The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups – tuna and billfish". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF TAXONOMIC GROUP FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT This assessment focuses on those tuna and billfish species that are targeted by commercial fisheries and for which stock assessments are available. These include albacore, bigeye, skipjack, southern bluefin and yellowfin tuna, broadbill swordfish and striped and blue marlin. In Australian waters, southern bluefin tuna are caught predominantly by commercial fisheries in the south-west and temperate east bioregions with recreational catches also occurring in the north-west and south-east bioregions. Yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tuna, swordfish and striped marlin are predominantly caught by commercial and recreational fisheries in the north-west, south-west, temperate east and north east bioregions with recreational catches also occurring in the north and in the south-east seasonally. Blue marlin is caught recreationally in the north-east, temperate east, south-west and north-west bioregions with commercial catches of the species not permitted DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is based on stock assessment information produced in working papers provided to the scientific committees of relevant RFMOs and annual reports of the scientific committees and working groups of relevant RFMOs. Assessments are based on a variety of data relating to species population dynamics, spatial dynamics, fishery catches, survey and mark-recapture experiments covering the spatial area of each of the RFMOs and spanning varying temporal periods. Details on the specific data products used in this assessment have not been provided. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are notcomparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Limited evidence or limited consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Since the 2011 chapter, some management frameworks have been modified so both reporting and assessment frameworks have been altered providing clearer views of current stock status. The 2011 assessment doesn’t appear to have referenced available stock assessments which provide the best and most robust indications of status for each of the species. The 2011 assessment stated that there was limited evidence and limited consensus and that the condition of stocks in the south-west was poor and declining, which doesn’t reflect stock assessments conducted at the time. Since the 2011 assessment, stock assessments available for the species have been updated and new data streams are contributing to stock assessments.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Case Study "National Marine Science Plan". The full Case Study, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Case Study are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY The National Marine Science Plan (the Plan) is a decadal plan designed to focus investment on the biggest development and sustainability challenges facing Australia's marine estate, and the highest priority science needed to tackle these challenges to fulfill our blue economy’s potential. The grand challenges are highly relevant to the State of Australia's Marine Environment, including energy security; food security; biodiversity conservation and ecosystem health; urban coastal environments; climate variability and change; and resource allocation. The Plan was developed under the auspices of the National Marine Science Committee (NMSC), on which senior representatives of 23 research institutions, universities and government departments work together to plan, coordinate and communicate marine science and its application to national priorities. Over 500 marine scientists and stakeholders took part in the development of the Plan, beginning with the development of eight community white papers. The white paper process involved stakeholders from the different marine science sectors working to identify the science required to address grand challenges. The white papers were presented and discussed at a National Marine Science Symposium in November 2014, followed by two further rounds of consultation. The finalised Plan brings together the highest priority science and science capabilities (skills, infrastructure and relationships) to meet a cross-section of challenges areas in an integrated and strategic manner. ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE To focus the coordination efforts and investments, the Plan sets out eight high level recommendations. Create an explicit focus on the blue economy throughout the marine science system. Establish and support a National Marine Baselines and Long-term Monitoring Program to develop a comprehensive assessment of our estate, and to help manage Commonwealth and State Marine Reserve networks. Facilitate coordinated national studies on marine ecosystem processes and resilience to enable understanding of the impacts of development (urban, industrial and agricultural) and climate change on our marine estate. Create a National Oceanographic Modelling System to supply defence, industry and government with accurate, detailed knowledge and predictions of ocean state to support decision-making by policymakers and marine industry. Develop a dedicated and coordinated science program to support decision-making by policymakers and marine industry. Sustain and expand the Integrated Marine Observing System to support critical climate change and coastal systems research, including coverage of key estuarine systems. Develop marine science research training that is more quantitative, cross-disciplinary and congruent with industry and government needs. Fund national research vessels for full use. All of these recommendations will improve the national capacity to provide evidence-based assessments on the state of Australia’s vast and valuable marine environment. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN CASE STUDY Synopsis of the National Marine Science Plan.