This legislative instrument, signed by Paul Murphy as Delegate of the Minister for the Environment and Energy on 23 August 2018, amends the EPBC Act list of "exempt native specimens" established under section 303DB of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) (instrument text; reference to s 303DB and s 303DC(1)(a)). Mechanically, it deletes a specific listing entry from Schedule 1 and inserts a substantively similar entry in Schedule 2. The inserted Schedule 2 entry covers "Specimens that are or are derived from fish or invertebrates taken in the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery as defined in the management regime in force under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)" but expressly excludes: specimens that belong to eligible listed threatened species (as defined under section 303BC of the EPBC Act) and specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 303CA of the EPBC Act (Australia’s CITES List) (Schedule 2 notation). The notation attached to the inserted entry requires that the specimen, or the fish or invertebrate from which it is derived, was taken lawfully, and states that "the specimens are included in the list until 30 November 2018" (Schedule 2 notation). The instrument is declared to be a legislative instrument for purposes of the Legislation Act 2003, and it commences the day after it is registered. The instrument also states that "All state and territory legislation referred to in Schedule 2 to the instrument is incorporated as in force at the time this instrument commences" (instrument text). The visible mechanical change is therefore a time-limited substitution of the Pilbara Fish Trawl Managed Fishery entry, replacing an existing inclusion that was due to expire on 24 August 2018 with a new inclusion that expires on 30 November 2018, and explicitly tying scope to the WA fishery management regime and to EPBC lists in ss 303BC and 303CA.

The instrument operates through a narrow set of statutory concepts referred to by name in the EPBC Act: "exempt native specimens", the delegate power under s 303DC(1)(a) to amend the list established under s 303DB, the concept of "eligible listed threatened species" as defined under s 303BC, and the Australia CITES List under s 303CA. The Schedule language identifies a named fishery, the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery, and references the regime "in force under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)" as the definitional source for that fishery. The instrument therefore binds together Commonwealth administrative action under the EPBC Act, statutory definitions of threatened and CITES taxa under ss 303BC and 303CA, and state fisheries law as the factual determinant of where and how specimens were taken. The inserted notation imposes two concrete conditions on the listed entry: lawfulness of taking (the specimen or the source organism must "have been taken lawfully") and a temporal endpoint for the inclusion ("specimens are included in the list until 30 November 2018"). The instrument is made as a "legislative instrument" under the Legislation Act 2003 and is set to commence the day after registration; it therefore has the formal status of subordinate legislation and is not phrased as a ministerial policy statement. The Schedule 2 text reproduces an exclusion built into the list item, namely the explicit carve‑outs for species that are eligible threatened species under s 303BC and taxa listed under s 303CA; those carve-outs tie the scope of the exemption to lists maintained under the EPBC Act. Finally, the instrument incorporates state and territory legislation "as in force at the time this instrument commences", meaning that the definition and legal character of the Pilbara Fish Trawl Managed Fishery is fixed to the WA regime as it exists at commencement.

The instrument alters legal status primarily for three identifiable groups by reference to the text.

• Fish harvesters and operators in the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery. The Schedule specifically references specimens "taken in the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery as defined in the management regime in force under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)". Operators who catch fish or invertebrates in that defined fishery are the factual class whose products are affected because the Schedule entry applies to specimens derived from those captures.

• Downstream handlers, processors, traders and holders of specimens derived from that fishery. The Schedule concerns "specimens that are or are derived from fish or invertebrates taken" in the fishery, so parties who trade, process, export or otherwise possess such specimens are affected insofar as the listing status in the EPBC Act list is material to the legal treatment of those specimens.

• Regulators and compliance officers. The instrument references Commonwealth EPBC Act sections (s 303DB, s 303DC(1)(a), s 303BC, s 303CA) and WA fisheries legislation. Agencies responsible for administering the EPBC Act and WA fisheries laws will need to interpret and implement the time-limited inclusion, check lawfulness of taking where relevant, and apply the carve-outs for threatened and CITES taxa.

