Oil and Gas: National coordination - seismic and other issues

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) is Australia's independent expert regulator for health and safety, environmental management, structural and well integrity for offshore petroleum facilities and activities in Commonwealth waters. NOPSEMA has placed significant weight on environment plan stakeholder consultation which has increased pressure on O&G proponents to deliver qualified information and appropriate two-way communication with the commercial fishing industry. While the approach is widely supported, it has resulted in consultation fatigue across commercial fishing stakeholders. In many instances O&G operators in each state are seeking the same information, responding to the same or similar environment plans which contributes to fatigue and is a duplication of resources and activities. This investment will develop a publicly accessible portal for seismic research bibliographies, case studies and other relevant commercial fishing O&G information. The project will also establish a "best practice" document for commercial fishing representative bodies to use for environment plan consultation and submissions.