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Showing results 31 - 40 of 43

Figure 31 Conceptual overview of the management strategy evaluation modelling process

Source: Punt et al. (2016)

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Figure 32 Traditional Owner views about the proactiveness of government agencies in ensuring that environmental and sustainability reporting is informed by traditional knowledge and cultural indicators of change

Source: Information was gathered during Traditional Owner online yarning circles run in April and May 2021 (n = 14).

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Figure 33 (a) Anindilyakwa rangers beach patrol debris collection. (b) Senior Ranger Jocelyn Yantrrnga sorting marine debris. (c) Ute load of ghost nets and other debris with rangers. (d) Maicie Lalara from Anindilyakwa Arts with her monster fish pieces made from ghost nets

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Table 1 Summary of the association between outcomes and human wellbeing, and the implications of outcome grades for the state and trend of human wellbeing

Assessments				Links to wellbeing components							Implication of outcome for wellbeing
Component	Assessed grade	Assessed trend	Assessed confidence	Health	Living standards	Community and social cohesion	Security and safety	Freedom, rights, recognition and self-determination	Cultural and spiritual fulfilment	Connection to Country and nature	Wellbeing state	Wellbeing trend	Wellbeing confidence
State and trend of marine habitats and communities	Good	Stable	Limited	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Positive	Stable	Limited
State and trend of marine species	Good	Unclear	Limited	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Positive	Unclear	Limited
State and trend of marine ecosystem processes	Good	Stable	Limited	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	Positive	Stable	Limited
Pressures on the marine environment associated with climate change and associated extremes	Very high impact	Deteriorating	Adequate	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Very negative	Deteriorating	Adequate
Pressures on the marine environment associated with population growth	High impact	Stable	Adequate	N	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Negative	Stable	Adequate
Pressures on the marine environment associated with industry	Low impact	Unclear	Adequate	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Positive	Unclear	Limited
Effective and sustainable management of the marine environment and resources	Effective	Improving	Adequate	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Positive	Improving	Adequate
Policy and management to support Indigenous leadership of adaptive management of Country	Partially effective	n/a	n/a	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Negative	Improving	n/a
Management of the marine environment and resources to support inclusiveness, equity and human wellbeing	Partially effective	n/a	n/a	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Negative	Improving	n/a

n/a = not applicable

Note: Expert judgement was used to identify the wellbeing components with the strongest links to each outcome. Implications of outcomes for wellbeing match the assessed outcome grade translated to 4 categories, ranging from very negative to very positive. All outcomes are expected to have an overall positive association with human wellbeing. ‘Y’ indicates the wellbeing components that each outcome most affects; ‘N’ indicates no or less effect.

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Table 2 Changes to the global status of cetaceans on the IUCN Red List

Species	Change in IUCN listing since 2016	Reference
Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)	Data Deficient to Near Threatened	Cooke et al. (2018a)
Australian humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis)	Near Threatened to Vulnerable	Parra et al. (2017)
Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni)	Near Threatened to Vulnerable	Parra et al. (2018)
Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Cooke & Brownell Jr (2018)
Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Alafaro-Shiguieto et al. (2020)
Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Kiszka & Braulik (2020b)
False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)	Data Deficient to Near Threatened	Baird (2019)
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)	Endangered to Vulnerable	Cooke (2018b)
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus)	Data Deficient to Near Threatened	Braulik et al. (2019)
Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Minton et al. (2018b)
Pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Braulik (2018)
Pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Cooke (2018a)
Pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Kiszka & Braulik (2020a)
Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Minton et al. (2018a)
Spectacled porpoise (Phocoena dioptrica)	Data Deficient to Least Concern	Dellabianca et al. (2018)

Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature

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Table 3 Current status and recent trends of tuna and billfish species by regional fishing management organisation

Species	Status			Recent trend
Species	IOTC	WCPFC	CCSBT	IOTC^a	WCPFC^b	CCSBT
Albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga)	Not overfished but subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Decreasing	North-east: decreasing East: decreasing	n/a
Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)	Not overfished but subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Decreasing	North-east: stable East: stable	n/a
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Stable	North-east: decreasing	n/a
Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)	n/a	n/a	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	n/a	Increasing
Yellowfin tuna^c(Thunnus albacares)	Overfished and subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Decreasing	North-east: stable East: decreasing	n/a
Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Stable	Stable	n/a
Striped marlin (Kajikia audax)	Overfished and subject to overfishing	Overfished and close to undergoing overfishing	n/a	Decreasing	Largely stable	n/a
Blue marlin^d(Makaira nigricans)	Overfished and subject to overfishing	Not overfished and not subject to overfishing	n/a	Decreasing	Increasing	n/a
Black marlin (Makaira indica)	Uncertain	Not assessed	n/a	Uncertain	Not assessed	n/a

