Implications of current spatial management measures on AFMA ERAs for habitats

Funded Activity Summary

In response to the EPBC Act, related regulations and international obligations, AFMA has moved beyond target species to an ecosystem-based approach to managing Commonwealth fisheries — aiming for broader environmental sustainability including for bycatch species, habitat and communities. Typically, a risk based approach is being taken for this purpose. Research has demonstrated that demersal fishing gears can impact seabed habitats and communities, which consequently are considered potentially at risk. Accordingly, ecological risk assessments (ERAs) for habitats have been conducted for the major Commonwealth fisheries. However, these ERAs were interim in nature, and non-spatial, largely due to inadequate data for most fisheries. More recently, new data and methods have become available that would permit an advancement of these assessments; and further, new management has been implemented — including effort management, fishery closures and the Commonwealth Marine Reserve System (CMRS) — that may change the level of potential risk. Thus, AFMA has identified a need to extend the ERAs covering habitats and communities, taking into account the new information, methods and management. In particular, AFMA has specified a priority requirement for a gap analysis to determine the extent to which individual fishery ERAs, and hence ERM, need to address habitats following the finalisation of the CMRS network and considering other fishery management measures in place, including effort reduction & closures. It is this latter priority need that this proposal addresses. Note that while there is some uncertainty around the timing and scope of the government review of CMRS, the need addressed by this proposal remains a priority for AFMA due to the significant fishery management measures that have been implemented in recent years.

Objectives:
1. Capitalize on recently collated data and mapped distributions of predicted demersal assemblages and associated habitats — as well as data for Commonwealth demersal fishing effort, fishery closures and marine reserves — to provide:
2. - quantification of the overlap of fishing effort and intensity with each mapped assemblage/habitat,
3. - quantification of the overlap of each mapped assemblage/habitat with areas of spatial management that exclude fishing, such as closures and reserves,
4. - a gap analysis and prioritization of which mapped assemblages/habitats, and in which fisheries, may require future focus for AFMAs fishery ERAs.
5. - qualitative assessment of the potential risk implications for any habitat forming biota (if/where data available) in assemblages with high exposure to fisheries, given current spatial management.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 18-07-2014

End Date: 30-12-2015

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $191,289.19

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Analytics | Environmental Impact | Fisheries Management | Fishing Effort | RAC CMWTH | Risk reduction | Survey

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