Traditional use of marine resources agreements and dugong hunting in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Environmental and Planning Law Journal

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 258-280

  Havemann, Paul ^a   Thiriet, Dominique ^a   Marsh, Helene ^a   Jones, Craig ^a  

^a JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 40249101534     PISSN: 0813300X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (133)

1. Ross A, Traditional Hunting in National Parks and the Cultural Heritage Paradigm, 11 Ngulaig (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit occasional monograph series, University of Queensland, 1994);
2. "The Dugong War" Quantum (ABC TV, 21 May 1998).
3. Kwan D, "Towards a Sustainable Indigenous Fishery for Dugongs in the Torres Strait: A Contribution of Empirical Data Analysis" (unpublished PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2002);
4. Altman J, "Economic Development and Participation for Remote Indigenous Communities: Best Practice, Evident Barriers, Innovative Solutions in the Hybrid Economy" Presentation to the Ministerial Council for ATSI Affairs (MCATSIA), 28 November 2003 (CAEPR, ANU, 2003).
5. See Ross, n 1, and Leong E, "Indigenous Australians and Dugongs in the Southern Great Barrier Reef: Legal Remedies" (1998) 14 QUTLJ 108.
6. Marsh H, An Integrated Framework for the Conservation of Dugongs and Dugong Hunting Cultures in Northern Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)/JCU Final Report, 2003).
7. For example Tehan M, "Indigenous Peoples, Access to Land and Negotiated Agreements: Experiences and post -Mabo Possibilities for Environmental Management" (1997) 14 EPLJ 114
8. George M, Innes J and Ross H, Managing Sea Country Together: Key Issues for Developing Co-operative Management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (CRC Reef Technical Report, 2004);
9. Ross H, Innes J, George M and Gorman K (eds), Traditional Owner Aspirations Towards Co-operative Management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: Community Case Studies (CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No 56, 2004).
10. A parallel initiative was developed by the State of Queensland for the Queensland Barrier Reef Coastal Marine Park.
11. Heinsohn R, Lacy RC, Lindenmayer DB, Marsh H, Kwan D and Lawler I, "Unsustainable Harvest of Dugongs in the Torres Strait and Cape York (Australia) Waters: Two Case Studies" (2004) 7 Animal Conservation 417;
12. Marsh H, Lawler IR, Kwan D, Delean S, Pollock K and Alldredge M, "Aerial Surveys and the Potential Biological Removal Technique Indicate that the Torres Strait Dugong Fishery is Unsustainable" (2004) 7 Animal Conservation 435.
13. Marsh H, De'ath G, Gribble N and Lane B, "Historical Marine Population Estimates: Triggers or Targets for Conservation? The Dugong Case Study" (2005) 15 Ecological Applications 481-492.
14. "Federal Fisheries Minister Ian MacDonald says that [the current dugong take] is not sustainable and the Government will try to reduce the number to 100 a year [and that] ... [w]e are going to further investigate it under the Biodiversity Conservation Act but we do want to work very cooperatively with island and Indigenous leaders to try and stop that mass slaughter of these animals" (ABC Online, 8 November 2004) available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1236790.htm viewed 28 November 2004.
15. Under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 (GBRMP Regulations), s10.
16. MACC Taskforce on dugong and turtle populations "Sustainable and legal Indigenous harvest of marine turtles and dugongs in Australia - A National approach" (Discussion paper for public comment, Department of the Environment and Heritage, March 2005) available at http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/species/turtles/national-approach.html viewed 10 March 2005.
17. IUCN The World Conservation Union, Vth World Parks Congress (Durban, South Africa, 8-17 September 2003) Recommendation 16: Good Governance of Protected Areas available at http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/wpc2003/pdfs/Proceedings/recommendations.pdf viewed 2 June 2005.
18. IUCN The World Conservation Union, n 12 at [4], p 35.
19. General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage (17th session, Paris, France, 17 October-21 November 1972) available at http://whc.unesco.org/world_he.htm viewed 28 February 2005.
20. "Annex V Submission to the World Heritage Committee from a Forum of Indigenous Peoples Assembled in Cairns, Australia 24 November 2000" Report of the 24th Session of the World Heritage Committee (Cairns, Australia, December 2000) available at http://whc.unesco.org/whipcoe/forum-petition.htm viewed 23 September 2004.
