�� _Austral__i_an_Govern __m_e_n_t _____ � AustralianFisheries Management Authority REF: DOC18/46947 5 October 2018 Mr Nathan Sibley Director Wildlife TradeAssessments Departmentof the Environment and Energy GPO Box 787 CANBERRA ACT 2601 email: [email protected] RE: Application for export approval as a Wildlife Trade Operation for the Southern and Eastern Scalefishand Shark Fishery Dear Mr Sibley I am writing in regard to the current Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) Wildlife Trade Operation (WTO) export approval under Part13A of the EPBC Act 1999, set to expire 21 February2019. In March 2018, AFMA submittedthe Southern and Eastern Scalefishand Shark Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation Annual Report2018 (Attachment A) that reported on the 2017 calendar year. The reassessment for WTO re-approval requires an additional reassessment report be produced. There have been few changes to the management arrangements described in the 2018 WTO Annual Report and any data provided at present would be incomplete for2018. Accordingly, we have provideda progress reporton the recommendations and conditions from the WTO accreditation of the SESSF in Attachment B. Additional updates on management arrangements that have changed in 2018 as follows: Elactronlc logbooks - From 1 July 2018, all operators in the SESSF who fish more than 50 days in a season were required to use electronic logbooks (e-logs). E-logs promote more accurateand timely data. Electronic monitoring - Electronic monitoring is being trialled on board three trawl vessels-two otter board trawland one Danish seine. Data is being collected to assess the capability of electronic monitoring systems in supporting the verification of fishery dependent catch and effort information.The outcomes of the trial will be considered, Canberra Darwin ThursdayIsland POBox7051 POBox 131 POBox376 Canberra BusinessCentre ACT 2610 Darwin 0801NT ThursdayIsland OLD 4875 P 026225 5555 F 02 6225 5500 P 08 89430333 F 08 8942 2897 P 07 4069 1990 F 07 4069 1W AFMA Direct 1300 723121 I Efficient& sustainablemanagement ofCommonwealth fish 111&0Urces afma.gov.au 1 of10 amongst a range of other fishery dependant and independent monitoring approaches, to support stock assessments and management decisions. Cross jurisdictional management arrangements New South Wales - The Commonwealth and NSW are negotiating an Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS) arrangement to transition the NSWSouthern Fish Trawl Fishery (SFTF) into Commonwealth jurisdiction. If the arrangement proceeds a new sector will be created in the SESSF. It is intended that operators will be fishing in the new sector on 1 May 2019 at the beginning of the SESSF season. If the transition proceeds: . one jurisdiction will manage the finfish stocks south of Barrenjoey Head . more stringent rules of the Commonwealth will apply, including VMS and Seabird management plans . quota will be introduced for the fishery with the removal of wasteful trip limits leading to less discarding. We will inform you as soon as possible if the transition proceeds. Please note that the SFTF is part of the NSW Ocean Trawl Fishery and has been assessed previously under the EPBCAct: www. environment. aov. au/marine/fisheries/nsw/ocean-trawl South Australia - AFMA and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia have been discussing potential improvements to cross-jurisdictional fisheries management. The most pertinent of these regards the shared management of snapper. AFMA is consulting with the Commonwealth industry on implementing an annual prohibition of possessing, landing and acts preparatory to taking snapper (ie targeting) during 1 November to 15 December each year; this would be consistent with the South Australian state-wide seasonal snapper closure. Subject to the implementation of these complementary Commonwealth arrangements, SA has indicated that it will support: . an annual snapper bycatch allocation for the Commonwealth based on historical total annual bycatch levels . the revision of the bycatch trip limit. The size of the allocation and revised trip limit will also require consultation with both State and Commonwealth fishing industries. Western Australia - WA now has sole jurisdiction of the formerly joint-managed Southern Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery. This was undertaken via OCS arrangements (C2018G00617 / C2018G00618) to streamline management arrangements. AFMA and the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will guide the development of complementary harvest strategies and catch sharing arrangements for important shared Canberra Darwin Thursday Island PO Box 7051 