In NSW fish, fishing and fisheries are largely governed by the Fisheries Management Act, whilst environmental assessments are largely governed by the Environment, Planning and Assessment Act, with overarching evaluation by the Commonwealth's Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.  Environmental assessments of fish in relation to  human activities are closely guided by considerations of threatened species and key threatening processes.  How does science contribute to this process and can the process then be used to focus or improve the science?  There is an important role for fisheries scientists to assist in structuring of environmental assessments to aid fish and their habitats and the people who harvest fish for commerce or recreation. These matters are explored by reference to key legislation, review of types of impacts that can affect fish and fisheries (e.g. port development, mining, water management) and examples of how fish and fisheries are assessed for proposed human activities in NSW.