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Declaration and Management of The Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area

Colin Chalmers

Department of Fisheries Western Australia, PERTH, AUSTRALIA

Theme: TH3

The Abrolhos Islands lie off the Western Australian coast about 50 km west of Geraldton. The waters surrounding the Islands are considered to be of major importance for their conservation, cultural heritage, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and scientific values. They comprise the entire Abrolhos Islands Bioregion as defined in the Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia Report. In 1997 the Minister for Fisheries set aside the waters of the Abrolhos Islands as a Fish Habitat Protection Area (FHPA) for the following two purposes: the conservation of fish and protection of the marine ecosystem, and (2) the management of fish and the appreciation of the aquatic ecosystem. Because of long-standing debate and conflict about the use of and access to the Abrolhos system, the gazettal of the FHPA was preceded by an exhaustive consultation and planning process. The Minister established the Abrolhos Islands Management Advisory Committee (AIMAC), which is an independent expertise-based body, to manage the consultation process and prepare the Draft and Final Plans of Management for the area. The consultation process indicated that the community believed there is a need to: manage the Abrolhos using a whole of ecosystem approach, protect biological diversity, involve the public in ongoing planning and management, provide more information about the area, improve our knowledge of the Abrolhos, improve public access and monitor human impacts, and protect the area from mining and petroleum development. The final Plan contains a variety of strategies to deal with these issues and is being implemented by AIMAC with the assistance of the Department of Fisheries and other relevant agencies. As the work programme to implement the plan progresses, many of the long-standing conflicts between user groups are being addressed although a small number are proving difficult to resolve completely.