The instrument also indirectly affects parties who deal with threatened species or CITES-listed taxa. The Schedule expressly excludes specimens that "belong to eligible listed threatened species, as defined under section 303BC of the EPBC Act, or specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 303CA of the EPBC Act (Australia’s CITES List)". That exclusion means any operator whose catch includes those taxa must treat them separately from the Schedule 2 inclusion. The instrument freezes the identification of the fishery against the WA management regime "as in force at the time this instrument commences", which matters for licence-holders and managers whose entitlements, boundaries or management settings under WA law determine whether a given catch falls within the listed fishery. The time limitation to 30 November 2018 directly affects all these groups because after that date the Schedule inclusion lapses, unless replaced or varied by further instrument.

The instrument itself imposes few duties in prescriptive form; rather, it amends the content of the EPBC Act list to which duties and rights in the primary Act will attach. The key operative obligations and entitlements that follow from the Schedule entry are:

• Condition of lawfulness of taking: the inserted notation requires that "the specimen, or the fish or invertebrate from which it is derived, was taken lawfully" (Schedule 2 notation). Practically this places a burden on the person relying on the Schedule inclusion to ensure their specimen derives from a lawful take under the WA fishery management regime referenced in the Schedule. The instrument does not specify the standard of evidence required to demonstrate lawfulness, nor who must prove it, but it makes lawfulness an explicit precondition for inclusion.

• Exclusions for threatened and CITES taxa: the Schedule explicitly excludes specimens that are eligible listed threatened species under s 303BC and taxa listed under s 303CA. That exclusion creates a right for regulators to treat such specimens outside the Schedule inclusion and a corresponding duty on operators to identify whether their specimens fall within those excluded categories. The definitions and lists referenced are statutory and maintained under the EPBC Act, which means the scope of the exclusion moves with those listings.

• Temporal limitation: the notation states that "the specimens are included in the list until 30 November 2018" (Schedule 2 notation). The right or entitlement to have a specimen treated under this Schedule entry therefore exists only up to that date; it expires automatically at that time absent further legislative action.

• Reliance on WA management regime: the Schedule fixes the fishery definition to the management regime "in force under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)". The effect is that rights to have specimens treated under the Schedule depend on the factual definition of the fishery under WA law as it stands at the instrument's commencement, because the instrument also provides that all state and territory legislation referred to in Schedule 2 is incorporated "as in force at the time this instrument commences".

The instrument itself does not create new criminal offences or penalties; it is framed as an amendment to the EPBC list and declares itself a legislative instrument made under s 303DC(1)(a). Any duties or rights flowing from a specimen's presence or absence on the EPBC list derive from the EPBC Act and the list regime rather than from this instrument's text alone.

This instrument does not create new penalty provisions within its own text. It is an amending instrument that modifies the Schedule of exempt native specimens established under s 303DB of the EPBC Act; the text does not set out enforcement mechanisms, sanctions or bespoke penalty levels. The instrument is made under subsection 303DC(1)(a) and is labelled a "legislative instrument" under the Legislation Act 2003; it commences the day after registration. Therefore, any enforcement or penalty consequences for failure to meet the Schedule conditions will depend on the substantive provisions of the EPBC Act and any other relevant Commonwealth or state law that govern prohibited conduct, export and trade controls, or wildlife protection. The Schedule does, however, create explicit conditioning facts that will be relevant to enforcement decisions: whether the specimen was taken lawfully, whether the specimen belongs to an eligible listed threatened species (s 303BC) or a taxa listed under s 303CA, and whether the relevant date falls before 30 November 2018 (Schedule 2). Those factual predicates are likely to be material in an enforcement context because the Schedule alters the statutory list to which EPBC Act rules apply. The instrument also incorporates state and territory legislation "as in force at the time this instrument commences", thereby connecting Commonwealth administrative treatment of specimens to the contemporaneous state statutory regime; in enforcement terms, agencies will reference the WA Fish Resources Management Act 1994 and Regulations 1995 for determining whether a take was lawful under the cited management regime. The instrument contains no procedural guidance on evidentiary standards, on who bears the onus of proof, or on administrative review; no penalty figures or sanctioning regime are specified in this instrument text.

