Application to the Department of the Environment For Re-Assessment of the Victorian Eel Fishery Against the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries January 2019 1. Background In 2014 the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (now the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA)) sub-mitted an application to the Department of the Environment for the re- assessment of the Victorian Eel Fishery under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The list of exempt native specimens was subsequently amended to allow export of product from the Victorian Eel Fishery to continue for a period of five years, until 17 April 2019. In 2017 the Victorian Eel Fishery Management Plan (the Management Plan) was developed which is intended as a blue print for future actions to the benefit of all users of the resource. The Management Plan is available on the VFA website: https://vfa.vic.gov.au/commercial-fishing/eels/victorian-eel-fishery-management-plan The Management Plan applies to the Victorian eel fishery and replaces the previous management plan (McKinnon 2002). It recognises the ongoing economic and social importance of all sectors, including commercial, recreational, traditional owner and conservation interests. It sets out strategies and management arrangements to achieve the objectives including an implementation plan and an evaluation and review process. 2. Key changes in the Victorian Eel Fishery since last assessment The Management Plan – The Victorian Eel Fishery is managed under the Victorian Eel Fishery Management Plan 2017 (the Management Plan) which was declared in September 2017. The main objectives of the Management Plan are: • Long term sustainability of eel resources, • Equitable resource access and use, • Cost effective and participatory management, and • Improving economic viability of the fishery. Each objective has one or more strategies that are supported by actions and performance indicators. Victoria’s commercial eel fishery comprises of both a wild catch sector and a culture (stock enhanced) sector. The culture sector has developed strategies for growth consistent with the species life cycle by translocating juvenile eels (elvers and ‘snigs’) from other parts of Victoria into lakes and impoundments (culture waters) in western inland Victoria for on- growing. Most of Victoria’s eel catch is taken by commercial fishers and is comprised of adult eel during different phases of their migration. Currently there are no eels being on-grown in intensive aquaculture facilities. Commercial fishing for eels in Victoria is authorised through an Eel Fishery Access Licence as set out in Division 6 of the Fisheries Regulations. The authority of exclusive commercial access to a waterway stocked for the purpose of grow out under natural conditions is provided through either an Aquaculture (Crown Land-Eel) Licence (CLE) or Aquaculture (Private Land – Eel) Licence (PLE). There are no legal minimum lengths, closed seasons, catch quotas or total allowable catch limits for the harvest of eels in the commercial fishery. The wild fishery is managed by restricted access to waters, refusal of permit applications based on platypus populations, a cap on the total number of access licences and limits on the number, dimensions and mesh size of fyke nets. The fishery is managed using input controls including: • spatial restrictions (a network of closed waters where commercial eel fishing is prohibited) • gear restrictions, and • regulation of activities (e.g. nets must not obstruct more than 50% width of any river or stream). Eels are harvested almost exclusively with fyke nets which are set and must be checked within 48 hours. A shorter timeframe is specified as a permit/licence condition when there is a greater risk to wildlife. To ensure sustainability of eel stocks the Management Plan specifically closes a minimum 30% of Victorian connected rivers, creeks and streams with a common mouth opening to the sea. Of the allocated waters fished, and waters fished under permit, the majority are able to be fished only in the downstream reaches, the upper limit clearly defined by a major landmark. The closures under the Management Plan, in addition to other input controls, geographical restrictions and the opportunistic nature of commercial eel fishing, ensure adequate escapement of eels migrating to spawning grounds at sea. Licence conditions of the EFALs and CLEs include waters which are able to be fished on each licence. Some of which are exclusive to one or more licence and others are ‘shared waters’ on all licences. The shared waters include all Crown lakes, dams, swamps, marshes and morasses south of the Great Dividing Range with some exceptions. There continues to be no glass eel production in Victoria. Fishing for glass eels has been of limited success due to the highly variable abundance in Victoria. Table 1: Catch of eels (kg) from Victorian waters (both species combined) Year Catch (kg) 2014 83,327 2015 60,321 2016 73,173 2017 70,837 2018 – (Jan -Oct) 44,357 Interactions with