Assessment of the Torres Strait

The treaty describes the boundaries between Australia and PNG and how the shared sea resources are to be managed. The treaty established the Torres Strait Protected Zone and the rights of Australia and PNG to share the commercial fisheries of the protected zone.

The enacting legislation for the treaty in the area under Australian jurisdiction is the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984, which establishes the Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA). Membership of the PZJA comprises the Australian Government and Queensland Government ministers responsible for fisheries and the chair of the Torres Strait Regional Authority.

The Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 provides for the PZJA to make plans or policies for the management of fisheries in the Torres Strait.

Two sectors operate within all Torres Strait commercial fisheries:

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  traditional inhabitant boat (TIB) licences are available to Traditional Inhabitant fishers only; and
  
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  transferable vessel holder (TVH) licences are available to other commercial fishers.
  

The fishery is managed on behalf of the PZJA under the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).

The area of the fishery (Figure 1, page 11) extends from the tip of Cape York to the northern border of Australian jurisdiction in the Torres Strait Protected Zone and includes islands and their territorial waters recognised within the Torres Strait Treaty as being Sovereign Islands of Australia.

Historically, sea cucumbers have been harvested in eastern Torres Strait. The western Torres Strait reefs have been documented as having a very low abundance of all sea cucumber species. Since 2005, the majority of sea cucumber harvest has occurred in the central eastern Torres Strait regions comprising of the Great North East Channel, Don Cay and Cumberland regions.

There has been little activity in the fishery in recent years owing to the prohibition on harvest of many of the high value species in the fishery including sandfish, black teatfish and surf redfish.

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  Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984
  
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  Torres Strait Fisheries Regulations 1985
  
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  Fisheries Management Notice 64 - Prohibition on taking sea cucumber (gear and size restrictions)
  
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  Fisheries Management Notice 47 - Torres Strait Fisheries (restrictions on the size of boats)
  
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  Strategic and Export Reassessment Report – Torres Strait Bêche de mer Fishery – April 2011
  
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  Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics – Bureau of Rural Sciences – Fishery Status Reports 2009
  
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  Bureau of Rural Sciences – Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics – Fishery Status Reports 2008
  
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  Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts – Assessment of the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery – June 2008
  
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  Department of the Environment and Heritage – Assessment of the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery – June 2005
  

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  sandfish (Holothuria scabra) since 1998;
  
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  pacific black teatfish (Actinopyga mauritiana) since 2003; and
  
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  surf redfish (Holothuria whitmaei) since 2003.
  

Further information on the biology of the target species can be found in the 2005 assessment of the fishery located on the department’s website at: http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/fisheries/commonwealth/torres-strait-beche-de-mer/index.html

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  sandfish - overfished, subject to overfishing;
  
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  black teatfish - not overfished, not subject to overfishing;
  
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  prickly redfish - not overfished, not subject to overfishing;
  
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  white teatfish - not overfished, not subject to overfishing;
  
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  surf redfish - uncertain, but not subject to overfishing; and
  
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  all other sea cumber species combined - uncertain, but not subject to overfishing.
  

In 2009, the Papua New Guinea Sea Cucumber Fishery, immediately to the north of the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery, was closed for a period of three years.

In 2011, two five-year developmental fishing permits were issued by fisheries Queensland to allow for limited annual harvest of a range of sea cucumber species in the Gulf of Carpentaria, to the south west of the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery.

Illegal fishing by foreign nationals is recognised by AFMA as the most significant compliance risk in the fishery. It is thought that prior to the closure of the Papua New Guinea Sea Cucumber Fishery, considerable exploitation of sea cucumber in the area of the Warrior Reef complex by illegal foreign fishers occurred, focussing on species for which take was prohibited in the Torres Strait Bêche-de-mer Fishery. With the closure of the Papua New Guinea fishery and consequently a lack of buyers in Papua New Guinea, AFMA considers that the risk of illegal fishing has declined markedly since 2009.

The use of self contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) and hookah gear is prohibited in the fishery. Collection is restricted to walking on reef tops or free diving to depths estimated to be predominantly less than 10 metres.

Since 2008, there have been only three active fishers, all TIB fishers.

A small commercial catch was reported in 2007 and 2010 but for confidentiality reasons the amounts are not reported publicly.

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  entry limited to licensed TIB holders (except for one TVH licensed operator);
  
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  maximum vessel size of seven metres;
  
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  collection is by hand or non-mechanical hand held devices; and
  
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  the use of hookah and SCUBA gear is prohibited.
  

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  minimum size limits on 10 species in the fishery;
  
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  zero total allowable catch for sandfish, black teatfish and surf redfish;
  
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  competitive annual total allowable catch for white teatfish (15 tonnes) and prickly redfish (20 tonnes); and
  
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  combined total allowable catch for remaining sea cucumber species of 80 tonnes.
  

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  bag limits of three per person or six per boat.
  

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  potential over-exploitation of target species;
  
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  potential translocation of species via hull and anchor fouling; and
  
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  potential impacts of anchoring/mooring and other anthropogenic activities such as treading on reef top habitat.
  

Sea cucumbers are believed to play a role in the nutrient recycling pathways of benthic environments. The setting of total allowable catches in the fishery minimises the potential for unsustainable removal of sea cucumber species.

As the area of the fishery does not include the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area or the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and there are measures in place in the fishery to control the take of sea cucumbers, the department considers that an action taken by an individual fisher, acting in accordance with the management regime for the Torres Strait Bêche de-mer Fishery, would not be expected to have a significant impact on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park or the World Heritage values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.