Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. The proposed amendments are consistent with work recently accepted by IUCN, the World Conservation Union. In its guidelines, released in July this year, the IUCN noted the issue which the government is seeking to deal with in its amendments to the EPBC Act—namely, that a species of fish could become eligible for listing as threatened simply because it has been actively fished down to a target level. What the amendments seek to do is recognise this and provide a mechanism by which any such fish species that has fallen below appropriate levels can be managed to sustainability if an appropriate management plan exists to maximise its long-term survival in nature. The mere existence of a management plan which provides for the conservation of the fish species is not sufficient in itself to cause the species to be listed. The fish species obviously needs to be threatened. The government recognised that there are many commercially fished species that are not threatened that are covered by management plans that aid the conservation of the species. The EPBC Act will continue to provide the regulatory underpinning for the protection of such marine fish species. Should the recovery targets of a management plan not be achieved, the EPBC Act provisions will allow for the threatened species listing of that particular marine fish species to be upgraded to a higher level of threat with an accompanying higher level of protection.