protected species- Commercial eel fishery operators currently include protected species interaction reports with their monthly catch and effort returns when interactions occur. Ten eel fishers made 111 protected species reports from April 2015-July 2017. Interactions involving 1933 animals were reported, comprised primarily of pygmy perch (664), eastern snake necked turtles (410) and eastern long necked turtles (648). Eleven per cent of animals interacted with were reported as dead, primarily involving birds and turtles who had become entangled in gear and drowned. The VFA hosted a meeting with the Eel fishery and Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in October 2017 to present the current data and participation rate and to highlight the importance of reporting protected species interactions accurately. The VFA is committed to working with the Victorian eel industry to manage threatened, endangered and protected species interactions. Interactions involving 456 animals were reported by twenty-two EAL, EP and CLE fishers for 2017/2018. Of these 62% of animals were returned to the water alive, and 37% of protected species were dead. There was a decrease in Eastern Long neck turtle interactions (41), however some of these could have been reported in turtle (unspecified) which saw an increase to 171. Water rats saw the same number reported in a two year period as the last 12 months (54). Dabchick (hoary headed grebe) saw 22 caught over the past 12 months, which is an increase from 19 caught in 2 years. The following table shows the protected species interactions over the past 4 years. Species Jul 2015 - Jun 2017 Jul 2017 - Jun 2018 Pied Cormorant 12 9 (Australasian) Grebe 0 7 Platypus 0 1 Grayling 0 1 Chestnut Teal 1 7 Freckled Duck 0 1 Grey Teal 10 7 Lowland Copperhead Snake 1 1 Tortoise (Unspecified) 0 15 Dabchick (Hoary Headed Grebe) 19 22 Mountain Duck 1 1 Turtle (Unspecified) 51 171 Cormorant 1 2 Musk Duck 1 4 Water Hen 1 2 Short Neck Turtle 0 50 Black Duck 13 18 Eastern Long-necked Turtle 997 41 Water Rat 54 54 Coot (unspecified) 2 3 Eurasian Coot 5 12 Pygmy Perch 534 0 Blue Bill Duck 2 3 Black Hen 2 0 Tiger Snake 1 0 Darter 1 0 3. Progress in Implementing the Recommendations of the Previous Assessment Amnesty from prosecution for eel fishery interactions with protected species ACHIEVED: Incidental interactions with protected species while conducting commercial fishing operations in the eel fishery is currently exempt from prosecution by Governor in Council (GiC) Orders issued under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and Wildlife Act 197. One of the conditions, and an action of the recently declared Management Plan, is that interactions are accurately recorded. This GiC Order removes the disincentive to report interactions and, along with VFA enforcement inspections, ensures the accuracy of the data. Reforms to crown land eel licence conditions A number of reforms were made to the conditions of Aquaculture (Crown Land) Licences which provide authority to stock enhance and fish for eels in lakes and impoundments in Victoria. The objective of this reform was to improve CLE conditions to: • simplify and standardise current conditions; • provide greater clarity and security for licence holders; and • address any adverse interactions with wildlife and other water users. A summary of these reforms is provided in table 2 (below). 4. Reforms proposed for the Victorian Eel Fishery Exceptional circumstances policy Work is currently underway on the development of an Exceptional Circumstances Strategy. This will involve consultation with the appropriate agencies and industry. Initial discussion with industry resulted in the following incidents potentially fitting within the exceptional circumstances scope; • Drought • Changes in salinity • Algal blooms • Fire – chemicals leaching into waterways • Chemical spills/accidents eg. PFAS contamination in Heart Morass • Man made changes in drying or flooding regimes to certain waters Development of Eel Harvest Strategy As evidenced by their wide use internationally and throughout Australian fisheries management jurisdictions, harvest strategies represent a best-practice approach to fisheries management decision making. The Victorian eel fishery is highly susceptible to environmental changes, such as drought, and the condition of the fishery can subsequently fluctuate. A harvest strategy can guide decision-making and assists in achieving management objectives by ensuring that managers and fishers understand how they will respond to various fishery conditions. A harvest strategy for the Victorian eel fishery, including performance indicators and reference points, will help maintain a sustainable fishery into the future. The fishery will continue to be managed by input controls, including limiting the number of commercial licences, placing limits on commercial fishing gear and allocating commercial fishing to specified waters. The VFA has made a commitment to develop a harvest strategy for the eel fishery within the life of the Management Plan. .