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Case Study "Commonwealth commercial fisheries". The full Case Study, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Case Study are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY Management of commercial fisheries is shared between the Commonwealth, states and the Northern Territory. In general, the Australian Government, through the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), is responsible for commercial fishing beyond three nautical miles from the coast. Some Commonwealth fisheries target fish stocks that extend into the high seas and the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries. These are jointly managed with other countries through conventions and agreements. Key commercial stocks in Commonwealth fisheries are managed under the Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy (HSP). The HSP requires an evidence–based approach to setting sustainable catch levels to ensure stocks are maintained at ecologically sustainable levels and within this context, maximise economic returns to the Australian community. The Australian Government aims to implement an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, which considers fisheries’ interactions with, and impacts on, bycatch species, habitats, communities and ecosystems. Bycatch species are managed under the Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch (BCP) and in line with Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) requirements. The BCP aims to reduce bycatch and improve protection for vulnerable species; this is implemented through a risk management framework. PRESSURES/ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE The 2013 HSP review found the policy and guidelines improved the management of Commonwealth fisheries. The HSP is one of only a few comprehensive policies implemented to direct the development of harvest strategies across fisheries. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN CASE STUDY Fishery status reports data, 1992 to 2014 covering all Commonwealth fisheries (as described in Patterson et al 2015). The status assessments are underpinned by AFMA’s fishery catch and effort data and the data used in individual fish stock assessments.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Case Study "Footprint of trawling". The full Case Study, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Case Study are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY SOE 2011 stated that virtually all of Australia’s marine areas shallower than 1,000 m depth are, or have been, fished [by some means]. The most extensive direct human pressure on the seabed in Australia is demersal trawling for fishes, prawns and scallops. It is also commonly perceived that trawl gear has substantial direct impacts on seabed habitats, with most concern surrounding impacts on delicate long-lived structure-forming biota that may be easily damaged and slow to recover if trawling or other bottom-contact fishing occurs on such habitats. This habitat loss is considered to be one of the primary threats to marine ecosystems (SOE 2011). Despite this, to date there has been no national-scale quantitative analysis of the cumulative spatial extent of demersal trawl fishing [or “footprint”: the area (km²) of seabed trawled at least once in a specified period of time] that may be used to assess the potential for impacts of trawling on seabed habitats. Formal habitat assessments have been completed for only a small (5 of 22) number of Australian fisheries although these assessments include the largest fisheries and account for >70% of the total footprint. Some other fisheries have implemented qualitative consideration of habitat risks under Ecological Sustainable Development (ESD) objectives, and the Regional Marine Planning process attempted a national qualitative assessment of cumulative risks. Critically, however, the majority of regions lack suitable data on seabed habitats types and their distributions — a major gap that is an impediment to formal assessment of their status. PRESSURES/ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE Australia’s marine estate is very large and a national quantitative analysis is required to estimate the footprint of trawling and to identify regions that are most exposed and have most need to focus limited research resources towards understanding the presence, distribution and status of sensitive habitats. In recent years-to-decades the total annual effort in most Australia trawl fisheries has been declining, in some cases substantially (Figure 1). As a consequence, the footprints of these fisheries are also contracting as has been documented in several cases (GBR: Pears et al. 2012; TS: Pitcher 2013; NPF: W. Rochester pers. comm.; SET: Pitcher et al. 2015), although footprint contraction is not directly proportional to effort reduction (e.g. GBR: 2005 vs 2009 effort reduction 44% cf footprint decrease 19%; TS: 2005 vs 2011 effort reduction 72% cf footprint decrease 54%; SET: 5 yrs before vs after 2007 effort reduction 36% cf footprint decrease 23%). Although trawl effort and footprints have contracted, it nevertheless remains critical to determine where potential risks are greatest and where new surveys are required to document presence and distributions of sensitive seabed habitats. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN CASE STUDY The distribution and intensity of trawl effort in each fishery was mapped by interpolating and gridding position data of trawling events recorded in confidential fishing vessel logbooks, or electronic Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data, for a 3–5 year period between 2007 and 2012 depending on the fishery. Each trawl event included the associated hours of trawling effort. Depending on the fishery, a ‘trawl event’ may comprise either VMS position polls at ~2 hourly intervals; start and end positions of each individual trawl; positions recorded manually during trawling operations (e.g. 3× per night); a cell location

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "The state and trends of quality of species and groups – Epipelagic fish species". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL SPECIES/COMMUNITY FOR EXPERT ASSESSMENT Australia’s coastal small pelagic fishes (<50 cm) include species such as Australian Sardines, Maray, Blue and Sandy Sprats, Australian anchovy, scads, Jack Mackerel, hardyheads, silversides, Blue mackerel, Australian Herring and Redbait. Tropical and temperate assemblages are comprised of different species and there are also regional differences in species composition (Hobday et al. 2009). This assessment refers only to temperate species in the East, South-east and South-west regions. Blue Mackerel, Common Jack Mackerel, Redbait and Australian Sardine (off eastern Australia only) are targeted by the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery. The SPF is managed in two Zones: East spanning half of the East and eastern South-east regions and the West spanning the South west and western half of South-east). State fisheries primarily target Australian Sardine but may also take Australian Anchovy, Blue Mackerel, sprats and Maray. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is based on data and analyses published in the peer review literature, stock assessment reports and minutes of the meetings of the Small Pelagic Fishery Scientific Panel. Details of specific data sets used to generate the assessment have not been provided. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Good Assessment trend: Stable Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Limited evidence or limited consensus CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Additional fishery catch data, more recent stock assessments.