POBox 131 PO Box376 Canberra Business Centre ACT 261 0 Darwin NT 0801 Thursday Island OLD 4875 P 02 6225 5555 F 02 6225 5500 P 08 8943 0333 F 08 8942 2897 P 07 4069 1990F 07 4069 1277 AFMA Direct 1300 723 621 | Efficient & sustainable management of Commonwealth Fish resources 2 of 10 stocks. These will help to ensure that AFMA can manage these stocks sustainably in the Great Australian Eighttrawl and Gillnet Hook and Trap (GHAT) sectors of the SESSF. GHAT data collection -A co-management agreement regarding data collection services in the gillnet, shark longline and scalefish longline sectors of the SESSFwas agreed between the Southern Shark Industry Alliance (SSIA) and AFMA in September 2018. As such, rather than the AFMA observer program, the SSIA will coordinate an industry led biological sampling program using a combination of crew and land based port samplers. The program will fulfil the data collection requirements of the SESSFdata plan for gummy shark, school shark, pink ling, blue eye trevalla and ribaldo and will supplement the data collected through the AFMA electronic monitoring program. Stock assessments The stock assessmentfor the southern and eastern scalefish and shark fishery 2016 and 2017 report is in the process of being published to the AFMA website. Part 1 (2016)has been uploaded at www.afma.aov.au/fisheries/southem-eastem-scalefish-shark-fisherv under 'fishery publications' Part 2 will be uploaded to the same page as soon as possible. For the schedule of future stock assessments (2018 to 2023) please see Attachment C. Upper slope dogflsh -As advised on 9 September 2017 the review of the Upper Slope Dogflsh Management Strategy was postponed pending the results of the research project entitled 'Research to support the upper slope dogfish management strategy: options for the monitoring the recovery of Southern Dogfish and Harrisson's Dogfish'. We are expecting the final report later this year. If you have any queries please contact me: aeorae. dav@aftna. aov. au / (02) 6225 5331. Yours sincerely George Day Senior Manager Demersal and Midwaterfisheries Canberra Darwin ThursdayIsland PO Box 7051 PO Box 131 PO Box 376 Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610 Darwin NT 0601 Thursday Island QLD 4875 P 02 6225 5555 F 02 6225 5500 P 08 8943 0333 F 06 8942 2897 P07 4069 1990 F07 40691277 AFMA Direct 1300 723 621 ) Efficient &sustalnable management of Commonwealth fish rosourees 3 of 10 Attachment A afma.gov.au Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation Annual Report 2018 Box 7051, Canberra Business Centre, ACT 2610 / Ph 6225 5555 (02) / Fax (02) 6225 5500 / AFMA Direct 1300 723 621 Contents Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Tables .............................................................................................................................................. 3 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 5 2 Description of the fishery ........................................................................................................... 5 3 Changes to management arrangements ..................................................................................... 5 3.1 TAC settings for quota species 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons ............................................... 5 3.2 Australian Sea Lion (ASL) Management Strategy .................................................................. 7 3.3 Discard reporting ............................................................................................................... 7 3.4 Harvest Strategy Framework and Harvest Strategy Policy ..................................................... 8 3.5 Upper Slope Dogfish Management Strategy ........................................................................ 8 3.6 School Shark Rebuilding Strategy ........................................................................................ 8 3.7 Blue Warehou Rebuilding Strategy ...................................................................................... 8 3.8 Eastern Gemfish Rebuilding Strategy ................................................................................... 9 3.9 Orange Roughy Rebuilding Strategy .................................................................................... 9 3.10 Redfish Rebuilding Strategy .............................................................................................. 10 3.11 Bycatch and Discard Workplans ........................................................................................ 10 3.12 Seabird mitigation ...........................................................................................................