Small Pelagics in the News: Emerging Importance of Social Licence in the Australian Fisheries Landscape

The arrival of a factory trawler in Australian waters to fish in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) followed a significant period of fisheries management planning and research aimed at ensuring that this activity was sustainable.  However, in response to an intense social media campaign led by international conservation groups, some politicians and recreational fishers, the Australian government imposed a moratorium on the operations of this vessel. This presentation documents the history and events that led to the government’s rejection of its own independent science-based fisheries management process in what was clearly a contentious political decision.  In the context of the scientific framework for the SPF it explores the risks that Australian fisheries face when political expediency overrides evidence based fisheries policy and management, highlighting the emerging importance of social licence in fisheries landscape.