Ecological risk management strategies

In pursuing its ecologically sustainable development (ESD) objective the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) takes an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries by managing the effects of commercial fisheries on the marine environment.

As part of this commitment, the Ecological Risk Management (ERM) framework is used to assist decision makers in developing fisheries management arrangements that are consistent with the ESD objective. The framework uses the Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Fishing (ERAEF) as the primary means of assessing the risks that fisheries may pose to the marine environment.

What is the Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Fishing?

The ERAEF involves a hierarchy of risk assessment methodologies progressing from a qualitative analysis at the first stage, to a more detailed and quantitative analysis at the final stage. This approach allows easy identification of high and low risk species, as well as those that are data deficient.

The ERAEF was designed to support the pursuit of ESD in Commonwealth fisheries. It considers the impacts of fishing on five key components of the marine environment, including commercial species, byproduct species, bycatch species, protected species, and habitats and communities.

Ecological risk assessments are used to identify which species, habitats or communities are at risk from the effects of fishing. The ERAEF allows a broad range of species to be assessed under a single framework, allowing fisheries managers to make more informed decisions without needing exhaustive data collection and assessments of all species.

To assist AFMA fishery managers to better implement ERAEF in a consistent and transparent manner AFMA has developed the Fisheries Management Paper 14 – AFMA’s Approach to Ecological Risk Assessments and Management. The document provides guidance to respond to ERAEF outcomes, the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy, the Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch, and the EPBC Act assessment and reporting obligations as well as better focusing management and research strategies for each fishery.

The Framework outlines the process by which fishery managers can develop responses to ERA outputs to plan research and data needs, implement responses, monitor performance, and review fisheries, ensuring they are being managed in an ecologically sustainable way. An indicative schedule of re-assessment for all Commonwealth fisheries has been developed.

Application of the Framework assists the implementation of the ERAEF framework, by applying certainty to the identification of high-risk species and the adoption of risk mitigation management responses.

• Read the guide to AFMA’s Ecological Risk Management