Science plays a vital role in maintaining sustainable fisheries, so this National Science Week the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is highlighting its progress on investigating how Commonwealth fisheries can adapt to the effects of climate change.
AFMA’s CEO, Mr Wez Norris, said AFMA is working on a collaborative project with the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and CSIRO to assess how Commonwealth fisheries management can adapt to climate-related changes to fish distributions, abundances and other behaviours.
“Learning how Commonwealth fisheries can adapt to the effects of climate change is an important priority for AFMA and key stakeholders,” Mr Norris said.
“AFMA held a workshop with its stakeholders last year which resulted in the development of impact pathways that describe the various ways in which physical and ecological changes impact a fishery, how the fishery and markets might respond, and what impact that might have on management.
“We are holding another stakeholder workshop in late September to review the outcomes of a risk assessment methodology based on the impact pathways. The methodology will be applied to two case study fisheries to help AFMA better understand the unique issues Commonwealth fisheries may face.
“The workshops are attended by a range of fisheries stakeholders, including members of the commercial, recreational and Indigenous fishing sectors, representatives from state fisheries agencies and environmental non-governmental organisations and research providers.
“This project is helping fisheries managers to make significant steps towards adaptive fisheries management and highlights the commitment of AFMA and Australia’s Commonwealth fishing industry to a sustainable and economically viable industry.”