21. "Annex 1 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development" Report of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992) available at http://www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-1annex1.htm viewed 28 February 2005;
22. see also Annex 2, Agenda 21 Ch 26 "Recognizing and Strengthening the Role of Indigenous People and Their Communities" available at http://www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-3.htm viewed 22 June 2005.
23. For the text of the Convention, see http://www.biodiv.org/convention/articles.asp viewed 28 February 2005.
24. MEAs include Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) 1971;
25. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 1973;
26. International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) 1973;
27. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn) 1979;
28. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982;
29. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) 1992. The failure of Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol 1997 to the FCCC is noteworthy because the Great Barrier Reef as an ecosystem seems most imperilled by global warming. This leads to coral bleaching and associated biological degradation on an ecosystemic scale: Marshall P, GBR Coral Bleaching Response Program (GBRMPA, Australia, 2003) p 1;
30. Woodford J, "Great Barrier Reef? Under Siege from Global Warming, Our Tropical Jewel Is Struggling" (2004) 76 Australian Geographic 36. Regional environmental agreements include Convention on the Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific (Apia) 1976.
31. See, eg, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).
32. Benzaken D, Smith G and Williams R, "A Long Way Together: The Recognition of Indigenous Interests in the Management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area" in Wachfeld D, Oliver J and Davis K (eds), State of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Workshop Proceedings No 22, GBRMPA, 1997) p 471.
33. Worboys G, Lockwood M and De Lacy T, Protected Area Management: Principles and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2001) Ch 6.
34. GBRMPA, The Great Barrier Reef, Keeping It Great: A 25 Year Strategic Plan for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area 1994-2019 (GBRMPA, 1994) p 35.
35. GBRMPA, n 22, p 8.
36. Lucas PHC, Webb T, Valentine PS and Marsh H, The Outstanding Universal Value of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRMPA, 1997).
37. As defined under s211 of the Native Title Act 1993 (NT Act).
38. The Honourable Peter Beattie, "Longest Marine Park Will Protect Reef, Regional Jobs and Fishing" (Queensland Government Ministerial Statements, 20 October 2004) available at http://statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au/cgi-bin/displaystatement.pl?id=3655&db=media viewed 30 November 2004.
39. Mean Low Water (MLW) is the average of all low water heights observed over a period. Indian Spring Low Water (ISLW) is datum originated by Darwin when investigating tides of India. It is an elevation depressed below mean sea level by an amount equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the harmonic constituents.
40. Lucas et al, n 24, p 38.
41. See GBRMPA, Shoalwater Bay (Dugong) Plan of Management 1997;
42. Queensland, Nature Conservation (Dugong) Conservation Plan 1999.
43. Nature Conservation Regulation 1994 (Qld), s33(1)(d)(i).
44. Nature Conservation Regulation 1994 (Qld), s 148.
45. See MACC Taskforce, n 11, p 2.
46. NT Act, s 223(2).
47. NT Act, s 224.
48. Western Australia v The Commonwealth Native Title Act Case (1995) 183 CLR 373 at 474.
49. ATSI Social Justice Commissioner, Native Title Report 2000 (HREOC, 2001) p 110.
50. Levy R, "High Court Upholds Hunting Rights in Yanner Appeal" (1999/2000) ILB 10.
51. Western Australia v Commonwealth (1995) 183 CLR 373 at 474.
52. Dillon v Davies (1999) 101 A Crim R 533;
53. 156 ALR 142;
54. Wilkes v Johnson (1999) 151 FLR 89.
55. For example, Mason v Tritton (1994) 34 NSWLR 572, Derschaw v Sutton (1996) 17 WAR 419;
56. see Gray S, "Gill Nets at Bul Gul" (2000) 25.5 Alternative Law Bulletin 245;
57. Bartlett R, Native Title in Australia (2nd ed, Butterworths, 2003) pp 641-650.
58. Mason v Tritton (1994) 34 NSWLR 572 at 548 and see, eg NT Act, ss 61, 62 and 190.
59. Derschaw v Sutton (1996) 17 WAR 419 at 431, affirmed on leave to appeal application by the High Court Derschaw v The Queen (unreported, HCA, Toohey, Kirby and Dawson JJ, 30 May 1997).
