Government of Australia (2000) Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch.  Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Canberra.

Guiding principles

Decisions and actions to address bycatch will:

• foster stewardship of Australia’s marine resources to maintain and improve the quality, diversity and availability of fisheries resources, and the integrity of the marine ecosystem into the future;

• promote cooperative and transparent approaches, involving all stakeholders, to ensure effective stewardship of our marine resources;

• manage marine resources so that short-term considerations are consistent with long-term goals, and apply the precautionary principle in the management of fisheries resources;

• recognise the unique biological, ecological, economic and social nature of individual fisheries by developing bycatch-action plans to address bycatch issues;

• encourage cooperation in the development of complementary arrangements between relevant authorities to ensure that, where stocks overlap or are split between jurisdictions or are migratory, effective management strategies are applied across jurisdictions. These include State and Territory agencies, other fisheries management agencies, and international bodies;

• use robust and practical biological reference points relating to bycatch, where possible, to make decisions on bycatch management. Develop biological reference points in consultation with stakeholders, recognising that in many cases there are limitations to the costs of determining these reference points. Where the use of biological reference points is not feasible, the precautionary principle will be used as a basis for decision making.

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