15.2 Consultation, Roles and Responsibilities
15.2.2 Consultation Processes
• targets a species susceptible to changes in environmental conditions;
• currently has a Native title claim within its boundaries;
• has the potential to interact with other marine users in Shark Bay; and
• provides an iconic seafood product to retailers and consumers both locally and overseas.
Based on these characteristics, other stakeholders relevant to the SBPMF include:
• Organisations/institutions undertaking research relevant to Shark Bay and environmental factors46 (e.g. WAMSI47, universities and CSIRO48);
• Local Government and State Government agencies (e.g. Department of Parks and Wildlife49);
• conservation sector representatives (e.g. Conservation Council of WA50);
• Native Title claimant and their representatives;
• Local government (Shire of Shark Bay);
• investors, banking representatives, boat brokers etc.;
• retailers and consumers; and
• the wider community.
c. the Department as the primary source of management advice to the Minister for Fisheries.
3. Enhancement of the Department’s engagement with industry, stakeholders and the public.
The review process resulted in52 —
• Recognition of WAFIC as the peak body representing the commercial fishing sector (including pearling and aquaculture) and RFW as the peak body representing the recreational fishing sector, with funding provided by Government to each peak body to support these roles;
• Capacity for these peak bodies to perform consultation functions on behalf of the Minister. In this regard, the Department has entered into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with WAFIC for the provision of specified consultation services with the commercial sector;
• The replacement of Management Advisory Committees (MACs) with two key sources of advice: (1) the Department, as the key source of Government advice on fisheries management, and (2) WAFIC and RFW, as the key sources of coordinated industry advice for the commercial and recreational sectors, respectively;
• Establishment of an Aquatic Advisory Committee (AAC) to provide independent advice to the Minister or the Department on high-level strategic matters;
• The establishment by the Minister (or Department) of tasked working groups to provide advice on specific fisheries or operational matters. Tasked working groups differ to MACs in that they are expertise-based and operate on the basis of a written referral on a specific matter. Tasked working groups have been established to provide advice on matters such as water access (lease) fees, strengthening of access rights in the fisheries legislation, development of a Government fisheries policy statement and determining catch shares among sectors.
• Capacity for peak bodies to perform consultation functions on behalf of the Minister.
In this regard, the Department has entered into a SLA with WAFIC for the provision of specified consultation services with the commercial sector. Figure 15.1 provides a diagrammatical representation of the broad consultation framework for fisheries management in WA that resulted from the review.
52 See Report of the Consultation Working Group at-
Figure 15.1. Broad fisheries management consultation framework in WA.
Statutory Consultation 15.2.2.1
Given the commercial aspects of fishing access rights and the potential for amendments to management arrangements to adversely affect these interests, it is fundamental that the interest holders are consulted, have the opportunity to respond to any proposed amendments by the Minister / Department and have these responses genuinely considered by the Minister prior to the final decision.
Most management changes and fishing arrangements in the SBPMF are facilitated through amendments to the fishery’s management plan and by notices determined by the Department’s Director General (DG; also referred to as the CEO under the FRMA); however, other arrangements can be implemented via section 43 orders, licence conditions and (section 7) exemptions, as required. The Minster is the final decision-maker in determining or amending legislation. The Department generally undertakes consultation work on the Minister’s behalf; however, the statutory consultation function is presently conducted by WAFIC on behalf of the Department under a SLA.
Amendments to a fishery management plan cannot be undertaken without addressing statutory consultation requirements pursuant to section 65 of the FRMA53, with each fishery management plan explicitly identifying the key stakeholders for the fishery that the Minster must consult with prior to making an amendment. It should be noted that, since there is no longer a Joint Trawl Management Advisory Committee as a result of the consultation review detailed in the Consultation Processes section above, the key stakeholder in the SBPMF defaults to the licence holders in the fishery.
The SBPMF is opened annually pursuant to clause 10 of the Management Plan. The Department consults with the licensees prior to providing advice to the Chief Executive Officer who must provide notice of his decision to the licensee in writing. For the implementation of other statutory fishing management tools, such as section 43 orders or section 7 exemptions, statutory provisions are silent as to procedural consultation requirements; nevertheless, the Minister must have regard for common law principles to afford natural justice to the licence holder. The Department has a series of formal decision- making delegations for licensing decisions and exemptions from legislation. Most Departmental decisions (excluding Ministerial decisions) are subject to review by the State Administrative Tribunal.
Obtaining Information 15.2.2.2
The Department / Minster may seek advice from a number of sources, including external expert advice and internal management advice, when considering policy or management changes. Collaborative research projects using expert advice on data and other information is often sought and underpins management changes.
