Marine Protected Areas

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• A Policy Statement
• Policy Considerations for Displaced Fishing

A Policy Statement

• 1. A commitment to marine biodiversity conservation
• 2. A commitment to secure fisheries access
• 3. Minimising impacts of MPAs on existing fishing activities
• 4. Interactions between MPAs and fisheries management
• 5. Assessment of and assistance for adjustment

The Australian Government acknowledges that it has a responsibility to provide a policy framework that has regard to the impacts on fishers and fishing dependent communities of decisions to establish marine protected areas (MPAs). This draft statement, including the summary points at Annexure A, represents the Australian Government's position for discussion with stakeholders.

1. A commitment to marine biodiversity conservation

The Australian Government has a long-term policy objective of establishing a system of MPAs that protects representative areas of our marine bioregions. The primary, although not only outcome of establishing a representative system of MPAs, is the protection of marine biodiversity.

Australia's Oceans Policy re-affirmed the Australian Government commitment to a national representative system of marine protected areas (NRSMPA), in cooperation with the States and the Northern Territory. The commitment to the NRSMPA in Commonwealth waters is being implemented as part of the regional marine planning process. Within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), re-zoning will increase the proportion of highly protected areas that are currently underrepresented in the GBRMP. This is consistent with the aims and objectives of the NRSMPA.

2. A commitment to secure fisheries access

The Australian Government is committed to the implementation of a system of secure and tradable fisheries access entitlements. Such an approach encourages capital investment to maximize value from and conserve fisheries resources. It is important that secure access entitlements are designed to allow the fishing industry to adjust autonomously in response to environmental or market forces, while maximising resource stewardship through improved tenure.

Consistent with this policy approach, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) will continue to issue Statutory Fishing Rights (SFRs) for all major Commonwealth fisheries as they have management plans finalised.

3. Minimising impacts of MPAs on existing fishing activities

When MPAs are declared for public good reasons such as biodiversity conservation, the Government has committed to a process that minimizes impacts on existing fishing activities while still maintaining scientific credibility and achieving conservation objectives.

Careful design of MPAs incorporating stakeholder input will ensure that MPAs have the least possible impact on existing fishing operations. This can be achieved by utilizing the knowledge and expertise of stakeholders with genuine engagement. This will be the starting point for all MPA declaration or re-zoning negotiations undertaken on behalf of this Government.

4. Interactions between MPAs and fisheries management

Notwithstanding efforts to minimise impacts on fishing activities of new or re-zoned MPAs, there will at times be unavoidable impacts. This is because the declaration of an MPA is a resource allocation process whereby marine resources are effectively reallocated from generating a private benefit such as fishing, to a broader public good of biodiversity conservation. The fact that private benefit activities, such as commercial fishing, often can and do continue in MPAs does not alter the fact that that a resource re allocation may have occurred. Where fishing continues in MPAs it does so under a revised management framework where the emphasis is on biodiversity conservation as the primary objective.

Impacts on fisheries may vary greatly depending on the nature of the constraints within the marine protected areas and the nature of the fishery. For example, an MPA that closes an area of a fishery that harvests migratory or pelagic fish such as tuna through highly mobile fishing operations, will have a different impact to an MPA that closes an area where fishers catch sedentary (immobile) species such as abalone.

Restrictions on fishing activities from the declaration, zoning or management of marine protected areas should be identified and accounted for in the process of developing MPAs. This should be done separately from the restrictions placed on fishing by normal management actions by fisheries management authorities aimed at economic efficiency objectives or constraining the ecological impacts of the fisheries within the context of an ecosystem based fisheries management framework. Separating these will assist to ensure the maintenance of business confidence in the system of fisheries access entitlements.

If the declaration or zoning of an MPA has a fisheries impact, the responsible fisheries management agencies will make any necessary revisions to the fisheries management settings (eg reduce total allowable catches, restrict fishing days etc).

Separating the attribution of costs and benefits of the impacts of MPAs from the costs and benefits of impacts of normal fisheries management actions will assist the successful implementation of a displaced fishing policy response. However, once these have been quantified and MPA impacts determined there is merit in aiming for co-ordination with other initiatives if and when an adjustment assistance program is required. Where possible, MPAs, fisheries management arrangements, and regional community assistance programs should be managed on a whole of government approach.

5. Assessment of and assistance for adjustment

While there is no constitutional or legal requirement for the Australian Government to provide compensation to commercial fishers impacted by new or re-zoned MPAs, the policy recognises that the public good benefits flow to all Australians from MPAs. The costs of MPAs are likely to be borne in the short term by a small group of private individuals and communities in marine-related industry sectors. However it is expected that some marine resource use sectors may, in the longer term, receive private benefits. This policy framework is intended to address concerns about fairness and equity regarding the impacts on individual fishers and those reliant on the fishing industry.