CCSBT = Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna; IOTC = Indian Ocean Tuna Commission; n/a = not applicable; WCPFC = Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

A number of models are used in stock assessments, so trends may vary across models.
Trends are provided for statistical areas within the assessment relevant to the north-east and the Temperate East Marine Region. These statistical areas include regions outside the Australian exclusive economic zone. There may be multiple statistical areas encompassing marine regions, and trends may vary between statistical areas.
Estimated biomass of yellowfin tuna, when considered under the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy, identifies the species in the Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery as not overfished.
The stock assessment for blue marlin in the Pacific Ocean encompasses the whole Pacific Ocean.

Note: Status follows nomenclature used in Patterson et al. (2020) and is based on the most recent assessment conducted under the various regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs), so recent trends may span periods less than or greater than the period since the 2016 state of the environment assessment. Assessment models and reference points used to determine status vary between species and RFMOs. As such, it is inappropriate to directly compare the status of stocks of the same species between RFMOs.

Sources: International Scientific Committee Billfish Working Group (2016), Takeuchi et al. (2017), Tremblay-Boyer et al. (2018), Ducharme-Barth et al. (2019), IOTC (2019b), IOTC (2019a), Vincent et al. (2019), Ducharme-Barth et al. (2020), Hillary et al. (2020), IOTC (2020), Vincent et al. (2020)

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Table 4 Outlook for stocks of tuna and billfish based on regional stock assessments

Species	IOTC^a	WCPFC	CCSBT
Albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga)	Further declines are expected unless management action to reduce catches is taken	Significant increases in effort would be required to increase fishing mortality	n/a
Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	n/a
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)	If catches remain in accordance with the harvest control rule, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	n/a
Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)	n/a	n/a	Model projections indicate an increased (since the last assessment) probability that the stock rebuilding targets will be achieved by 2035 under the current management plan
Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares)	Further declines are expected unless management action to reduce catches is taken	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	n/a
Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	If catches remain below maximum sustainable yield levels, reducing the population to an overfished state is unlikely	n/a
Striped marlin (Kajikia audax)	Further declines are expected unless management action to reduce catches is taken	Any increase in catches will lead to overfishing	n/a
Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans)	Further declines are expected unless management action to reduce catches is taken	Any increase in catches will lead to overfishing	n/a
Black marlin (Makaira indica)	Recent catch increases will likely continue to drive the population towards an overfished status	n/a	n/a

CCSBT = Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna; IOTC = Indian Ocean Tuna Commission; n/a = not applicable; WCPFC = Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

Harvest control rules are currently only determined for skipjack tuna within the IOTC; management procedures are being developed for bigeye and yellowfin tunas, and broadbill swordfish. An interim plan has been developed for rebuilding the yellowfin stock.

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Table 5 National conservation status of turtle species occurring in Australian waters

Species	EPBC Act status
Green (Chelonia mydas)	Vulnerable
Loggerhead (Caretta caretta)	Endangered
Flatback (Natator depressus)	Vulnerable
Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)	Vulnerable
Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea)	Endangered
Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea)	Endangered

EPBC Act = Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

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Table 6 Current population trends for breeding seabird species in Australia and external territories