60. Commonwealth Hansard, Senate, 16 December 1993, pp 5440-5441.
61. Senator Chamarette, Commonwealth Hansard, Senate, 16 December 1993, p 5447.
62. WA v Ward (2002) 191 ALR 1 at 265.
63. But note that s 93 has not been proclaimed to date.
64. ALRC, The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Law, Volume II (1986) at [977].
65. ALRC, n 47 at [978]-[979].
66. ALRC, n 47 at [979].
67. Marsh A et al, n 8.
68. Mapoon Community Council chairman, Mr Peter Guivera, suggests that commercial fishing is responsible for a decline in dugong numbers: "Fishers Partly Blamed for Falling Dugong Numbers" (ABC Online 9 November 2004) available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1239331.htmx viewed 28 November 2004.
69. Grech A, "Spatial models of dugong and seagrass distribution for habitat management" (current research, James Cook University, 2005). This is not yet a thesis, however, as Grech is one of the few people on the water with expert knowledge about this, her assistance was sought during the research for this article.
70. WA v Ward (2002) 191 ALR 1 at [265].
71. NT Act, Pt 2, Div 3, Subdiv N.
72. NT Act, s 26(3).
73. Perry M and Lloyd S, Australian Native Title Law (Law Book Co, 2003) p 302.
74. Bartlett, n 40, p 519.
75. Smith A and Marsh H, "Management of Traditional Hunting of Dugongs (Dugong dugong) (Muller 1776) in the Northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia" (1990) 14 Environmental Management 47.
76. Marsh, n 4.
77. Hopevale Aboriginal Council and Nursey-Bray M, A Guugu Yimmithir Bama Wii: Ngawiya and Girrbithi (A Turtle and Dugong Hunting Management Plan) (Cape York Land Council, Cairns, 1999).
78. Marsh, n 4.
79. Fisheries Management Notice No 65, Torres Strait Dugong Fishery, cl 6 under Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 (Cth) (TSF Act), ss 16 and 35(1)(a) (8 December 2002).
80. Waia T, Marine Summit (2001) available at http://www.tsra.gov.au/www/index.cfm?pageID=7 viewed 22 June 2005.
81. Resolution from the workshop Towards Community-Based Management of Dugongs and Turtles in Torres Strait (1998).
82. Johannes RE and MacFarlane W, Traditional Fishing in the Torres Strait Islands (CSIRO Division of Fisheries, 1991);
83. Marsh H, Harris ANM and Lawler IR, "The Sustainability of the Indigenous Dugong Fishery in the Torres Strait, Australia/Papua New Guinea" (1997) 11(6) Conserv Biol 1375;
84. Marsh et al, n 7;
85. Heinsohn et al, n 7.
86. Sea Forum, Aboriginal Involvement in Management of the Southern Great Barrier Reef - Discussion Paper (Sea Forum, Rockhampton, 1999) and Savage H, "Indigenous Connections with the Great Barrier Reef" in Chin A (ed), State of the Great Barrier Reef On-line (GBRMPA, Townsville, 2003) available at http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_services/publications/sotr/indigenous/index.html viewed 4 October 2003.
87. GBRMPA, "Background and History of the Representative Area Program - Traditional Use" (2003) available at http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/management/zoning/rap/rap/overview/traduse.html viewed 16 September 2004.
88. GBRMPA, n 66.
89. This process is described later in the article.
90. Australia's Oceans Policy (1998), which advocates implementation of a representative areas network;
91. National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity (1996);
92. Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council's Strategic Plan of Action for the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (1999);
93. Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (1992);
94. National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (1992);
95. 25 Year Strategic Plan for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area 1994-2019, n 22, which was signed by about 60 stakeholder representatives.
96. GBRMPA, "Who are the Traditional Owners of the Great Barrier Reef?" available at http://www.reefed.edu.au/explorer/traditional_owners/ viewed 16 September 2004.
97. Regulation 33(a)(i) offers "cultural affiliation" inter alia as sufficient to qualify for Traditional Owner standing. This will overcome rigid and culturally unreal demarcations between peoples, eg on Palm Island, Queensland. In The Manbarra People and the GBRMPA and Another [2004] AATA 268, the AATA drew the distinction between the Manbarra People, whose standing derives from their status as original occupiers of country, described by the AATA as the Traditional Owners, and those Indigenous people, the Bwgcolman People, who were forcibly settled in Manbarra People's country by the state's Protector of Aborigines after 1918.