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Effectiveness of marine management of commercial fishing". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESSURE BEING MANAGED, AND ITS IMPACT Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) is a common objective across all Australian jurisdictions resulting in a good level of understanding of the direct pressures commercial fishing has on the marine environment. All Australian jurisdictions have introduced one or more measures to address those pressures that are increasingly based on risk assessment and implementing a management response. These include harvest strategies for the main commercial species, adaptive management involving expert judgement, more quantitative management strategy evaluation, ecosystem modelling and broader ecological risk assessments. There is now a greater understanding of the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on the marine environment and the need to consider this when determining appropriate fisheries management responses. However, management agencies are yet to integrate all the available science into their management systems. Likewise, current habitat analysis work will identify the emerging priorities in managing the environmental effects on habitats of commercial fishing. Spatial management has been introduced to mitigate the impacts on both vulnerable species and habitats where identified i.e. gulper shark closures in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery and the introduction of gillnet zoning closures to limit interactions with the Australian sea lion. Similarly, spatial closures that specifically prohibit trawling within seagrass and other sensitive nursery habitats are often used for many fisheries including, for example, the Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf prawn trawl fisheries in Western Australia. Specific mitigation measures for protected species are also used to reduce the effects of commercial fishing. This includes such things as: seal and turtle excluder devices, square mesh panels in trawls, tori lines and other sea bird deterrent devices. Education programs for the fishing industry have also been improved to provide a greater understanding of how to avoid and/or handle protected species. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The assessment is based on relevant literature and reports on current management measures associated with commercial fishing – a list is provided in the attached Expert Assessment. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • Understanding of pressure: Understanding of fisheries and effective management frameworks is reasonably high and improving. • Planning associated with management of pressure: Improved planning processes directed towards research and risk-based assessment processes are resulting in more robust outcomes. • Input for informing management of pressure: Greater use of technology for data collection informs management decisions and measures the trajectory of trends over time. • Processes associated with developing, monitoring, and updating management: Improved processes have been developed to expand the range of fishery assessment tools with an increased use of risk-based approaches. • Outputs from management framework in place: Biennial State of key Australian Fish Stocks Report form the primary assessment output for national commercial fisheries. • Outcomes of management framework in place: Improvements in data gathering and reporting direct resources towards commercial fishing operations that pose the highest risk to the marine environment. CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Pressures on the marine environment associated with commercial fishing". The full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Expert Assessment are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESSURE Australia’s wild-caught marine fisheries are highly diverse and contribute significantly to the economy. These fisheries catch scallops, prawns, crabs, squid, coastal fish such as whiting and flathead, reef fish such as coral trout, shelf and deepwater fish such as ling and blue-eye trevally, and oceanic tuna and billfish Although fisheries operate across all states and the Northern Territory and out to the limit of the Australian EEZ, fishing effort is not evenly distributed across Australian marine waters with the majority of fishing effort occurring in the North, Temperate East, South-East, and South-West Marine Regions. The impact of fisheries on the marine environment also varies with differing gears having differing impacts on species that might be caught as bycatch, and the habitats where fishing takes place. Methods used to capture those species are highly varied ranging from small-scale netting to large-scale pelagic long-line fishing and trawling (Flood et al. 2014). There is currently extensive effort occurring the Coral Sea bioregion using pelagic long – line gear. There have been extensive reductions in the footprint of the trawl fishery in the South West, South East and Temperate Eastern Bioregions. There is also an extensive trawl fishery in the North Bioregion, associated with the Northern Prawn Fishery, which remains relatively constant through time. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT The metadata record for the fisheries data can be found at http://www.marlin.csiro.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/search?uuid=aa53a4df-7fe6-46d1-93b7-2d3732f4883e. 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • 2016 • Assessment grade: Low-High Assessment trend: Improving Confidence grade: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Confidence trend: Adequate high quality evidence and high level of consensus Comparability: Grade and trend are not comparable to the 2011 assessment • 2011 • Assessment grade: Not directly comparable Assessment trend: Not directly comparable Confidence grade: Not directly comparable Confidence trend: Not directly comparable CHANGES SINCE 2011 SOE ASSESSMENT Commercial fishing was separated from recreational fishing and traditional use of resources.

