8950 Martin Luther King Jr. Street North, Suite 202 St. Petersburg, FL 33702 USA Tel: (727) 563-9070 Fax: (727) 563-0207 Email: [email protected] President: Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D. South East Australia Small Pelagic Fishery (Commonwealth) Blue Mackerel (Scomber australasicus) Jack Mackerel (Trachurus declivis) Redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus) Mid-Water Trawl MSC Fishery Assessment Final Report and Determination Prepared for Ridley Agriproducts Pty Ltd. MRAG Americas, Inc. 16 July, 2019 Authors: Richard Banks, Mihaela Zaharia, Cameron Dixon and Amanda Stern-Pirlot MRAG Americas—Australia SPF Fishery Final Report and Determination 1 Project Code: US2619 Issue ref: Final Report and Determination Date of issue: 16 July 2019 Prepared by: R. Banks, C. Dixon, M. Zaharia, A. Stern-Pirlot Checked/Approved by: Jodi Bostrom MRAG Americas—Australia SPF Fishery Final Report and Determination 2 Contents Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Glossary of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 6 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 8 2 Authorship and Peer Reviewers ....................................................................................... 12 2.1 Peer Reviewers .......................................................................................................... 13 3 Description of the Fishery ................................................................................................ 15 3.1 Unit(s) of Assessment (UoA) and Scope of Certification Sought ............................ 15 3.1.1 UoA and Proposed Unit of Certification (UoC) ................................................ 15 3.1.2 Final UoC(s)....................................................................................................... 15 3.1.3 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data .................................................. 16 3.1.4 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries ................................... 17 3.1.5 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Introduced Species Based Fisheries (ISBF) 17 3.2 Overview of the Fishery ............................................................................................ 17 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background .............................................................. 19 3.3.1 Assessment of Target Species against Key Low-Trophic Level Criteria .......... 19 3.3.2 Biology and Life History ................................................................................... 20 3.3.3 Harvest Strategy and Harvest Control Rules ..................................................... 24 3.3.4 Assessment of Stock Status ............................................................................... 30 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background .................................................................... 32 3.4.1 Primary Species Outcome (PI 2.1.1) .................................................................. 35 3.4.2 Primary Species Management (PI 2.1.2) ........................................................... 37 3.4.3 Primary Species Information (PI 2.1.3) ............................................................. 39 3.4.4 Secondary Species Outcome (PI 2.2.1) .............................................................. 40 3.4.5 Secondary Species Management (PI 2.2.2) ....................................................... 41 3.4.6 Secondary Species Information (PI 2.2.3) ......................................................... 42 3.4.7 Endangered, Threatened and Protected Species (ETPs) Outcome (PI 2.3.1) .... 43 3.4.8 ETP Species Management (PI 2.3.2) ................................................................. 62 3.4.9 ETP Species Information (PI 2.3.3) ................................................................... 72 3.4.10 Habitat Outcome (PI 2.4.1) ................................................................................ 76 3.4.11 Habitat Management (PI 2.4.2) .......................................................................... 85 3.4.12 Habitat Information (PI 2.4.3) ........................................................................... 87 3.4.13 Ecosystem Outcome (PI 2.5.1) .......................................................................... 89 3.4.14 Ecosystem Management (PI 2.5.2) .................................................................... 95 MRAG Americas—Australia SPF Fishery Final Report and Determination 3 3.4.15 Ecosystem Information (PI 2.5.3) ...................................................................... 97 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background .................................................. 98 3.5.1 Legal and Customary Framework (PI 3.1.1) ..................................................... 98 3.5.2 Roles and Responsibilities and Consultation (PI 3.1.2) ................................... 101 3.5.3 Long Term Objectives (PI 3.1.3) ..................................................................... 106 3.5.4 Fishery Specific Management Objectives (PI 3.2.1) ....................................... 111 3.5.5 Decision-Making Processes (PI 3.2.2) ............................................................. 114 3.5.6 Compliance and Enforcement (PI 3.2.3) .......................................................... 115 3.5.7 Monitoring and Management Performance Evaluation (PI 3.2.4) ................... 122 4 Evaluation Procedure ...................................................................................................... 124 4.1 Harmonised Fishery Assessment ............................................................................ 124 4.2 Previous Assessments ............................................................................................. 124 4.3 Assessment Methodologies ..................................................................................... 124 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques ..................................................................... 124 4.4.1 Site Visits ......................................................................................................... 124 4.4.2 Consultations.................................................................................................... 126 4.4.3 Evaluation Techniques ..................................................................................... 127 5 Traceability ..................................................................................................................... 129 5.1 Eligibility Date ........................................................................................................ 129 5.2 Traceability within the Fishery ............................................................................... 129 5.3 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody ....................................................... 131 5.4 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practicably Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody .............................................................................................................. 131 5.4.1 Inseparable or Practically Inseparable (IPI) Catches ....................................... 131 5.4.2 Request to Allow an Exemption to Detailed Requirements for IPI Stocks ..... 132 6 Evaluation Results .......................................................................................................... 134 6.1 Principle Level Scores ............................................................................................. 134 6.2 Summary of PI Level Scores ................................................................................... 134 6.3 Summary of Conditions .......................................................................................... 135 6.4 Recommendations ................................................................................................... 135 6.5 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement ............................................... 135 6.6 Changes in the Fishery Prior to and since Pre-Assessment .................................... 135 7 References ...................................................................................................................... 136 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 150 Appendix 1 Scoring and Rationales ....................................................................................... 150 Appendix 1.1 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale ............................................ 150 Appendix 1.2 Risk Based Framework (RBF) Outputs ....................................................... 262 MRAG Americas—Australia SPF Fishery Final Report and Determination 4 Appendix 1.3 Conditions.................................................................................................... 262 Appendix 2 Peer Review Reports .......................................................................................... 265 Peer Reviewer A General Comments ................................................................................. 265 Peer reviewer A Specific PI Comments ............................................................................. 268 Peer Reviewer B General Comments ................................................................................