98. NT Act, s225.
99. GBRMP Zoning Plan 2003, s 1.7(3).
100. GBRMP Zoning Plan 2003, s 1.7(4).
101. George et al, n 5, pp 6-11.
102. George et al, n 5, p 9.
103. Osherenko G, Sharing Power with Native Users: Co -management Regimes for Arctic Wildlife (Canadian Arctic Policy Paper No 5, Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, Ottawa, 1988) p 13.
104. Sea Forum, Aboriginal Involvement in the Management of the Southern Great Barrier Reef - Discussion Paper (Sea Forum, Brisbane, 1999).
105. George et al, n 5, p 2.
106. Davies J, Higgenbottom K, Noack D, Ross H and Young E, Sustaining Eden: Indigenous Community Wildlife Management in Australia (International Institute for Environment and Development, London, 1999).
107. George et al, n 5, pp 40-41.
108. George et al, n 5, pp 11-12.
109. The recognised Native Title Representative Bodies under s203 of the NT Act relevant to the GBRMP Area are: Torres Strait Regional Authority, Cape York Land Council, North Queensland Land Council, Central Queensland Aboriginal Corporation, and the Gurang Land Council Aboriginal Corporation. Regulation 6 of the GBRMPA Regulations defines representative bodies as having the same meaning as under the NT Act.
110. George et al, n 5, p 3.
111. Roberts C, McLean R, Flinders C, "Cape York Co -Management Case Study: Ambiilmungu Ngarraa Country" in Ross H, Innes J, George M and Gorman K (eds), Traditional Owner Aspirations Towards Co-operative Management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: Community Case Studies (CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No 56, 2004) p 98.
112. Nursey-Bray M, "Fishing for Answers: The Incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge in Australia: Developing Cross Cultural Literacy" in Haggan N, Brignall C and Wood L (eds), Putting Fishers' Knowledge to Work (2003) 11(1) FCRR (Fisheries Centre, UBC, Canada) pp 321-328.
113. George et al, n 5, p 5.
114. Marsh et al, nn 7 and 8.
115. George et al, n 5, p 31.
116. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 1990 (Cth), reg 9A.05.
117. Jones C, "Is There a Future for Coexistence? A Question of Strategy" (2004) 6(5) Indigenous Law Bulletin (August- September 15).
118. Not all the steps or design considerations that a mediator might take into account have been included as each negotiation is unique.
119. This is not an easy step to achieve where the people involved do not share a common first language. Certainly the issues should not be recorded in what is commonly referred to as "legalese" or "bureaucratese".
120. "Historic MOU Signed" Weipa Bulletin (29 October 2004).
121. Kwan D, Marsh H and Delean S, in review, "Factors Affecting the Customary Hunting of a Threatened Marine Mammal by a Remote Indigenous Community" Environmental Conservation (forthcoming, 2005).
122. Marsh, n 4, p 7;
123. Kwan, n 2, pp 219-220.
124. Kwan, n 2, p 213.
125. Laurence D, Kenchington R and Woodley S, The Great Barrier Reef: Finding the Right Balance (Melbourne University Publishing, 2002).
126. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and World Resources Institute, Gridded Population of the World, Version 2 (Columbia University, NY, 2000).
127. Veron J and Stafford-Smith M, Corals of the World (Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Townsville, 2000).
128. Altman JC, The Economic Status of Indigenous Australians (Discussion Paper No 193, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), ANU, Canberra, 2000).
129. Landcare Australia, "WA Based Yadbalagh Aboriginal Corporation (Based at Denham) Wins a Prestigious National Landcare Award" (1 September 2004) available at http://www.landcareaustralia.com.au/MediaDisplay.asp?ArticleID=97 viewed 6 December 2004.
130. Roberts et al, n 86, p 95.
131. Altman JC and Whitehead PJ, Carin g for Country and Sustainable Indigenous Development: Opportunities, Constraints and Innovation (Technical Report No 20, Working Papers, CAEPR, ANU, 2003).
132. O'Regan T, "Access to Fisheries: The Maori Experience" Indigenous Fishing Rights: Moving Forward (Conference proceedings, National Native Title Tribunal, 2003) available at http://www.nntt.gov.au/metacard/files/Fishing_conference/Fishing_conference/priorPapers.html #tipene viewed 22 June 2005.
133. IUCN The World Conservation Union, n 12.