The instrument explicitly ties Commonwealth administrative classification under the EPBC Act to state fisheries law. It references the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA) as the management regime that defines the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery. The Schedule language therefore makes the WA statutory regime the factual source for whether a given specimen was taken in the fishery covered by the Schedule. Moreover, the instrument states that "All state and territory legislation referred to in Schedule 2 to the instrument is incorporated as in force at the time this instrument commences", which fixes the cross-reference to the WA laws as they stand at commencement. That cross‑incorporation creates a legal interaction in which Commonwealth exemption-list status depends on contemporaneous state law settings. The Schedule also directly references EPBC Act lists , eligible listed threatened species under s 303BC and the Australia CITES List under s 303CA , and excludes those taxa from the Schedule inclusion. That means the Commonwealth listing processes (threatened species listings and CITES listings) operate as negative conditions on the Schedule exemption: if a taxon is on those Commonwealth lists, the Schedule does not apply to that specimen. The instrument is made under s 303DC(1)(a) of the EPBC Act and amends the list established under s 303DB, so its substantive operation presupposes the EPBC Act's broader regulatory architecture for native specimens. The instrument does not purport to change WA fisheries law; rather it relies on the WA law to delimit a fishery. The practical interaction therefore is two-way: WA fishing law determines the universe of specimens potentially caught lawfully in the named fishery, and Commonwealth listing processes determine exclusions from the Schedule. The instrument does not address procedural coordination between Commonwealth and state regulators, nor does it change the content of either primary statute; it simply links the EPBC list entry to a state-defined fishery and to EPBC list categories.

The instrument itself is an amendment made on 23 August 2018. It operates by deleting an existing listed item (set out in Schedule 1) and replacing it with a new item (set out in Schedule 2). The Schedule 1 text that is deleted described the Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Managed Fishery inclusion that carried the notation "the specimens are included in the list until 24 August 2018" (Schedule 1). The Schedule 2 text re-instates a corresponding listing for the same fishery but updates the inclusion date to "until 30 November 2018" (Schedule 2 notation). Thus the immediate amendment history recorded in the instrument is a short-term extension or replacement of a specific Schedule entry, shifting the temporal cut-off from 24 August 2018 to 30 November 2018 while retaining the core substantive conditions (lawful taking, exclusions for ss 303BC and 303CA taxa, and reliance on the WA management regime). The instrument also contains the formalities necessary to be a legislative instrument under the Legislation Act 2003 and states that it "commences the day after it is registered", but it does not reference any earlier amending instruments other than implicitly the list item that had an inclusion date of 24 August 2018 which it deletes. No further amendment history, trajectories of prior changes, or subsequent instruments are contained within this text. The Schedule 2 instruction that "All state and territory legislation referred to in Schedule 2 to the instrument is incorporated as in force at the time this instrument commences" creates a snapshot effect for the WA law referenced; that is an interpretive amendment mechanism which fixes the relevant state law version to the commencement date of this instrument.

The text of this instrument contains no references to litigation, no mention of judicial review, and no recitation of legal challenges. It names statutory provisions used to authorise the instrument (subsection 303DC(1)(a) and section 303DB of the EPBC Act) but does not record any court decisions, appeals, administrative law disputes, or litigation that led to its making. Therefore, on the basis of the instrument text supplied, there is no litigation history recorded or incorporated in the instrument. If litigants were to challenge administrative decisions that rely on this Schedule entry, relevant legal arguments would have to engage the enabling provisions of the EPBC Act and any administrative law principles applicable to legislative instruments, but none of that appears in this instrument itself. The instrument also includes the formal signature block and date but no annotations concerning disputes or contested administrative actions. Any existing or later litigation concerning the practical application of this Schedule, or the lawfulness standard that it conditions, would not be visible from the instrument text supplied here.

