Fishery Advisory Committees
Fishery Advisory Committees (FACs) provide advice to the Minister on important issues affecting Tasmania's wild fisheries. The current FACs are:
Legislation requires that the Minister consults with the relevant advisory committee prior to determining key fishery arrangements such as size limits, seasonal closures, gear restrictions and total allowable catch. In practice, the role and work of the FACs are much broader than this.
Some of the key areas in which they play an active role are:
- advice on research needs and priorities;
- advice on IMAS fishery assessments and stock monitoring;
- advice during formal reviews of management plans;
- development of management responses to issues; and
- advice on the setting of the total allowable catch.
There is an expectation that FAC members engage with other industry and community members to communicate issues regarding the relevant fishery.
FAC procedures
The operation of the FACs and the conduct of members during meetings is guided by an
Establishment and Procedures document. This document covers a range of issues including conflict of interest, confidentiality, interactions with the media and standard procedural matters.
Interim Fishery Core Groups
Two non-statutory Interim Fishery Core Groups (IFCG), for the abalone and scalefish fisheries, have been established from 1 July 2023 for up to 12 months following the expiry of the terms of appointment of the Abalone and Scalefish Fishery Advisory Committees.
These interim arrangements enable regular communications between NRE Tas fishery managers and fisheries scientists (IMAS), and allow statutory consultation with certified fishing bodies to be undertaken. The participation of other relevant external stakeholder groups where there is an overlap of interest may be facilitated by the NRE Tas fishery manager, as required.
In most instances, the IFCG will meet to discuss matters including fishery assessments, total allowable catch settings, management arrangements and research proposals.