Species / species group	Current (2016–21) trends in Australian breeding population	Main uncertainties and gaps in trend assessment	Pressures/issues of importance	Change in population trend since 2016 state of the environment report	Changes in key threats and outlook
Shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta)	Stable	Long-lived individuals require decadal-scale datasets	Fisheries bycatch, climate change, disease, competition for nesting habitat	No change	Fisheries bycatch and disease impacts decreasing
Petrels, shearwaters and storm petrels	Increasing Some colonies of wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) Stable Little shearwater (Puffinus assimilis), soft-plumaged petrel (Pterodroma mollis), white-necked petrel (P. cervicalis), Herald petrel (P. heraldica), western Kermadec petrel (P. neglecta neglecta), providence petrel (P. solandri), Gould’s petrel (P. leucoptera), white-bellied storm petrel (Fregetta grallaria) Decreasing Short-tailed shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris), flesh-footed shearwater (Puffinus carneipes), some colonies of wedge-tailed shearwater	Few long-term studies and limited spatial extent of available data. Long-lived individuals require decadal-scale datasets. Many colonies in Tasmania (stronghold for species) have not been surveyed in recent decades	Cat and rat predation (shearwaters), fisheries bycatch, plastic ingestion, climate change	Little shearwater, soft-plumaged petrel, white-necked petrel, Herald petrel, western Kermadec petrel, providence petrel, Gould’s petrel, white-bellied storm petrel now considered as stable. No change to other species in the group	Fisheries bycatch impacts decreasing. Marine debris ingestion likely to increase. Declines in marine productivity from climate change (rising sea surface temperatures) likely
Little penguin (Eudyptula minor)	Stable?	Limited long-term data for some colonies/sites. Many colonies in Tasmania (stronghold for species) have not been surveyed in recent decades	Bycatch in gillnets, coastal infrastructure development and human recreational activities, climate change	No change	Threats associated with human development increasing, including habitat fragmentation and coastal erosion
Frigatebirds, boobies, tropicbirds, gannets, cormorants and pelicans	Increasing Australasian gannet (Morus serrator) Stable White-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus), masked booby (Sula dactylatra) Decreasing Christmas Island frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi), Abbott’s booby (Papasula abbotti), red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) No trends identified Cormorants, pelicans	Limited long-term data for some colonies/sites. Most species have little or no population data	Bycatch in gillnets (cormorants), cat and rat predation (tropicbirds), habitat loss and fragmentation (gannets and boobies)	White-tailed tropicbird, Christmas Island frigatebird, Abbott’s booby, masked booby now considered as stable. Red-tailed tropicbird now decreasing. No change to other species	Declines in marine productivity from climate change (rising sea surface temperatures) likely
Gulls, terns and noddies	Increasing Kelp (Larus dominicanus) and silver (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) gulls; roseate (Sterna dougallii), crested (Thalasseus bergii), sooty (Onychoprion fuscatus), bridled (O. anaethetus) and white terns (Gygis alba); brown noddy (Anous stolidus) Stable? Little tern (Sternula albifrons), lesser noddy (Anous tenuirostris) Decreasing? Black noddy (Anous minutus) Decreasing Fairy tern (Sternula nereis)	Limited long-term data for some colonies/sites; most species have little or no population data. Long-lived individuals require decadal-scale datasets	Cat and rat predation (terns); human disturbance at nesting colonies (terns, noddies), which can lead to abandonment and disturbance-mediated predation by gulls and corvids; coastal development fragmenting habitat (terns); gull increases partly to wholly due to poor urban waste management practices, and opportunistic feeding at aquaculture facilities	Little tern, lesser noddy now considered as potentially stable. No change to other species	Increasing competition for breeding habitat as southward expansion of breeding populations of roseate, crested, sooty and bridled terns and brown noddy in Western Australia continues, and kelp gull populations increase in Victoria and Tasmania. Increased frequency of extreme events, storm surges, etc, likely to cause habitat loss/erosion

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Table 7 Number of threatened marine species listed under the EPBC Act compared with the 2016 state of the environment report

Species group	Extinct		Critically Endangered		Endangered		Vulnerable		Conservation Dependent
Species group	2016	2021	2016	2021	2016	2021	2016	2021	2016	2021
Whales, dolphins, porpoises	0	0	0	0	2	2	3	2	0	0
Seals, fur seals, sea lions	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	1	0	0
Marine turtles	0	0	0	0	3	3	3	3	0	0
Sea snakes	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Seabirds	0	0	2	2	10	12	24	22	0	0
Sharks, rays, chimaeras	0	0	2	2	2	2	6	6	3	4
Fishes	0	0	2	2	0	0	2	2	4	4
Seastars	0	0	0	1^a	0	0	1	1	0	0
Corals	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Seaweeds	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Giant kelp forest community	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0

EPBC Act = Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The Derwent River seastar was not included in the marine environment chapter in 2016 because it was considered coastal.

Sources: Species Profile and Threats Database (2021), Species Profile Threats Database (2021)

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