The Department / Minister may also seek and provide advice directly through the peak sector bodies (WAFIC and Recfishwest) and / or other sector associations. For example, WAFIC and Recfishwest have direct input into the annual planning and priority-setting process used to determine management, compliance, research and other priorities for the Department.
Strategic Advice 15.2.2.2.1
An Aquatic Advisory Committee (AAC) provides independent advice to the Minster / Department on high-level strategic matters. This committee consists of members who have strong backgrounds in governance and policy.
Fisheries Management Advice 15.2.2.2.2
Fisheries management advice may be provided by tasked working groups and / or independent advisory, scientific and expert groups. Tasked working groups and panels can be established by the DG or the Minister to provide independent, expert advice relating to a range of fisheries management matters. Working groups are highly flexible and work to specific terms of reference within a particular timeframe. They are usually provided with a
53Note that section 65(4) of the FRMA provides for the Minister to amend a management plan without consultation if, in the
specified task, such as addressing resource access (e.g. closures and compensation) and allocation (e.g. IFM) or reviewing research, management or Government policy.
Stakeholder Input 15.2.2.2.3
The Department / Minister is responsible for advising licensees and WAFIC of management decisions that are the subject of a consultation process. In carrying out the consultation functions on matters referred to the organisation by the Minister or the Department, WAFIC must:
• Distribute proposed changes to management arrangements that include the Minister’s / Department’s reasoning for the proposal(s) and the information on which the proposal(s) is based to all licence holders in the relevant fishery;
• Describe the method by which licence holders may provide their views; this may be by way of inviting written responses, or it may involve additional processes, such as the establishment of appropriate forums in which licence holders can discuss and deliberate on the merits of proposed changes prior to putting forward individual views as well as collective views, where appropriate;
• Ensure that licence holders have a reasonable period in which to consider their position and respond; and
• Ensure the decision maker is fully aware of the views being put forward, in order to ensure the decision maker gives proper and genuine consideration to the views being put forward.
The Department has a general practice of holding regular (often annual) management meetings with fishery licensees to discuss research, management, compliance and other specific issues affecting the fishery (e.g. marine park planning). These management meetings underpin the decision-making process at the fishery-specific level. These meetings are generally coordinated by WAFIC (under the SLA), with the location, timing and priority of the annual management meeting determined by the WAFIC Industry Consultation Unit (ICU) in liaison with relevant Departmental resource managers. The meeting can occur at any time of year but is usually held either before the start of a licencing year or at the end of a fishing year, in accordance with the schedule agreed upon by WAFIC and the Department.
The meetings are attended by Departmental personnel, WAFIC and licence holders, but can also be open to other stakeholder groups, e.g. Recfishwest, processors, universities, other Government departments, the conservation sector and the general public, following appropriate consultation with industry.
The annual management meetings are widely recognised by the commercial licence holders as a mechanism for receiving the most up-to-date scientific advice on the status of the fishery, facilitating information exchange between stakeholders and decision-makers and for discussing new and ongoing management issues. The invaluable information licensees provide to the Department at these forums is considered when making research, management
For detail on the types of meetings held, the issues discussed and stakeholders in attendance during 2013/14 for the SBPMF please refer to Appendix H.
Other Consultation Processes 15.2.2.3
The Department may also hold meetings, workshops or consult in writing with stakeholders on an “as needs” basis on a range of fisheries management matters including:
• Updates on the implementation of the ARMA;
• Ministerial decisions regarding the SBPMF or wider commercial fisheries’ policy and management;
• Risk assessment workshops;
• ESD accreditation, including conditions and reassessments;
• Intra and inter-sectoral access, allocation and conflict issues;
• Impacts of other State Department policies (e.g. marine park planning or mining activities);
• Implementation of new initiatives (e.g. MSC accreditation, new mobile applications);
• Expert review workshops;
• FRDC project steering committee representation54;
• Published research results;
• Release of discussion papers that seek stakeholder input; and
• Implementation of IFM, where relevant.
When specific issues arise that involve particular stakeholder groups, there is consultation with them. For example, since 2004 no trawling has been allowed in southern areas of Denham Sound (below the ‘Snapper Trawl Line’ [STL]) in order to minimise potential impact on juvenile pink snapper. The potential for prawn fishing south of the STL was raised by the Shark Bay Prawn Trawler Operators Association in 2012. Research advice was presented to the Gascoyne Development Commission, Recfishwest and the Shire of Shark Bay as part of the consultation process. The outcome was to allow limited trawling in the area subject to appropriate conditions and this was relayed to interested stakeholders via a media release55.
The SBPMF is unique in that a co-operative real-time management framework exists which underpins some of the decision making. To ensure interested stakeholders understand this process both the annual and in-season consultation processes for the SBPMF have been documented in the fishery’s Harvest Strategy, which is available on the Department’s website (DoF 2014a).