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News
Communique on Indigenous Fishing
The new communique on Indigenous Fishing is an important milestone.
This communiqué has been endorsed by representatives of:
- Indigenous bodies, including Native Title Representative Bodies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission (ATSIC) Commissioners1;
- State and Northern Territory governments and the Australian Government;
- National commercial fisheries interests; and
- National recreational fisheries interests.
This group of stakeholders evolved from the National Indigenous Fishing Technical Working Group
(NIFTWG) which formed in October 2003 following a national Indigenous fisheries conference convened by
the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT).
In March 2004, the NIFTWG identified three possible pathways for progressing Indigenous aspirations linked
to marine and fisheries management. The preferred pathway - Pathway 2 - involves the development of
policies based on:
(i) Defined customary fishing rights that exclude commercial activity
(ii) Mechanisms that facilitate Indigenous involvement in marine and fisheries related businesses.
The scope for Indigenous commercial participation includes new and established sectors of the fishing
industry, including aquaculture, as well as the charter industry and other emerging opportunities in fisheriesrelated
tourism and recreation.
This group proposes a set of general principles to guide the future development of Indigenous fishing
strategies within the sustainability limits that currently apply to all other stakeholders. The Principles are an
articulation of Pathway 2, a policy-driven response which is favoured over litigation.
Indigenous representatives' support for these Principles does not affect the legal rights of Indigenous people
or limit their scope to pursue other options. However, it is considered that strategies that provide Indigenous
people with (a) lasting recognition of customary fishing practices; and (b) increased opportunities for
economic engagement in fisheries-related enterprises, have a greater capacity than litigation to deliver
practical outcomes within the foreseeable future.
This group acknowledges:
- that the Principles are mutually dependent and informed by the Preamble; and
- that future communication between stakeholders will be central to long-term change.
PRINCIPLES
1. Indigenous people were the first custodians of Australia's marine and freshwater environments:
Australia's fisheries and aquatic environment management strategies should respect and
accommodate this.
2. Customary fishing is to be defined and incorporated by Governments into fisheries management
regimes, so as to afford it protection.
3. Customary fishing is fishing in accordance with relevant Indigenous laws and customs for the
purpose of satisfying personal, domestic or non-commercial communal needs. Specific frameworks
for customary fishing may vary throughout Australia by reference, for example, to marine zones, fish
species, Indigenous community locations and traditions or their access to land and water.
4. Recognition of customary fishing will translate, wherever possible, into a share in the overall
allocation of sustainable managed fisheries.
5. In the allocation of marine and freshwater resources, the customary sector should be recognised as
a sector in its own right, alongside recreational and commercial sectors, ideally within the context of
future integrated fisheries management strategies.
6. Governments and other stakeholders will work together to, at minimum, implement assistance
strategies to increase Indigenous participation in fisheries-related businesses, including the
recreational and charter sectors.
7. Increased Indigenous participation in fisheries related businesses and fisheries management,
together with related vocational development, must be expedited.
1 On 16 March 2005 Parliament passed the ATSIC Amendment Bill repealing provisions of the ATSIC Act, and in
particular abolishing ATSIC. The legislation received the Royal Assent and was proclaimed with effect from 24 March
2005
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