Characteristics and Changes of Trawl Fishery Management Institution in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Research PaperFisheries management institutions vary along a continuum from centralized to self-regulation systems. Nowadays, the importance of self-regulation by fishers or co-management by the government and fishers has been emphasized. However, the centralized system is not necessarily inferior to self-regulation. If fishers' voluntary activities are induced by pressure of centralized management by the government and complement legislative rules, this new institution may become more effective in achieving its purposes. This study aims to explore this through a case study of trawl fisheries management off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The Queensland east coast trawl fishery occurs principally in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which is listed as a World Heritage Area by UNESCO. Fisheries operating in this area are managed under a typical centralized management system by the Queensland State Government and the GBR Marine Park Authority (federal authority). Fisheries management plans were drafted by the Queensland State Government, supplemented by GBRMPA and revised by stakeholders through a public consulting in 1999 and 2000. Therefore, this system is supposed to be in a consultative stage. However, the important point is that such an exogenous regulation induces or stimulates endogenous activities of fishers. After establishing management plans, spontaneous activities to set up self-rule like codes of conduct of inshore trawl fisheries in Cairns and Morton Bay have started in places. Furthermore, "EMS" (Environmental Management System) initiative to standardize and facilitate such self-regulation has been carried out by interest groups. It is expected that such voluntary activities by fishers will provide individual fishers with necessary information and opportunity to participate in fisheries management, and make it more feasible and practical