Ecological risk assessments

A foundation of sustainable fisheries management is managing the impact of fishing activities on non-target species and the broader marine ecosystem.

All fisheries that interact with protected species listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 must be managed to address the risks to these species.

An ecological risk assessment (ERA) is an analysis of the best available information about fishery impacts on:

  • target species
  • non-target and protected species (e.g. dugongs, turtles, dolphins and protected fish)
  • the broader ecosystem.

ERAs identify and measure the ecological risks of fishing activity and identify issues that must be further managed under harvest strategies.

ERA guideline

A priority of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy: 2017–2027 was to develop a guideline to assess the impact of fishing activities on the ecosystem.

Our ERA guideline includes:

  • principles for prioritising ERAs according to risk
  • assessment methods that reflect national standards
  • a formal approach for identifying and prioritising management actions to address ERA outcomes.

Reports using ERA guideline

  • East coast otter trawl fishery

    The ERA for the east coast otter trawl fishery focused specifically on threatened, endangered or protected species and non-target species with ongoing conservation concerns – collectively referred to as species of conservation concern. Target and byproduct species were not included in the assessment, as the risks to these species are being effectively managed through regional harvest strategies.

    See a summary of the results in the ERA report and key points:

    • The ERA assessed 62 species – 6 marine turtles, 13 sea snakes, 9 syngnathids (including seahorses, pipefishes and seadragons), 12 sharks and 22 rays. These species are often the focus of bycatch mitigation discussions within the fishery. Risk ratings assigned to the 62 species were:
      • 3 high risk
      • 9 precautionary high risk
      • 28 medium risk
      • 15 precautionary medium risk
      • 7 low risk.
    • The risk ratings assigned to each species are influenced by a range of factors, including biological constraints, data deficiencies and the conservative nature of the ERA methodology.
    • Precautionary ratings are considered more representative of the potential risk versus an actual or real risk. For these species, the risk is unlikely to come to fruition unless there is a significant change in the current fishing environment. Management of precautionary risks, beyond what is already being undertaken, are viewed as a lower priority.
    • The ERA was developed using a Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis:
      • This is a widely used method for assessing risk in commercial fisheries and forms part of the risk-assessment framework for Commonwealth fisheries.
      • It identifies elements within a species risk profile that makes them more vulnerable to trawl fishing activities.
    • An absence of information on catch compositions, interaction rates and release fates directly contributed to more conservative risk assessments. With improved information, a number of the risk profiles could be further refined, especially for sharks, skates, stingrays and stingarees as these interactions, for the most part, are not monitored or recorded.
    • The ERA identified a number of risk areas, including the absence of an effective mechanism to monitor catch in real or near-real time, an inability to validate data submitted through the logbook system and the potential for under-reporting of threatened, endangered and protected species interactions.
    • A number of the risk areas identified are already being addressed as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy: 2017–2027, by the fisheries working group and through the regional harvest strategy program (including bycatch mitigation strategies being considered as part of the broader data validation plan).
    • Work has begun on additional assessments to examine risk for the same species at a regional level.

Last updated: 19 Feb 2024