The new yellowfin tuna quota imposed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) in March this year has started to bite local fishermen.
It is the first time the species has been included in the quota system with a total allowable catch of 2200 tons allocated to the eastern tuna and billfish fishery.
It joins albacore (2500t), broadbill (1550t), big eye tuna (1056t) and striped marlin (390t).
Long-line Eden tuna fisherman David Malone said last week that his boat had already reached the quota that he’d leased and it would now cost him more money to be able to take advantage of the current prime tuna run.
“We had to stop fishing,†he said.
“We’ve been shut down for a fortnight because we reached the quota. “It’s a really good year for tuna but we’ve had to stop, which means my three crew and I are not getting paid. “The co-op doesn’t get any fish, the exporter doesn’t get any fish so Australian exports are down.â€
The quota system was brought in as a control the fishing of tuna and several other species by only permitting a set number of statutory fishing rights (SFRs) or quota allowances.
AFMA said that the controls were in line with CSIRO research into Australia fish stocks and were a way of implementing its total allowable commercial catch (TACC) figures.
However, according to Mr. Malone, all other countries that have access to the migratory schools of yellowfin tuna don’t face the same level of catch restrictions.
Other regulations mean they have to travel north each year, often as far as Coffs Harbor where they live aboard the boat for months at a time.
“The rest of the world doesn’t have a quota system and we only provide one per cent of the world’s catch, so it’s pretty stupid,†he said.
He said the cost of purchasing an SFR was prohibitive and so many fishermen, such as himself, were forced to lease them instead.
“I saw three sold last week for more than half a million dollars each,†he said. “That’s impossible for us, so we lease what we can get, but a lot of the quota licenses have already been filled.â€
While there is some financial pain at the moment, Mr. Malone said that he wouldn’t know the full impact the new quota system had on his operation until 12 months after its implementation (February 2012).
