objectives of the plan relating to biodiversity and other values; • Strategies and actions to give effect to the plan; and • Mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing the plan over time. Figure 1 shows the location of Australia’s five Marine Bioregional Planning Regions. Figure 2 shows the North West Marine Bioregional Planning Region in more detail. Figure 1: Location of Australia’s Marine Bioregional Planning Regions 1 Available at http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/oceans-policy/index.html 2 Further information on the EPBC Act is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/index.html 4 SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST Figure 2: Map showing the boundaries of the North West Marine Region The development of the North West Marine Bioregional Plan involves the following four planning stages: 1. Developing a Regional Profile, which involves gathering essential information about the region, including information about the geology, oceanography and ecology of the region, as well as certain economic and social information about the region. This information will then be published as a Regional Profile and will form the foundation of the subsequent planning stages. 2. Developing the Draft Plan, which will take about 12 months following the release of the Regional Profile. Indigenous people, other marine users and stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide input into this stage of the planning process, which focuses on identifying conservation priorities for the region, threats to those priorities and the options to address them. The social and economic impacts of proposed conservation measures, including possible MPAs will be evaluated, in consultation with Indigenous people and others with an interest in the area. 3. Preparing the Final Plan The Government will consider public comment on the Draft Plan before concluding the Final Plan. At this stage, the final shape of new MPAs – such as location, size and zoning – will be decided and any action necessary to give effect to the Plan will be considered by Government. The Government will also carefully consider the impacts on industry and people before the Marine Bioregional Plan is formally adopted. 4. Implementing and Reviewing the Plan Once the Marine Bioregional Plan is finalised, it will guide future Australian Government conservation activities in the Region. During that time, the Minister will be guided by the Plan for all decisions affecting the Region that the Minister must make under the EPBC Act. An implementation strategy for the Plan will be developed and the formal legal processes to declare the MPA network will commence. The Plan will be reviewed from time to time in light of new information and emerging priorities. 5 SEA COUNTRIES OF THE NORTH-WEST The Government of Western Australia has announced its intention of embarking on a complementary process of regional marine planning for state waters lying between the coast and Commonwealth waters, commencing in the south-west of the state.3 1.2 Aims of the Literature review on Indigenous connections and uses The aim of the literature review is to provide an overview of Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the marine environments of the North West Marine Bioregional Planning Region. The overview is based largely on publicly available information from books, journals and websites, with some additional information provided voluntarily by, and used with the consent of, Indigenous organisations from the region. While the emphasis is on Indigenous connections to, use of and management of marine environments and resources within Commonwealth waters, the review inevitably includes mention of Indigenous interests in state waters and coastal land, consistent with Indigenous people’s holistic views of Sea Country (see Section 2). The literature review will be used to inform the Regional Profile, but will also be published as a stand-alone document for use as an information source by Indigenous communities and organisations, government agencies, marine resource users and others. Research for the literature review was conducted through library and internet searches, supplemented by visits and telephone contact with some Indigenous and other organisations in the north-west. The following literature reviews were prepared during the regional marine planning processes for the South-east, South-west and Northern