Following past over-fishing, Australian governments have applied policies that generally have improved sustainability. Only 6 per cent of stocks are today overfished.

But policy settings are not maximising the value of fisheries to the community. In particular: – most commercial fisheries are managed primarily though controls over fishing methods, which can inhibit fishers from introducing more innovative and cost-effective practices – understanding of recreational and Indigenous customary fishing activity is limited despite widespread participation and increasing competition for some fish stocks – differences between the fishery management techniques adopted by governments add to the costs faced by fishers operating in cross-jurisdictional fisheries and to risks in managing the sustainability of stocks. The allocation of access to fisheries should address social and cultural benefits, as well as economic benefits.

Recreational fishing, long viewed as having a minimal impact on fisheries, is having a material impact on some high-value stocks. The better use of existing recreational fishing licensing systems, and the introduction of low-cost licensing in jurisdictions where it is not presently used, would provide the means for gathering evidence to better meet the future needs of recreational fishers and support environmental objectives in the long term. – A sound evidence base is not presently available to guide decisions on access and facilities for recreational fishers.

Prospects for the commercial fishing sector would be improved by governments providing greater certainty on access and the permitted intensity of fishing. Governments should adopt individual transferrable quota systems as the default management technique for commercial wild catch fisheries. This will provide greater confidence on stock sustainability, more scope for innovative and efficient fishing practices and facilitate structural adjustment.

Arrangements between governments for the management of cross-jurisdictional fish stocks should be streamlined to improve their effectiveness and reduce costs. This will require governments to prioritise and dedicate sufficient resources to reform. Additional improvements to marine fisheries management include making standards for protected species clearer, streamlining some environmental approvals, delegating more operational decisions to fishery managers and limiting cost recovery to cover only efficient costs.

Indigenous customary fishing is not clearly recognised or managed in fishery laws. This has resulted in uncertainty over the rights and obligations of customary fishers and tensions between sectors in some high-demand fisheries. Indigenous Australians have limited input into fishery management, and there is little information on customary catch and practices. – Clarifying what constitutes Indigenous customary fishing and who is eligible to fish, and incorporating customary catch and practices into fisheries management regimes would help resolve these issues.

There has been little change in the regulation of aquaculture over the past 10 years but this has generally not impeded the sector’s growth. The major producing States have had key best practice regulatory features in place for some time and other States have faced challenges that are predominantly non-regulatory in nature.