Ecologically sustainable development

There is considerable community interest in the marine environment and the focus has expanded from concerns about specific fish species to include broader issues regarding the use and quality of the marine environment. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is strongly committed to contributing to the conservation of the ocean's ecosystems and biodiversity by promoting sustainable use of fisheries resources.

Under AFMA’s legislative objective (b), pertaining to ecologically sustainable development (ESD), the organisation has a responsibility to ensure exploitation of fisheries resources and related activities are conducted in a manner consistent with ESD and the precautionary principle.

The following are the principles of ecologically sustainable development (Fisheries Management Act 1991 – Section 3A):

1. decision-making processes should effectively integrate both long-term and short-term economic, environmental, social and equity considerations;
2. if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation;
3. the principle of inter-generational equity—that the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations;
4. the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration in decision-making; improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms should be promoted.

The Australian community is also increasingly aware of issues such as the impacts of fishing on the marine environment and non-target species. AFMA has the legislation, the consultative links and the expertise to address these issues. We also work more closely with other agencies responsible for coastal and ocean management as the impacts of all human activities on marine living resources become more evident.

All of these issues have the potential to substantially influence the sustainability of fish stocks. We acknowledge the need to be precautionary in our approach to the management of fisheries resources and to pay particular attention to the environmental impacts of our decisions.

Page last updated 8 January, 2008