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Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery - Agency Application 2016

« Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery

Environmental Assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries July 2016

Agency application on ecological sustainability

About the application

The current export approval for the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery is valid until 23 September 2016 and the fishery is now due for assessment for ongoing export accreditation. The Department of the Environment received an application, ‘Offshore Net and Line Fishery, DoE Conditions and Recommendations for WTO, Report on Progress against Conditions and Recommendations’, from the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries in July 2016. The application has been prepared to address the Australian Government ‘Guidelines for the ecologically sustainable management of fisheries – 2nd edition’ and to provide updates on the implementation of any conditions and recommendations made in the previous Australian Government assessment. The application will be used to assess the operation of the fishery for the purposes of Parts 13 and 13A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Consideration will be given to:

  • declaring the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery, as managed consistent with the Northern Territory Fisheries Act 1988 and the Fisheries Regulations, as an approved wildlife trade operation under section 303FN of the EPBC Act, and
  • including in the list of exempt native specimens, specimens harvested in the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery under the provisions of the Fisheries Act 1988 and the Fisheries Regulations.

In accordance with the provisions of sections 303FR and 303DC of the EPBC Act, you are invited to comment on this proposal.

Download the application

The call for public comments is open from 18 July 2016 until 15 August 2016.

Please submit your comments to:

The Director
Sustainable Fisheries Section
Department of the Environment
GPO Box 787
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Submissions may also be sent by fax to (02) 6274 2875, or email to sustainablefisheries@environment.gov.au

Any comments received will form part of the documentation provided to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment for a decision. Copies of comments may be made available to other persons with a particular interest in the application. If you wish to claim confidentiality for any part of your comments, would you please discuss the matter with the Director of the Sustainable Fisheries Section (02) 6274 1917.