PCE submission on the Fisheries Amendment Bill

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has made a submission on the Fisheries Amendment Bill. The submission expresses his concern that the Bill:

• increases flexibility and operational efficiency for the fishing industry but weakens the scientific, environmental, and governance foundations required for sustainable fisheries management

• reduces transparency, oversight, and public accountability of fisheries management, and will limit effective scrutiny of decision-making by restricting the period for judicial review

• does not address foundational issues in fisheries resources management such as consideration of multi-species management and ecosystem-based fisheries management.

The Commissioner recommends that the:

• Bill takes a more precautionary approach to stock management when information is limited

• timeframes for judicial review of catch limit decisions are extended to three months.