EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 146

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fisheries Management (Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

Subsection 168(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the
Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, in carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

The Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery (WTBF) is located west of Cape York in Queensland reaching around to the South Australian/Victorian border. The WTBF also includes waters seaward of territorial waters (outside 12 nautical miles from the baselines) adjacent to Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Broadbill swordfish (Xiphias gladius), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), and striped marlin (Tetrapturus audux) are the key species in this fishery.

The WTBF has been managed under the transitional provisions of the Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery Management Plan 2005 (the Plan) accepted in 2005 by the then Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation under section 17 of the Act, pending the final grant of Statutory Fishing Rights (SFRs) under the Plan. Once the final grant is made the Plan will become fully operational.

The final grant of SFRs will take effect from 1 July 2010 with the beginning of the first fishing season under the Plan, which provides that the ‘fishing season’ has the meaning given in the Fisheries Management (Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery) Regulations 2006 (the Principal Regulations).

The Regulations amend the Principal Regulations to prescribe the period of the fishing season in the WTBF, for the purposes of the Plan.

The first season will start on 1 July 2010 and end on 31 January 2012. Every subsequent season will start on 1 February in a year and end on 31 January in the following year. In order for the season to start on 1 February each year, it was necessary to have an initial season of 19 months.

Regulation Impact Statement

In view of the low impact on business, the Office of Best Practice Regulation has advised that a Business Cost Calculator Report or a Regulation Impact Statement is not required (ID 11378).

Consultation

The Tropical Tuna Management Advisory Committee, established under section 56 of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991, was consulted on the dates to be set as the fishing season.