National Plan of Action for Minimising Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Australian Capture Fisheries.

The National Plan of Action for Minimising Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Australian Capture Fisheries (2014) (NPOA-Seabirds) aims at contributing towards achieving and maintaining a “favourable conservation status” for seabirds, as defined in Box 2 with reference made to 2009, FAO technical guidelines for responsible fisheries that covers best practices to reduce incidental catch of seabirds in capture fisheries. NPOA–Seabirds is a voluntary measure. It is not a regulatory instrument. It provides guidance for regulators on best-practice mitigation and reporting of seabird interactions across all fishing operations in Australian waters.
This plan covers all species of birds that occur naturally in Australian marine areas, including migratory and threatened seabird species listed under the EPBC Act; all commercial, recreational, customary and other relevant capture fisheries; all waters under the jurisdiction of Commonwealth, state and Northern Territory fisheries; all fishing undertaken by Australian-flagged fishing vessels on the high seas, including areas governed by regional fisheries and conservation bodies. NPOA–Seabirds 2014 does not include those general actions for reducing threats to the conservation status of a species that are not directly related to fishing activity, such as threats to seabird breeding sites or from marine debris. These issues are addressed through other environmental actions and measures, including recovery plans established under the EPBC Act.
The goal of Australia’s NPOA–Seabirds is to minimise and, where practicable, eliminate the incidental catch of seabirds in capture fisheries. To achieve this, NPOA–Seabirds has five objectives: 1) Understand the extent of the incidental catch of seabirds; 2) Implement best-practice seabird bycatch mitigation in capture fisheries to – minimise or, where practicable, eliminate the incidental catch of seabirds – contribute towards achieving and maintaining a favourable conservation status for seabirds; 3) Promote development of innovative mitigation procedures and technologies that are feasible, effective and efficient; 4) Increase awareness and understanding of the incidental catch of seabirds and best-practice mitigation; 5) Promote adoption of effective mitigation measures in regional fisheries and conservation bodies.
The Australian Government has the responsibility to provide national policy leadership and help implement NPOA–Seabirds by providing impetus for whole-of-government approaches, coordinating the AFMF subcommittee, facilitating and encouraging research activities, and overseeing implementation of actions for fisheries managed by the Australian Government. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources will report to the FAO on the progress of developing and implementing NPOA–Seabirds. The Department of the Environment and Energy will report to ACAP. State and Northern Territory fisheries and government environment agencies will be responsible for overseeing implementation of actions in capture fisheries under their respective jurisdictions. Roles and responsibilities are also envisaged for commercial, recreational and customary fishing sectors, conservation groups and researchers.