Restrictions on fishing activities from the declaration, zoning or management of MPAs will be identified and accounted for before MPA declaration or re-zoning.

Any decision on whether adjustment assistance will be provided to fishers or fishing dependent communities as a result of an MPA declaration or re-zoning, will be made on a case-by-case basis. The decision will be made only after an assessment of all the impacts is undertaken, including positive impacts such as increased tourism opportunities.

A socio-economic assessment will also be prepared in consultation with fishing industry and local community stakeholders and experts, to guide decision making and to ensure the implications of MPA proposals are known to the Government before any decision for adjustment assistance is made.

The factors taken into account in making case-by-case decisions on adjustment assistance will vary depending on the nature of the MPA and its impacts. However, typically, the following issues may be considered:

1. Are there significant and demonstrable negative impacts on individual fishers who have reduced flexibility to respond? For example, due to:
   1. dependence on that element of the fisheries income that will be lost;
   2. regional constraints on alternative investment/employment opportunities;
   3. lack of financial resources, including loss of capital value due to the constraints on fishery activities; and
   4. inefficiencies and/or increased costs to fishers due to a change in access arrangements for the area of the fishery;
2. Are there significant and demonstrable negative impacts on local communities where those impacts cannot readily be absorbed? For example, due to:
   1. having little diversification in their economies;
   2. being within regions that are recognised as having reduced socio-economic opportunities;
   3. social profiles, such as age, skills, capacity for retraining etc; and
   4. no short term offsetting of impacts through benefits that may arise from MPAs/zones such as immediate tourism benefits/opportunities;
3. Will the MPA have a significant impact on the economic returns or the sustainability of the fishery, including the extent to which the MPA may add to the need for adjustment of the fishery, resulting in the relevant fisheries management agency needing to vary management controls for fisheries and marine environment sustainability. Additionally:
   1. Any structural adjustment scheme should be designed and implemented such as to avoid the distortion of the orderly operation of the market for fishing access entitlements;
   2. Any adjustment assistance scheme associated with MPAs should, where practicable, be integrated with other relevant adjustment efforts either regionally or on a fishery or fishery sector basis; and
   3. Relevant fisheries management agencies, regional communities and stakeholders, should have the opportunity to participate in the design and implementation of any adjustment assistance package.

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Annexure A

Policy Considerations for Displaced Fishing

• Interaction between MPAs and fisheries management
• Fisheries Structural Adjustment and MPAs

Interaction between MPAs and fisheries management

1. Where practical, synergies between fisheries area management outcomes and MPA outcomes can and will be developed, both in design and management.
2. Fishing effort displaced from an area by an MPA/zone declaration is likely to add to the effort in the remainder of the fishery.
3. Fisheries managers will assess whether that additional fishing effort in the remaining fishery creates an economic or ecological need to change fisheries management settings. Any such validated and direct change would reasonably be attributable to the declaration of the MPA/zone.
4. Where fishing effort is being or will be reduced in a fishery to achieve fisheries management outcomes, the impact of an MPA/zone that interacts with the fishery should be considered separately to the fishery adjustment. This will ensure that MPAs/zones declared for non-fisheries purposes are not used to seek adjustment support for existing or future fisheries management actions.

Fisheries Structural Adjustment and MPAs

5. The Australian Government policy is that fisheries management regimes are designed to facilitate market based autonomous adjustment to changes in fisheries management arrangements.
6. Where fishing effort has been or should be removed from a fishery through normal management action to meet fisheries objectives, adjustment assistance is not preferred, and has only been used to facilitate the introduction of new fisheries management arrangements.
7. Where MPAs/zones create additional requirements for fishing effort reduction beyond that required to achieve fisheries management objectives, Australian Government funded adjustment assistance may be considered to support the additional adjustment to fishing effort.
8. Just terms compensation under the Constitution is not triggered by the declaration or modification of MPAs/zones. However, where native title issues arise just terms compensation may be payable under the Native Title Act 1993. There is no existing statutory requirement for the Australian Government to fund adjustment assistance for commercial fishers arising from MPAs/zones.
9. In certain circumstances, some additional adjustment assistance to offset foregone profit or impacts on local communities, may be considered.
10. Socio-economic assessment of impacts of MPAs on fishers and communities will be used to inform decision making by the Australian Government. Industry and community will be consulted in preparing that assessment. In the event of a decision to provide adjustment assistance, management agencies, industry and the community will be involved in program design.