Australia Introduces New Tuna Regulations ff

For the first time commercial line fishing for tuna and billfish along Australia's eastern and southern coast could be managed under a statutory management plan. The draft Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery (ETBF) Management Plan imposes strict new management arrangements and environmental standards to protect this fishery, which extends from Cape York at the northernmost tip of Australia through to Tasmania in the south. This was reported by Fish Information and Services.

Frank Meere, Managing Director of the AFMA, said the Plan would also provide commercial fishers with greater certainty over their rights and give them clearer guidelines about where they can fish and how much fishing gear they can use. Key features of the draft plan include:

• Providing for fully tradeable Statutory Fishing Rights for long line and minor line operators in the ETBF;
• Introducing new three-year transferable permits for longline fishers;
• Allowing a certain number of hooks to be set each year by longliners;
• Removing current zone restrictions across the fishery (except for a restricted area in the Coral Sea), and
• Listing the species that may be taken.

Mr Meere said the changes would affect about 300 commercial longline and minor line fishers in the ETBF who were currently licensed to catch key species such as yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and broadbill swordfish.

"With the removal of the current zones, operators will be able to fish anywhere in the fishery they like, except the Coral Sea Zone which will remain restricted only to operators who hold a permit for that area.

"Under the new arrangements, AFMA proposes that eastern tuna longliners will also be required to install 'drum monitors' - electronic equipment which lets AFMA know when lines have been set."

"This will allow the Authority to better manage fishers' allocations, improve data collection and to keep an eye on the total fishing effort in the fishery."

The AFMA has also released a similar plan for commercial tuna and billfishing for Australia's western, northern and southern coast. This fishery extends from Cape York at the northernmost tip of Australia around Western Australia and the Great Australian Bight down to the South Australia/Victorian border. Here commercial fishing for tuna and billfish will be managed under a single statutory management plan.

Frank Meere said the proposal would help AFMA to better manage this large Commonwealth fishery and to imposes strict new management arrangements and environmental standards. The Plan would also provide commercial tuna fishers with greater certainty over their rights and give them clearer guidelines about where they can fish and how much they can catch.

Key features of the draft plan include:

• Providing for fully tradeable Statutory Fishing Rights (SFRs) for longline and minor line operators in the fishery;
  
• Providing for fully tradeable quota SFRs for yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, broadbill swordfish and striped marlin and fully tradeable Boat SFRs to operate boats in the fishery;
  
• Allowing AFMA to set a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) for the key species each fishing year;
  
• Enabling AFMA to grant SFRs for other species in the future;
  
• Removing current zones in the Southern and Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery and extending to the "high seas," and
• Bringing together all management responsibilities under a single comprehensive management framework.

He added that the changes would affect about 125 commercial fishers who were currently licensed to catch key species such as yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, broadbill swordfish and striped marlin in the fishery.

Mr Meere said: "With the removal of the current zones, operators (so long as they hold a boat SFR and quota SFRs) will be able to fish anywhere in the fishery they like, even if they currently hold a permit that only allows them to access
one or several zones."

"This will also include extending access to the 'high seas' area of the Indian Ocean, which is part of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission area of competence," he added.

"The new Plan will allow AFMA to set a Total Allowable Commercial Catch each year for each quota species. This will help the Authority to better manage and pursue its mission of ecologically sustainable and economically vibrant fisheries. "