An Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management framework: the efficient, regional-level planning tool for management agencies

The value of applying a regional level, Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) framework, which is a step-wise, hierarchical, risk-based approach, was tested on the West Coast Bioregion of Western Australia. With structured stakeholder input, over 600 ecological, social, economic and governance issues were initially identified for the region. This complexity was reduced to a level useful for management by consolidating the individual risks into 60 regional-level risks, with a multi-criteria analysis used to integrate the ecological, social and economic risks into just 24 Departmental-level priorities, which ranged from very low to urgent. Given this success, EBFM-based priorities now form the basis for the Department's budget planning process, plus the framework is providing a critical link between fishery level issues and the broader processes undertaken by other marine based agencies. The EBFM framework is a significant step forward for the integrated management of natural resources by enabling all assets and issues relevant to stakeholders and government to be holistically considered at a regional level.