The Marine chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Management Effectiveness of Commercial fishing". A PDF of the full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided) is downloadable in the "On-line Resources" section of this record as "EXPERT ASSESSMENT 2021 - Management Effectiveness - Commercial Fishing" DESCRIPTION OF THE APPROACH TO MANAGING THE PRESSURE All Australian jurisdictions understand the direct pressures that commercial fishing has on the marine environment. Almost all management agencies across Australia are using evidence-based processes such as harvest strategies for commercially important species to determine sustainable catch levels, and risk-based assessments of the broader ecosystem effects of fishing. Implementation, however, is not uniform with some stocks having an unknown sustainability status. The Australian partnership approach between managers, commercial fishers, scientists and other stakeholders is recognised globally as a standard for fisheries management (Marchal et al., 2016). Management agencies rely to varying degrees on co-funding of management costs from industry. Increased use of risk-based intelligence-gathering and reporting of fishing activity, and uptake of vessel monitoring systems is benefitting compliance. Australian jurisdictions have sought to implement single jurisdiction stock management where possible. Historically, the Offshore Constitutional Settlement has been the primary means to do so. More recently the emphasis has been to develop common (cross-jurisdictional) stock assessments and harvest strategies for shared stocks without changes in jurisdiction. Spatial management is used widely to reduce conflicts between sectors and increasingly to reduce the fishing impacts on vulnerable species and habitats. Some closures prohibit specific fishing methods within sensitive habitats. An increasing range of mechanisms and technical tools are being used to reduce interactions with seabirds, marine mammals, reptiles and other vulnerable species. Such bycatch reduction devices include tori lines, sprayers, seal and turtle excluder devices. Management agencies and industry recognise that climate change is affecting Australian fisheries, and the changing nature of marine ecosystems is receiving greater attention. However, implementation challenges remain. Management across sectors remains a challenge in terms of both of accurate data collection to understand stock status, and resource sharing. Cross-sectoral management with recreational sector continues to improve with several jurisdictions committed to regular surveys and rules around catch limits that better reflect stock levels. Traditional fishing is being increasingly recognised, but there remains no common agreement between indigenous Australians and jurisdictions about how to move forward. A range of best practice guidelines for fisheries management have been developed (Penney et al. 2016; Hobday et al. 2019; Sloane et al. 2014) and are steadily being deployed. Small-scale/data-limited fisheries are prevalent and remain a challenge (Hill et al., submitted; Dowling et al. 2016). Jurisdictions have begun to use a range of processes and decision-support tools to better ensure the sustainability of these fisheries including harvest strategies. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT not supplied 2021 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details] • Approach • Assessment grade: Effective Assessment trend: Improving Confidence grade: Adequate Confidence trend: Adequate Comparability with 2016: Somewhat comparable. Increased uptake of harvest strategies and ecological risk assessments by most jurisdictions. • Outputs • Assessment grade: Effective Assessment trend: Improving Confidence grade: Adequate Confidence trend: Adequate Comparability with

The Marine chapter of the 2016 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Case Study "traditional management of marine resources in Torres Strait". The full Case Study, including figures and tables (where provided), is attached to this record. Where available, the Data Stream(s) used to generate this Case Study are accessible through the "On-line Resources" section of this record. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOCUS OF THE CASE STUDY The Torres Strait region is renowned for its ecological complexity and biodiversity, providing a multitude of habitats and niches for the highly diverse Indo-Pacific marine flora and fauna, including dugongs and marine turtles. The Torres Strait is of enormous significance from an Indigenous cultural resource management perspective. Marine and island resources traditionally have been, and continue to be, vital to Torres Strait Islanders from a subsistence and cultural viewpoint. Torres Strait Islanders have a strong and abiding connection with their islands and sea country, governed by the unique Ailan Kastom (Island Custom). DATA STREAM(S) USED IN CASE STUDY Relevant peer review publications and reports. Case study based on literature review.

The Marine chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Case Study "Lessons for marine management derived from fisheries management practices". A PDF of the full Case Study, including figures and tables (where provided) is downloadable in the "On-line Resources" section of this record as "CASE STUDY 2021 – Lessons for marine management derived from fisheries management practices" DESCRIPTION OF FOCUS FOR THE CASE STUDY This case study summarises key lessons from Australian fisheries management that are relevant to the management of natural marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments and resources more broadly and highlight opportunities for improved natural resource management. For example, Australian fisheries management has used innovative approaches to (i) reduce conflict in decision-making with defined targets and reference points (e.g. as part of harvest strategies), (ii) explore consequences of implementing different management decisions in fisheries systems (e.g. management strategy evaluation), (iii) apply the precautionary principle (e.g. ecological risk assessments), and (iv) consider a wider range and cumulative impacts, including climate change, on marine systems. The success of the arrangements is due to co-development with expertise-based consultative forums (e.g. Resource Advisory Groups, Management Advisory Committees) where the outputs and details of these approaches are considered, questioned and agreed in a transparent and collaborative manner. DATA STREAM(S) USED IN CASE STUDY Synthesis of literature published, and expert knowledge of the case study authors.