Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Commonwealth Fisheries Bycatch Policy Implementation Review

Overview

The implementation review assesses the extent to which the requirements of the 2018 Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Bycatch Policy have been met. This work was done as a part of the department’s broader review of the two policies.

Key findings

The degree of implementation varies across policy requirements. In some cases, policy requirements have been implemented successfully across most fisheries and stocks, for example, adoption of harvest strategies and fish stocks having clear target reference points. 

For some other policy requirements, in some fisheries, they have not been as successfully implemented in all cases, for example, with respect to accounting for all known sources of fishing mortality and the recovery of overfished stocks. 

There are several reasons that have hindered aspects of implementation including the lack of adequate data collection and climate change. This context is important when interpreting the findings of this implementation review.