The Australian government's harvest strategy policy

Abstract

In December 2005, the Australian government announced its Implementation Policy for the sustainable use of its fishery resources, specifically aimed at addressing overfishing, recovering overfished stocks, and managing the impacts of fishing on the marine environment. The policy articulates the level of risk the government is willing to accept in utilizing its resources. A key part is setting default target and limit reference points for stock biomass (B targ and Blim). The policy is currently being expanded to ensure that control rules should always return stocks to Btarg, and that target fishing will cease if Blim is reached. The expanded policy is also intended to link fisheries management and conservation law to define their respective application to fisheries better. Guidelines explain how the policy should be applied, and permit the preparation of fishery-specific harvest strategies that are scheduled to be in place by 1 January 2007. © 2007 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved.