Implementing harvest strategies in Australia: 5 years on

Australian Commonwealth fisheries are managed using a formal harvest strategy policy (HSP) introduced by the federal government in 2007. At the State level, a number of commercial fisheries are also managed under formal harvest strategies, but no overarching policy currently exists to guide their consistent implementation across jurisdictions. There have been 5 years of experience with implementation of the Commonwealth policy across the highly diverse array of commercial fisheries found in Australia. The HSP has an explicit target of maximum economic yield, and an explicit limit set at half the biomass that would support maximum sustainable yield. The policy also specifies an acceptable level of risk associated with falling below the limit reference point. We discuss the experience gained from implementing the HSP in Australia, including a number of challenges faced, and attempt to summarize the benefits and costs of implementing harvest strategies. Our view is that, overall, the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.