The instrument contains several practical traps for operators and regulators, as follows, each grounded in the instrument text.

• Short, fixed expiry. The Schedule entry is explicitly time‑limited: "the specimens are included in the list until 30 November 2018" (Schedule 2). That provides a clear cut-off after which the inclusion lapses automatically; parties relying on the inclusion must track that date and not assume automatic renewal.

• Burden of "taken lawfully" is unspecified. The notation conditions inclusion on the specimen or the source organism "was taken lawfully" (Schedule 2). The instrument does not state what counts as lawful taking, which statutory provisions determine lawfulness for these purposes, or what documentary proof is required. Because the Schedule ties the definition of the fishery to the WA management regime "in force under" the WA statutes, "lawful" will be judged against WA rules as they stood at commencement, but the instrument does not specify evidentiary standards or onus.

• Exclusions linked to EPBC lists. The Schedule excludes specimens that "belong to eligible listed threatened species, as defined under section 303BC of the EPBC Act, or specimens that belong to taxa listed under section 303CA of the EPBC Act (Australia’s CITES List)" (Schedule 2). That means a specimen that is otherwise within the geographic and fishery scope could nonetheless be excluded if the taxon is on either EPBC list. Operators must therefore check Commonwealth listings, which may change over time; however, the instrument does not state whether the exclusion is to be assessed as at the time of taking or at the time of reliance on the Schedule.

• Reliance on state law snapshot. The instrument incorporates state and territory legislation "as in force at the time this instrument commences". That fixes the WA management regime as the definitional source at commencement rather than allowing subsequent amendments to WA law to alter the Schedule’s scope. If WA law changes after commencement, that change will not automatically alter the instrument’s meaning, which may lead to divergence between WA licensing reality and the Schedule’s fixed definition.

• No procedural guidance or transitional rules. The instrument does not supply transitional arrangements for specimens taken before or after the commencement date, nor does it address record‑keeping, audit rights, or interaction with export or trade permits. Where operators have specimens taken near the cut-off date, uncertainty may arise about whether inclusion applies.

Compliance actions flow directly from the factual predicates the Schedule sets out. The steps below follow the instrument text and identify the evidentiary and administrative checks a regulated party should carry out.

1. Confirm fishery provenance under WA law as at commencement. The Schedule ties the listed specimens to the "Western Australian Pilbara Fish Trawl Interim Managed Fishery as defined in the management regime in force under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) and Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (WA)". Because the instrument specifies incorporation of state legislation "as in force at the time this instrument commences", an operator should obtain and rely on the text of the WA management regime as it exists at the instrument's commencement date to confirm whether the catch occurred within the defined fishery.

2. Verify lawfulness of the take. The inserted notation conditions inclusion on the specimen, or the fish or invertebrate from which it is derived, having "been taken lawfully". To comply, operators should maintain contemporaneous records demonstrating lawful taking under the WA fisheries regime in place at the relevant time, including licence details, logbooks, gear authorisations, spatial and temporal catch records, and any other documentation that proves compliance with WA requirements.

3. Screen for EPBC threatened and CITES-listed taxa. The Schedule excludes specimens that belong to "eligible listed threatened species" (s 303BC) and taxa on the Australia CITES List (s 303CA). Operators must check current EPBC Act listings to ensure their specimens are not excluded. Because the instrument does not specify whether the exclusion is assessed at time of taking or at time of reliance, practitioners should retain evidence of taxonomic identification as at the time of take and track subsequent listing changes; where doubt exists, seek guidance from the relevant Commonwealth authority.

4. Observe the temporal limitation. The inclusion runs "until 30 November 2018". Operators should record dates of capture and of any downstream transactions and ensure that actions taken after that date do not assume the continued existence of the Schedule inclusion.

5. Maintain traceability and identification. To rely on the Schedule’s conditions, parties should adopt traceability practices linking specimens to the fishery of origin and to the date of take. Given the instrument does not specify evidentiary standards, robust documentary records reduce risk in enforcement or administrative review.